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Tags: Santa Claus / Christmas / Winter Festival Travel / → All Tags

Ice Santa 1, Global Warming 0

You can't keep a good Santa down! Specifically, a Chinese city's giant sculpture of Santa, well on its way to being built this year despite ever-warming temperatures.

Despite the city of Harbin's proximity to Siberia, the region has been affected by the global (temperature) meltdown: For its annual ice festival, including the 78-foot-tall Santa, officials were forced to make snow just like a ski resort. CO2 trouble notwithstanding, this bad boy is going up to the delight of the 800,000 estimated visitors when the fest opens January 5.

Related Stories:
· Harbin Ice Festival Sweats Under Global Warming [Lost Weekend]
· Let it Snow: China Builds "World's Largest" Ice Santa [Reuters, via Yahoo!]
· Santa Isn't The Only One Who Digs The North Pole [Jaunted]

[Photo of a Harbin Santa in 2004: dennisyee]

Tags: Christmas / Santa Claus / Google Maps / → All Tags

Super World Traveler Santa Impresses Even Us

In a moment of weakness, we were convinced to check out the Norad Santa Tracker. And you know what? Despite our suspicions that it'd be super cheesy, it managed to bring some geographic jolly to our Christmas Eve.

Santa, it seems, really does get everywhere, stopping off at places we know and love, like Sydney, Australia and Kobe, Japan, while also bringing presents to kids in spots we've never even heard of. An extra stocking stuffer goes out to anyone who's heard of Onekotan, Russia before today.

To celebrate Santa's globe wandering, we're taking the rest of the day off and hunkering down with eggnog and presents tomorrow. But we'll be back in full force on Friday to swap holiday horror stories and continue our hats-in-airports obsession. See you then, and merry Christmas!

Related Stories:
· Norad Santa Tracker [Official Site]
· Christmas coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Coal Patrol / Blue Airline / LCCs / Christmas / Santa Claus / Low Cost Carriers / → All Tags

Le Blue Line Keeps Santa For Themselves

Ho ho no! Blue 1--a Finnish budget airline affiliated to SAS Airlines and not to be confused with Romania's Blue Air French-based Blue Line--has made a bunch of British kids really blue this Christmas.

The airline should have carried 160 people in two small planes from Manchester to Santa's home in Finnish Lapland early on Saturday morning, but the passengers were then told there'd be a delay while Blue found a new aircraft. The bigger one they got was then deemed too big to land at Finland's Enontekio airport in bad weather and the whole trip was canceled.

Police had to be called to calm down the screaming children, and angry parents had to explain to their kids that they hadn't been good enough to meet Santa this year after all.

Related Stories:
· Police called after angry parents protest at cancellation of flight to see Santa in Lapland [Daily Mail UK]
· Fury as Santa Trip is Sleighed [SMH]
· Will the Real Santa Please Stand Up? [Jaunted]

[Photo: (stephan)]

Tags: Christmas Alternatives / Santa Claus / → All Tags

Stop By Santa's House

This time of year most people are trying to flee the cold weather instead of embrace it. But British tour operators are pushing trips to the region of Sápmi--classically but incorrectly known as Lapland--as a way to see Santa before he embarks on his RTW trip.

Being from the uncouth continent, we have no idea whether a trip to see Santa's house that doesn't involve a megamall and Polaroids is traditional, but we can't help but be intrigued by offers of Husky safaris and Arctic Circle crossings. Santa Park falls firmly on the tourist-trap side, but Polarfleece addicts might enjoy a toboggan-riding day trip that caters to their inner child. (And we mean inner because seriously, bundle up!)

Related Stories:
· Are Lapland Ski Resorts Finnished? [Jaunted]
· Foxy Lights in Finland [Jaunted]

[Photo of a reindeer in Rovaniemi, Finland: infeite]

Tags: Holiday Travel / Christmas / Santa Claus / → All Tags

Japanese Aquarium Features Swimming Santas

When we think of Japan, Christmas is probably one of the last things to come to mind. Still, it makes sense that a country that loves itself some kitsch would fully embrace what has become the world’s tackiest and most commercial holiday (arguments for Valentine’s Day, Halloween and Diwali will all be accepted in the comments).

So we guess it makes sense that the Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise Aquarium in Tokyo has started featuring underwater shows with dolphins and scuba divers dressed as Santa Claus. Looks like our childhood fantasy is true: Santa really can be everywhere at the same time.

But listen, even if the aquarium’s dolphin show is a bit hokey, it’s still a site worth visiting during a trip through Japan. Since dollars, euros and even pounds are all virtually worthless against the yen these days, the best part of the park (after the swimming Santa, of course) is that everything at the aquarium and its adjacent Pleasure Land is a la carte. Once inside this man-made island, you can pay-as-you go to ride on the roller coaster, see the swimming mammals or swing over the sea on a giant pendulum. Japan: Cornering the Bizarre Travel market.

Related Stories:
· Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise Aquarium [Official Site]
· Japan Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise Aquarium]

Tags: Culture Travel / Santa Claus / Summer Travel / → All Tags

Christmas in July: Santa Clauses Amass in Denmark

It's too late to grow a real beard: The World Santa Claus Congress starts today in Copenhagen, whose residents will get a glimpse of many Kris Kringles as they parade and wreak havoc out of season.

Santas will promenade down Strøget, a pedestrian thoroughfare made up of several streets in the city center, and later jump into the Copenhagen harbor over the course of the three-day festival, now in its 51st year.

Just don't ask them which one is the real Santa; they'll say they all are.

Related Stories:
· World Santa Claus Congress [Official Site, in Danish]
· You Can Dine with Danes, Too [Jaunted]
· Santa Claus coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: paulafunnell]

Tags: Santa Claus / Christmas / Kyrgyzstan / Central Asia Travel / → All Tags

Kyrgyzstan *Really* Loves Santa

We already know that Santa is hanging out in Kyrgyzstan instead of the North Pole this year. Now the big man's hosts plan to name a mountain in his honor and put together some real-life reindeer games like chimney climbing and sled racing.

The Central Asian country--just south of Kazakhstan--has lots of remote and unnamed peaks, so turning one into Mount Santa Claus isn't a problem. And it's not an unprecedented move, as the Kyrgyzstanis have already named mountains for Vladimir Lenin and Boris Yeltsin.

Try as we may, we can't determine exactly where Mount Santa Claus is. But maybe that's for the better: Seems like the kind of place that could quickly get overrun by tourists.

Related Stories:
· Kyrgyzstan To Name Peak After Santa [BBC]
· Santa Claus coverage [Jaunted]
· Christmas coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo of Kyrgyzstani Mountains: Tigr]

Tags: Santa Claus / Kazakhstan / → All Tags

Where Santa Should Live: Kyrgyzstan

Every December we argue long and loud about exactly where Santa Claus lives, but until now, we never thought that people did scientific research about it.

A Swedish engineering firm with too much time on their hands recently calculated the ideal place for Santa to be based if he wanted to optimize his delivery of Christmas presents on December 24. It turns out that, taking into account the population distribution and the earth's rotation, Santa should start in a spot 22 miles north of Kapkatash in Kyrgyzstan.

While Kyrgyzstan is not known as a tourist hot spot, we already know it as the gentle place where bank robbers use hypnosis instead of guns, and Kapkatash is not far from the border with Borat's home of Kazakhstan. Perhaps we'll soon be promoting "find the real Santa" tours to Kapkatash?

Related Stories:
· Santa's Best Location: Kyrgyzstan [Jaunted]
· Please ... Or You'll Burn in Hell [Jaunted]

[Photo: Fanboy30]

Tags: Santa Claus / Christmas / → All Tags

A Gaggle of Santas in Saint Pete

If the sight of some 5000 Santas running a marathon together hasn't confused the children of the world enough, St. Petersburg, Russia, has something in store. Hot on the heels of the official G8 forum, attended by Bush, Blair et al in July this year, St. Petersburg will soon host the Santa G8.

Nope, we're not kidding. Santas from eight different nations (all slightly different versions of Santa, mind you) will meet in the city on New Year's Eve. Not until then, of course, because "they are too busy in their respective countries to come on Christmas Day." Russia's Father Frost will come face-to-face with the German Weihnachtsmann and Britain's Santa Claus, with Finnish Yelloupokki probably reluctantly stepping up since he already is sure he's the real thing.

[Photo: slowburn]

Related Stories:
· Santa's G8 Date [Daily Record]
· One Santa, Two Santas... [Jaunted]
· Will the Real Santa Please Stand Up? [Jaunted]

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DFW Not Out to Steal Sea-Tac's Thunder

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, home base for American Airlines, has launched its annual Santa Tracker website. The idea is to follow Santa before he touches down at DFW to greet his chosen people, the good citizens of North Texas. DFW is certainly one of the most festive airports in the world, followed closely by Sea-Tac of course, and it'll be giving you more than just ridiculous flash games this Christmas season.

Pepsi and Dunkin Donuts will be giving out free samples at DFW on Thursday. T-Mobile will also be handing out free access cards for its wifi network. It's almost enough to make you want to be at the world's sixth busiest airport on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

If you are stuck at DFW on Thursday, use that T-Mobile card to get onto Santa Tracker and play "Snowball Challenge," our favorite game on the site. We think they should've gone all-out and made airline employees the targets, but you can't always get what you want. Speaking of, no Hanukkah Harry tracker?

Related Stories:
· Track Santa this Christmas with Texas airport Web site [Cheapflights.com]

Tags: Santa Claus / Christmas / Britain / → All Tags

One Santa, Two Santas, Three ...

It might give little children nightmares, but it definitely makes for good photos when thousands of people in Santa Claus costumes take to the streets together. Last weekend Santas were running all over Britain, with the biggest crowd in Liverpool. In this town that's not only home to the Beatles but also to Santa world records, around 5000 brightly costumed Santas showed up for a five kilometer charity run known as the Santa Dash. While the exact number of this year's participants is not verified yet, it'll definitely beat last year's Guinness Record "for the most Santas in one place at one time" (just so you know, that was 3921).

In Wales, another 2000 Santas ran in two separate races, but all with the same basic idea. And the Liverpool organizers also know that a similar coming event in Las Vegas could knock them off their number one perch. We wouldn't put it past Vegas to produce a bigger and better anything. Now the question is: where's Dubai in all of this?

[Photo: petecarr]

Related Stories:
· Dashing Santas Hit the Road [Yorkshire Post]
· Santa Claus coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Santa Claus / Finland / Christmas / → All Tags

Lessons in Santa

Remember how Finland claims to be home to the real Santa? Now Finnish airline Finnair is taking the point one step further and providing the world with training on being a substitute Santa--since poor Santa is so busy he often can't do more than "drop the presents...and go straight on to the next house."

Wanna be Santa too? Finnair's online School of Santa--proudly brought to you by the Official Airline of Santa Claus--gives you six lessons in "The Do's and Don'ts of How to be the Perfect Santa." From what sounds like the obvious first step of entering via the chimney (they suggest you use the door instead), through letting the children sing carols intead of torturing them with your own voice, and to not playing Santa at the wrong times of year, these handy instructional videos will have you Ho, ho, ho-ing your way into children's hearts the world over. Not that Finnair doesn't sneak in a fair slab of advertising too. All in keeping with the Christmas spirit of caring, sharing and commercialism, of course.

[Photo: BrockLi]

Related Stories:
· The School of Santa [Finnair]
· Will the Real Santa Please Stand Up? [Jaunted]