Pipi Travels

Day 2 - 4: Rovaniemi & Santa Claus Village

We thought that Finland can't get any snowier at that point of time. We were SO wrong, but in a good way.

Because this.



We took a short domestic flight (Norwegian Air) to Rovaniemi and I woke my fiancé excitedly by tugging his sleeves and pointing at the scenery outside. We were in Rovaniemi, the capital of Lapland AND THE HOME TOWN OF SANTA CLAUS!

We settled into Rovaniemi over the next few days and of course, took many photos wherever we can. :)







The main highlight of Rovaniemi was Santa Claus Village! I've read online that some find the place a tourist trap but I was really looking forward to meeting Santa Claus. I mean who doesn't visit Santa Claus while being in Rovaniemi right?



A day in Santa Claus Village was just enough time for us to explore with the limited daylight. But you might want to stay till it gets dark and see the night lights.

We were pretty lucky to visit the village on that day as they've just put up the Christmas lights and decorations.


Pipi feeling snuggly on the tree.


Can you spot Singapore?


Took 20 + shots just for this. Pipi is SUUUPER happy!


Man behind the scene.


At the Santa Claus Main Post Office!




With the Santa's elves!





Filling in my address for Santa to send me a letter this Christmas. (Psss.. Received mine a few days ago and frankly, I wasn't impressed at all. I was expecting something more personal but I shall not spoil the surprise for you ;))



AND THE MOST EPIC PART

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WE MET SANTA! #bucketlistchecked

Santa seemed to enjoy talking to Pipi xD. I felt like a child again when I hear him talk. The whole process from the moment we entered the room till we exited was caught on video. We purchased the video and soft copies of the photos that will be available for download online at 40 euros. Pretty steep price, but such memories are just priceless right? :)

I'm so happy to have finally met Santa! :D Gonna go find Rudolph next!

Travel Tips:
• To move from Rovaniemi Airport to the City Centre, you can take the local bus 8. For travelling within Rovaniemi, you can either take bus 8 or 10 or the express bus.
• The bus timings can be checked from Matkahuolto.  

Planning a winter wonderland trip? So were we! My fiancé and I were looking for a snowy Christmas adventure to celebrate our 10th anniversary together and amongst all the very eligible and must go countries, we've narrowed down to two: Finland & Iceland.

It will be my fiancé's first time seeing snow and I was praying very hard for enough snow to build a snowman and I got more than I asked for. As the date draws nearer, I was anxiously checking the weather forecast and Instagram's location features to check for traces of snow. Apparently, my anxiety was uncalled for when the pilot announced it was -11 deg (at about 6am in Finland) and when the snowy landscape came into view. A Finnish man sitting next to us told it has been like this for weeks. #worriednut

Day 1: Exploring Suomenlinna

IT WAS SUPER SNOWY.





Picked Suomenlinna as our first destination and we were not disappointed! The Fortress of Suomenlinna was built in 1748 to serve as a base against the Russian Empire. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site AND number 1 on Tripadvisor in Helsinki.



It was snowing a little and we were actually freezing cold! Our gloves were not ready for the sub zero temperature at all (eek)!



Few minutes into our walk and we retreated into this quaint cafe called Café Vanille for a cup of coffee. Absolutely loving the cafe's decor :).





My kind of Winter Wonderland! Now we are talking!



Military Museum





Literally a photo stop every few steps. We had a little too much fun ;).



Letting Pipi have some fun too! Blast away!





Walking into some of the mini tunnels.



The whole island is pretty huge, but you will be able to cover it in a few hours time.





There are about 800 people living in Suomenlinna, I mean who wouldn't want to live in houses like these right?

Directions:
From Helsinki Central Station, walk 15mins to Kauppatori ferry terminal. Ferry tickets may be purchased from the ticket machine at the ferry terminal.

Travel Tips:
• The DNA Sim card may be purchased for 3.90 euros which has unlimited data for 7 days at their airport's R-kiosk.
• You may use the Matkahuolto (their national bus and train service) website to check your bus/train timings in Finland at: https://www.matkahuolto.fi/en/
• If you arrive early at Helsinki and you can't leave your luggage at your accommodation yet, you may deposit your luggage at Helsinki Central Station for up to 8 euros according to baggage size.
• Psss.. There's also a Helsinki Card available if you are going to explore the city in greater details.