Four years ago today, I was on holiday, abroad. How strange those concepts feel now. Still it was lovely to return to the bonkers world that is Finland, if only for a while
Finland is full of trees. When it’s not wet. After Helsinki we ventured north, to the Lakeland and, boy do they have a lot of lakes. We flew about 400 miles and hired a car and then looked at the map. A to B as the Finnish Alpino Swallow flies was 25 miles. To avoid motorised water surfing, the road was 72 miles. This was something we had to get used to.
Confession number 1. I assumed the trees would be pines, like in the Alps. All very nice on a postcard but a tad effing dull if you drive through canyons of the buggers as you meander around lakes that you know are just there but are buggered if you can see them. Wrong. As long as they were tall and thin with few spreading branches they got the gig. Rowan and silver birch, white beam and… well that’s about it but still. Better than I expected.
We stayed in two places from which we explored.
The first a splendid one woman operation at Eevantalo – Eeva’s House. Eeva was a dynamo. She did absolutely everything. Including cardamon buns freshly cooked. Now, when it comes to spices cardamon isn’t in my top three but in Eeva’s hardworn hands they were delicious.
We managed several walks while hearing about some of the tough winter weather we were avoiding – ‘oh last year we had minus 46..’ Now pardon me but at that temperature the glib crap about ‘there’s no such thing as bad weather, only inadequate clothing’ begins to look like so much bollocks. I mean that will freeze the inside of an atom.
We thought, it being August and all, that we were still in the summer paradigm but the turning of the leaves and the plethora of fungi rather disabused us of this notion.
And the nights did get a touch parky.
So we stayed indoors, and played several ridiculous games of charades that Eeva watched but I suspect didn’t follow (and probably reinforced any notion she may have had that so far as the rest of Europe is concerned, Brexit and hermetically sealing off the UK might not be such a bad idea).
One highlight that I did pass up, but which the Le Pard Youth undertook was the smoke sauna, involving regular dips in the fast flowing river. What is it that makes sweating such a pleasure? I sweat without a sauna. Indeed without any artificial heat. Just give me a pair of walking boots and a hill and I’m a pedestrianised puddle. But whatever floats your boat, even if it is saline…
We left Eeva to rest up before the next guests and headed south. An eco resort awaited us, as did a 27 hour power-cut, a castle of Disney-esque beauty and bloody history and the most extraordinary museum imaginable. To be continued
TanGental 
What a great post, an even better walk in the woods. Lovely, Geoff. Thanks for Python. ☺
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always happy to share Python!!
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My brother sent me a photo of icicles in his eyelashes and moustache His Geoffleship! It gets COLD!
But what beautiful walks you went on!!!
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your bro is lucky, it really is a splendid if quirky country..
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I know… Hubby Dearest was offered a job where the head office was in Helsinki… I urged him to go for it. It could mean more regular trips to my brother.. but he wasn’t having any of it!!
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Ah shame
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I know!
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I’m glad you included the Python video this time. I am contractually unable to read the word Finland without singing it to myself.
I’m with you on your description of saunas too 🙂
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Love the woods, the rocks, and water through the shaggy trees. Looks a lot like Northern Ontario. Thanks for a fabulous, refreshing tour. Bah. Forty below? Piece of cake. 😀 😀 😀
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Yes I shouldn’t compare sub zeroes with a Canadian!
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Ha ha.
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wowza that red mushroom! so alice in wonderland. I love it.
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I think if you ate it you might end up in your own wonderland…
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Pahaha next bloggers bash let’s pass it round
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“Pedestrianised puddle” LOL! I loved Finland but didn’t get to see some of those fabulous mushrooms!
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Nice post.
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Thanks for reading
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Oh! So lovely!
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Pingback: A little bit of Finland – walking in among the fungi | TanGental
I just have this image of a bemused woman watching you demonstrating ‘two syllables’ and ‘the…’
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Yes she had a set of expressions that were a charade in their own right. Priceless
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I love the look of those mushrooms!
Did she show you any that are edible? I assume you can’t eat the crazy red one!?
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She didn’t. Poor woman was so busy I don’t think she’d trust her own judgement.
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I really liked Finland – I remember taking off over all those forests and lakes. Wonderful. And the handicrafts! Oh my.
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Very talented the Finns!!
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They certainly have some weird and wonderful jumbo sized mushroom in Finland!! I am with you on the Sauna idea Geoff. I am always at combusting point as it is!
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It seems absurd to think of it cleansing
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Wondrous fungi! Doesn’t their variety impress> How many were edible?
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We never found out and no one told us so we didn’t experiment though sound did look tasty…
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