It’s enough to make you believe in Santa
I AM not the sort of mother who wells up with emotion, but when my wide-eyed six-year-old daughter Lara met the real Father Christmas, I found myself brushing away a tear at the sheer magic of it all. His gently lit chalet was surrounded by fir trees and soft snow was falling, although we were perfectly warm and snug in our ski suits and thick boots.
Lara and I were spending four days at the Snow Princess Hotel in Yllas, northern Finland, the area known as Lapland. The village is considered by many to be the true home of Santa and is the epitome of a picture-postcard Christmas scene: pretty wooden houses covered in a thick white layer of snow.
To adults, looking out over the bleak Finnish winter landscape from our Thomson Airways plane, the sound of sleigh bells tinkling required a certain suspension of disbelief. Yet for Lara, it simply indicated that Rudolph and his chums were hurtling through the freezing air alongside us.
At Kittila airport, we were met by a pretty girl dressed in red and green who was, she said, our personal elf, Cranberry.
The road to Yllas is known as being one of the most beautiful in Finland. Our coach weaved its way through valleys filled with fir trees, and as the sun came up briefly – there’s just four hours of daylight at this time of year – the white snow sparkled against a bright blue sky.
The Snow Princess Hotel is not sophisticated but it is a pleasant and comfortable base, with masses of good food and an excellent bar.
The first snow falls here in November and continues until May. During our stay, the temperature fell from around minus 10C to minus 20C (Cranberry called this ‘mild’).
That first evening there was a school canteen feel to the dining hall, which was heaving with children. I was thrilled to find mounds of salads and fish, and Lara was equally pleased to note that chips are the most international food of all.
After supper, as we sat in the bar, a man dashed in through the front door and cried: ‘They’re here!’ We rose as one, and headed outside to see the sky flickering with the eerie bright green of the Northern Lights. To my delight, the lights appeared every night, each experience as unforgettable as the last.
One evening we visited the Snow Village to enjoy the beauty of the Ice Hotel. The village is built every year from about 20,000 tons of snow and 350 tons of ice. There are rooms and suites where you can spend the night wrapped up in furs.
On the last day we went sledging, decorated gingerbread, sat in a sleigh pulled by a real reindeer and, of course, met Santa. As we waited our turn, Lara was jumping up and down with excitement. And when we entered the room, she was rendered speechless.
You may be reluctant to start thinking about Christmas, but this is a present for the whole family. The snowy scenery, sleigh bells and jolly camaraderie is enough to melt the iciest of Grinch-like hearts.