Friday, December 23, 2016

"Santa Baby, Hurry Down The Chimney Tonight"

Back in October, I blogged about a fabulous haunted house and spooky cave designed by the talented DarkDharma Daguerre. I was delighted to find that she has also created an incredibly detailed North Pole Village & Santa's Workshop in the Snowlands of Sansara. According to DarkDharma, "This first existed back in 2006-2008 as a much smaller Santa's Workshop with no village. Then, in 2009, the land in Porvoo was purchased where the build became the North Pole Village & Santa's Workshop. Due to my ever-present desire to improve on things, the build has always gotten bigger and better every year! I have been honored to be featured in Linden Lab's Destination Guide for the past few years."







She continued by explaining, "North Pole Village and Santa's Workshop is an immersive holiday experience designed after fairy tales, folk lore and stories about the North Pole and Santa." Comprising almost the entire sim of Porvoo, the Village contains everything from a North Pole Post Office to the "Better Watch Out!" coal mine to an Elf Command Center, pictured below. Make sure to enter every shop in the village, as each contains wonderful, creative and humorous surprises.

In Santa's Workshop itself, visitors can explore various rooms and spot elves baking cookies, making toys, creating chocolate marvels (pictured below), and even sleeping in their own Elf Dorm. Jump on the Claus' bed, kiss a special someone under the mistletoe, and see if you can find the entrance to the secret Snowflake Room below the workshop, where you can find the first of fifteen presents located throughout the parcel. DarkDharma mentioned, "As with all the past holiday seasons, I will be featuring a 'hunt for the holiday presents' that will be hidden by the elves all around the village and in the workshop!" You can pick up instructions and a HUD right inside the Village gate. 




Once you go back outside, don't miss the North Pole Aviation area, where you can visit Santa's reindeer and also help Santa with a test run of his sleigh. All of the reindeer (as well as many other items throughout the sim) are available for purchase. Right outside the gates of the village, you can enter and explore the Crystal Ice Cave, picture below. There are several surprises waiting inside! Make sure to have local sounds turned on throughout your visit.



Life is full of strange coincidences lately. I pulled up the 1953 song "Santa Baby" as music to explore this parcel by, not realizing that it was by Eartha Kitt and that it was the A-side to her B-side hit, "Under the Bridges of Paris", which I featured in my last blog post. In any case, it makes a perfect soundtrack as you wander through the North Pole Village and Santa's Workshop. In lieu of tips, visitors are asked that if they enjoyed their experience, to please make a donation to the children's charity Feed A Smile at the landing point. DarkDharma concluded by saying, "I've incorporated many childhood imaginings into the build to make it in every way possible a delightful experience that takes visitors away to another place and time where they are invited to enter the magic and B*E*L*I*E*V*E!"











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