Rovaniemi | Crossing the Arctic Circle from Santa Claus Village
Rovaniemi
This time, we went to Rovaniemi in northern Finland, a place many people specifically plan to visit for Santa Claus Village and to see the Northern Lights. Although we went at the end of March, we thought the weather wouldn't be as extreme as winter, but we were surprised to find that the power of the Arctic Circle is truly immense. The air was incredibly cold, especially at night when waiting for the Northern Lights outdoors or walking on the snow; you could really feel like you were in the Arctic. This trip to Rovaniemi was a very special Arctic Circle experience for me. We stayed in Santa Claus Village, saw a faint aurora, drove to Sweden to board an icebreaker, floated on the sea wearing lobster costumes, and finally returned to Santa Claus Village for a hot grilled salmon.
Santa Claus Village
Our accommodation this time was located inside Santa Claus Village. The entire accommodation area looked like a small village, and it had a great atmosphere when lit up at night. The accommodation itself wasn't a very luxurious hotel, but it had all the basic amenities you'd expect, and the rooms even had saunas, which I thought was a huge plus. After all, Rovaniemi is really cold, and after a whole day of walking around outside, you can go back to your room and soak in a hot sauna at night, and you'll feel instantly revitalized. If you're coming to Rovaniemi specifically for Santa Claus Village, I think staying in the village is quite convenient. You don't need to take any special transportation, and you can easily walk around the area at night and experience the atmosphere of the Arctic Circle at night.
The aurora borealis isn't something you can see whenever you want; the weather really matters.
When we arrived on the first day, the aurora index was actually quite high, and we were really looking forward to seeing the beautiful aurora. Unfortunately, there was a lot of fog that day, so the aurora we actually saw was very faint and not as obvious as we had imagined. This is also the most realistic aspect of seeing the aurora, in my opinion. Even if the aurora index is good, the weather, clouds, fog, and light pollution can all affect whether you can see it or not. However, for me, even seeing just a faint light is still very special.
Polar Explorer Icebreaker: An Arctic Circle Adventure from Finland to Sweden
One of the most special parts of this trip was experiencing the Polar Explorer icebreaker. We bought our tickets on the official website. Since the icebreaker is located in Sweden, we rented a car one day and drove from Rovaniemi to get there. The icebreaker experience itself was quite good. It was very impressive and a rare treat to see the ship slowly enter the frozen sea and break through the thick ice. If you are already in northern Finland and want to plan a special activity, I think an icebreaker trip is worth considering.
搭破冰船其中一個很有名的體驗，就是穿上像龍蝦裝一樣的保暖浮力衣，在冰冷的海水上漂浮，不過我們這次是比較後面的梯次，所以時間有點趕，後來他們一次放比較多人下水，整體感覺有一點擠，再加上我下去漂了一陣子之後頭有點暈，所以後來就舉手示意想上去。相比海上漂浮，我反而更喜歡後面走在厚冰上的體驗，船的另一邊開放讓我們下去，直接走在結冰的海面上，那種腳底下是厚厚冰層、旁邊是破冰船的感覺非常特別，也會讓人很明確地感受到自己真的來到北方的冰雪世界。
破冰船在瑞典，所以我們順路去了 IKEA
因為 Polar Explorer 破冰船的位置在瑞典，所以這趟行程也算是意外跨國，我們後來順路去了瑞典的 IKEA。老實說，裡面的東西跟台灣看到的差不多，沒有到非常特別，不過能在北歐旅行途中順便去一次瑞典 IKEA，還是蠻有趣的，像是一個旅程中的小插曲。
聖誕村火烤鮭魚
回到聖誕老人村後，我們去吃了村裡很有名的火烤鮭魚，這家店的店員人非常好，整體氣氛也很溫暖，很適合在冷冷的天氣裡進去吃一份熱食。有些人可能會覺得火烤鮭魚普普通通，但我自己蠻喜歡的，可能是因為它的烹調方式跟平常自己料理的鮭魚不太一樣，吃起來肉很多汁，也很嫩。