“This is my chance!” George announced suddenly.  “Your chance for what?” I asked – as usual not knowing what to expect.

“The World Games are in Lahti, Finland this year,” he replied jubilantly, “and I’ve been invited to give exhibitions.  This is the perfect time for me to barefoot in the Arctic Circle!”

Ever since he won a place in the Guinness Book of Records by barefooting in Antarctica (thus reaching his record-breaking goal of having barefooted on all seven continents), George had wanted to barefoot in the Arctic Circle.  We got out the atlas and looked up Lahti.  It is about 50 miles north of Helsinki.  Much further north, in Finnish Lapland, is the town of Rovaniemi, known as the City on the Arctic Circle.  This is also where the “real” St. Nicholas has his permanent home.  It all seemed quite fascinating, exotic, and cold.

“I wonder if we can find any barefooters up there,” George mused.  “I should think it’s doubtful,” I replied.  “It’s probably easier to find dog sled teams!”

We decided to email Jani Jokinen who had visited us in Winter Haven and was director of the barefoot ski events for the World Games.  Jani emailed us back with the astounding news that Finland’s two top barefooters, the Pokka Brothers, live in Lapland!

Plans moved forward.  Email from Jani advised George to definitely bring his drysuit.  We were told to allow time to “check out some reindeer” and also not to miss a visit to the real St. Nicholas.  We were warned about, of all things, mosquitoes.  Lapland seemed to be famous for cold weather, St. Nicholas, and mosquitoes!

When we finally stepped off the plane in Rovaniemi, Lapland on August 3 after a 1-1/2 hour flight from Helsinki, we were amazed to find the sun shining, the temperatures balmy, and many tourists in shorts!  Everyone was talking about the weather.  Summer usually lasts about three weeks and is over by the end of July.  Here it was – sunny and hot in August!  Unheard of!

Having retrieved our bag filled with mufflers, sweat suits, windbreakers and other cold weather gear, we jumped into an airport van and were taken to our hotel, the Pohjanhovi.  Rovaniemi is at the confluence of two rivers:  the Kemi and the Ounas.  The hotel overlooks the Ounas and as we sat with our first bowl of reindeer soup, we enjoyed idyllic views of people kayaking down the river while others bicycled along the shore.

The Pokka Brothers, Ari and Arto, soon appeared and we greeted each other enthusiastically.  “We are so happy you came to Lapland to barefoot,” the brothers told George.  “You are the reason we are barefooting!  We saw you on TV seven years ago, in a program done by Channel 1 in Paris.  After that, we built our own boat, with a boom and everything.  We’ve been barefooting for four years – what a wonderful sport!”

The brothers announced that we were going to their summer cottage to ski, sauna and barbecue.  What a wonderful introduction they gave us to Lapland!  We drove through winding picturesque roads in their car with their ski boat hitched on behind.  Barely fifteen minutes into our drive, we came upon three reindeer standing by the side of the road.  “They are a menace up here,” Ari said.  “It’s very dangerous to have them on the road.  The other day there was a big pileup of cars because someone hit two reindeer.”  In spite of this, it was a thrill to see these Christmas time animals in their natural habitat!

We spent a wonderful day with the Polka brothers and their families at their cottage.  Soon after we arrived, the boat was launched and George jumped in the water.  Ari took the helm and Arto aimed his camera as George came up from a deep water start.  The Polka brothers cheered him on as he barefooted exuberantly across the lake, doing tumble turns, toe holds and, of course, his rope-in-teeth. “We can’t believe he’s here, skiing behind our boat!” Ari exclaimed to me.  Then Ari and Arto took their turns and gave very impressive performances:  fronts, backs, tumble turns, 360’s, etc.  “How can you both be such good barefooters when you live in such a cold climate and have such a short season to practice?” we asked.  “We love the sport,” they replied.  “And surprisingly enough, ice hockey helps us to train for barefooting:  you have to keep the balance in the same way when you are wearing skates as when you are barefooting.”

After the barefoot session came a sauna, a lavish barbecue and wine which is kept in a bucket fastened in the middle of an ice cold stream which flows into the lake.  A perfect natural wine cellar!

The next morning our new friends arrived at our hotel and we drove to the lake on the Arctic Circle.  This was another idyllic spot, bordered by strawberry fields and charming cottages.  We launched the boat, George put on his OS drysuit and soon accomplished his goal of barefooting across the famous Arctic Circle under much warmer conditions than he had ever imagined!

We left the lake around noon and spent the rest of the day exploring Rovaniemi.  It is a charming little town with pedestrian malls and the largest supermarket in Lapland where we bought a box of what we hoped was the hot rye cereal George had become enamored of over the breakfast buffet.  A visit to the Reindeer Farm found nearly all the reindeer hiding from the heat!  We were told about the annual Mosquito Hunt.  One day a year all the participants kill mosquitoes and there are prizes awarded for the largest mosquitoes killed.  We were unbelievably lucky to visit Rovaniemi when, for some inexplicable reason, there were no mosquitoes in sight!

The highlight of the afternoon was our visit to St. Nicholas in his complex outside Rovaniemi.  St. Nicholas truly has a perfect place to carry on his goal of making all children everywhere happy for Christmas.  His post office is filled with bags of mail from all points of the globe.  He has a large staff of helpers working in the post office.  Mail pours in all through the year and it takes many elves to see that it is all answered.

When we visited St. Nicholas in his splendid office, we could see why his special rocking chair in the post office is extra sized.  St. Nicholas is a very imposing figure – maybe 6’8” tall.  He, of course, speaks many languages and happily welcomes children of all nationalities everyday.  His helpers stand by with a camera to take pictures of his guests talking with him.  Needless to say there is now a picture of Banana George and St. Nicholas hanging in the entryway to his office.

As we stood at the gate waiting for our plane back to Helsinki and the World Games, a rather rugged looking young man swooped down on us.  “Hey!  Aren’t you Banana George?” he asked.  “What are you doing up here?”  “Barefooting, what else?” answered George.  “Across the Arctic Circle, that is!”  “Man, that’s cool!” exclaimed the young man.  “True,” George replied, “but not quite as ‘cool’ as I’d expected!”