Santa Was Home!

What an amazing day in the Lapland wilderness! 

For starters, we saw the northern lights from our igloo last night! Even before the lights made their magical appearance, the igloo experience was awe-inspiring. With the clear night, I could lie in bed and watch thousands of stars twinkling overhead. I watched the Big Dipper move through the night sky. It was the perfect night to spend in the igloo! 

Just after midnight, we started to notice a glow forming on the horizon. At first, I wasn't sure if it was clouds moving in or the lights or what. One of our tour mates came and banged on our door to make sure that we were awake. The light rose up, just over the horizon. It was not the bright spectacle of colors that you see in movies and pictures, but it clearly radiated in the night sky - mostly in white. For about twenty minutes, we could clearly see it, and then it began to fade. Later we could still see a light band a little higher in the sky. I do not have any pictures because they did not show up on our phones.

This morning, we could see the beauty of a winter morning as we made our way through the resort. The trees are covered with light snow with more snow cover on the ground and roads. After breakfast, we were greeted by a very joyful elf who led us to visit Santa and his reindeer. It was great fun to have Santa come out of his home to see us and then to invite us in for a visit. We each had an opportunity to tell Santa our wishes and have a picture taken. I made sure to tell him how good you all have been this year!

This is Aurora, the eld leading us to Santa's home.
Her basket is filled with food for the reindeer!

This is the view from the bridge leading up to Santa's.

This is the home of the elves, across the bridge from Santa.

Approaching Santa's Home

A warm welcome from Santa. He was waving from the window as we approached.

Next, we went to meet the reindeer. We were able to enter their pen and feed them. It was really cool to stand right next to them. Tonight we are going for a reindeer sleigh ride to see the wilderness at night and search for the northern lights.

It is bitter cold up here today. Currently, it is 11℉ with a Feels Like temp of only 1℉. Brrr! I might need to wear everything in my suitcase for our adventure tonight!

We also went up into the observation tower. All you can see are forests stretching into the distance. It's beautiful. There was a little glimpse of the sunrise/sunset which happens almost simultaneously as the sun does not come over the horizon.

We moved from our igloo to a log cabin. I feel a bit like Laura Ingalls in the cabin in the Big Woods. It is so cozy! Outside, it is pitch black already at 4:00!

The cabin has a sauna, so I did use that to warm up a bit. I did not follow it with a roll in the snow or anything. I can't say that I have embraced the sauna experience yet, but it is nice to have the option to use it.

Soon we will head to dinner. It may be a late night chasing the auroras in our reindeer sleigh!