THE CRAZY FINNS!
Helsinki |
We left Cincinnati in search of a bearable climate in
which we could spend our vacation. Gone were the 100 degree (36+ C) days with
90%+ humidity. We arrived to paradise; 72 (20 C) degree and sunshine with a
mild breeze. So what did we do? We went down to a basement, women and men
together, took off our clothes (that was the good part) and went, literally
butt naked, into a small room, where the temperature was deliberately kept at
75 C (167 F) and sat on a bench, like birds on a wire, only arm's length away
from some hot stones. And if this had not been enough, one of the crazy Finns
started pouring water periodically on the stones, making the air hotter and
harder to breath. Meanwhile another one was telling us a joke that went like
this: "Do you know how a crazy Brit defined the sauna experience?" Of
course I had no clue and I was literally dying to find out, so he went on.
"It is like a real serious car accident. The only difference is that you
come out of it unhurt!" He chuckled, apparently he found his own joke real
funny, while I was thinking; "really, I would get out of here alive?"
And then, I was let out of the oven, only to find out that now I had to go
swimming in a shallow pool filled with nearly freezing water! The weird part is
that I actually loved it!

I had the pleasure to be invited
to Joanna’s niece’s wedding. It was the second wedding I saw in Finland , and again I was not disappointed. The
bride and his three best men were donning kilts, just to be different. And they were! The groom was wearing a
beautiful dress designed by her sister. The minister was leading the wedding
ceremony with speeches in Swedish and English. One of those ordinary, run of
the mill weddings!
Then we walked from the church to
a small house where a delicious buffet waited for us, or rather where we waited
for the buffet to open. Food should not have been served for another couple of
hours according to plan, but apparently others must have been hungry as well,
for we got to eat an hour ahead of schedule. And it was worth the waiting! According
to customs, there were speeches by just about everybody. Swedish, Finnish, English
and Spanish were the languages of choice of the speakers. So the first weekend
flew by rather quickly.
This being my fourth or fifth
visit to Finland we ventured
out to the country side to see Joanna’s childhood friend who keeps Icelandic
horses.
Again, nothing special, Icelandic horses are common in just about any part of the world! Or not. They have this very special additional gait that is called tölt. Iceland forbids importing other horses in order to preserve the purity of this special breed. She is in the process of restoring her beautiful farm house. It was amazing to see how well the old farm house accommodated a modern kitchen and bathroom, yet still preserved many of the rustic elements that make a farm house so charming. And what wonderful mushroom pie and lemon tart were served at the old kitchen table! We enjoyed the good food, watched the peaceful countryside and listened to the silence that was only disturbed by a mild wind and the occasional sound made by the happy horses gracing around. We then decided to visit some other friends at the nearby town, about 30 kilometers away. We could not turn down a dinner invitation especially when they told us that the sauna had already been turned on just for us. We did not mind to stay for the night in Lovisa.
Again, nothing special, Icelandic horses are common in just about any part of the world! Or not. They have this very special additional gait that is called tölt. Iceland forbids importing other horses in order to preserve the purity of this special breed. She is in the process of restoring her beautiful farm house. It was amazing to see how well the old farm house accommodated a modern kitchen and bathroom, yet still preserved many of the rustic elements that make a farm house so charming. And what wonderful mushroom pie and lemon tart were served at the old kitchen table! We enjoyed the good food, watched the peaceful countryside and listened to the silence that was only disturbed by a mild wind and the occasional sound made by the happy horses gracing around. We then decided to visit some other friends at the nearby town, about 30 kilometers away. We could not turn down a dinner invitation especially when they told us that the sauna had already been turned on just for us. We did not mind to stay for the night in Lovisa.
We got an excellent tip how to
get there quickly; instead of taking the main road which looked like a 40
minute drive, we took a short cut. Or at least that was what we thought! I
started to become suspicious as soon as the asphalt disappeared from the road
and we were driving on a narrow dirt pass in between the trees. And the road
constantly split and we never knew which direction to take. I owe a big thank
to iPhone and its GPS, that guided us through the dense woods of Finland . About two hours later we were literally
out of the woods and arrived to sauna heaven! Nothing like Finnish food and
sauna after a long and treacherous drive.

So after all these boring days we
decided to spice up our trip by going to St. Petersburg , Russia .
TO RUSSIA
WITH LOVE! Will follow.
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