Little A: Captain, will you take us to Santa Claus’s village?
Mom: You know, Little A, what and where Santa Claus’s village is?
Little A: I know. It’s where it never becomes daytime in winter.
Daphne: From what I’ve heard, it hardly ever gets dark in the summer.
Dad: Watch the next video:
Mr. A: Exactly what I was thinking. Dusk, the Sun descends towards the horizon but does not go below. It’s like playing games near the horizon. Then it starts to rise again upwards.
Mom: Look at this too:
Little A: Santa Claus’s village is Rovaniemi in Norway.
Daphne: Rovaniemi is located in the Arctic Circle and is the capital and main economic center of Lapland.
Dad: Well, how will we get there, with your ship, Captain GG?
Captain GG: Difficult. It’s a long journey by ship.
Dad: We’ll enter the Arctic Circle! The next video is from Sweden. Where we will go, in Norway, close to Christmas, the light in the sky will be similar.
Little A: When will we finally start?
Mom: I believe that we will go from Athens and pass through Gibraltar again. After the Rock of Gibraltar, we will turn right, following the sign: ‘towards the North Pole’.
Dad: When we went to the South Pole to see the aurora australis, after the Rock of Gibraltar, we turned left, following the sign: ‘towards the South Pole’. We will also see the aurora borealis!
Daphne: I understand. After Gibraltar, we will pass through Spain and drink Rioja, Portugal and eat fish, France and drink Bordeaux…
Little A: Will we eat snails with Roquefort?
Mr. A: Sorry, I don’t like them. I like Roquefort, but…
Daphne: I agree about the snails too. But tell me, do you all understand why the Sun doesn’t go below the horizon when it sets in the Arctic Circle?
Mom: The next video says it all, but it’s in English.
Mr. A: It’s those 23.5 degrees!
https://el.wikipedia.org/wikiΕκλειπτική#:~:text=Η%20γωνία%20που%20σχηματίζει%20το,δηλαδή%20και%20η%20γωνία%20λόξωσης.
The inclination is ε=23.5.
Dad: Here in Greece, usually the night lasts about as long as the day.
Daphne: I have a friend who is doing her PhD in Estonia. She told me that where she studies, in winter, the nights are very long (Estonia is not far from Rovaniemi).
Mom: Seeing the diagram of the Earth now, it’s easier for me to understand why the duration of the night is not the same in Greece and in Norway.
Little A: That’s how it should be in Santa Claus Village, in Rovaniemi. Let’s go, because I want to talk to Santa Claus.
Dad: I found a map of Rovaniemi. Look at it carefully and find what you want to do when we get there.
Little A: This map also has numbers. I want to go to number 25, which is the Christmas house. There, Santa Claus sits. I want to tell him a word about the gifts he will bring me for Christmas.
Mr. A: The locations of the reindeer and the moose are marked. We will also make a sleigh pulled by reindeer!
Daphne: We will have a great time.
Captain GG: Let’s go because I need to figure out how to break the ice to let the ship pass.