Days in Finland

I have come to realize that Finland is by far Europe's best kept secret.

Tomorrow is my last day in Scandinavia and I can honestly this is one of the most beautiful and wonderful places I have ever been!

Last Friday afternoon the sun was shining brightly and I just couldn't stay inside, so I ran outside in my t-shirt and shorts and ventured into Finland's nature on my own. I went back down to the lake in Sanni's neighborhood to take just a couple of pictures, but then I discovered a path leading into the woods nearby and I just couldn't resist-- curiosity got the best of me. Thinking to myself "I'm just going to see what is up this one hill," I took my camera and went up the path to a view that took my breath away. Of course I couldn't stop there, I had to see what was around the next corner too! So I kept going, snapping pictures along the way with the icy breeze cooling my skin and the golden sun warming it. I discovered a dirt path that led to a smooth stone hidden behind leafy tree branches and took off my flip flops to dip my toes in the cold, sapphire lake. Watching sea gulls dance on the water, seeing bikers ride by in the distance, and listening to the water lap against the stone was utterly peaceful. Eventually, though, the restlessness to discover more forced me off of my seat of contentment and back into the forest for further exploration. I kept wanting to see what was up the next hill or around the next corner and at one point I even found myself standing in the middle of a field of Queen Anne's Lace. Running down a dirt path leading off of the main trail I tried to see how far I could go into the trees before I was in the middle of nowhere. What finally convinced me to turn around and head back out of the forest was the realization that I had told Lauren and Sanni I would be gone for about five minutes and they may think I was lost, as well as an undesired meeting with a hill of crawling black ants and a bee that decided he wanted to hang out with me and spin in circles around my head.

It is hard to fully describe just how beautiful this afternoon and my venture into the forests was, but here are just a few pictures that will attempt to do some justice to it:

My view from around the first bend

My view from the stone by the water

Dipping my toes in :)

Gorgeous, golden sunshine

The creek running through the forest

Field of Queen Anne's Lace

The path I followed around the lake

A piece of the beautiful afternoon

Somewhere in the middle of nowhere :)

Later that night, the three of us girls left for the Mid-Summer Party at the Summer Cottage of one of Sanni's friends! This was one of the craziest and most fun things I have EVER experienced! Europe. Is. Awesome. As soon as we arrived Sanni's Finnish friends began coming up to the terrace to introduce themselves; they were excited to "meet the Americans." Before long they had swept Lauren and I into the Sauna for the ultimate Finnish experience of suffocating yourself in a pool of sweat and then leaping into the freezing Baltic Sea to cool off again. At one point they even cut a bundle of Birch tree branches and everyone hit each other with them-- Lauren and I thought this was a joke but apparently it's quite traditional in Finland! We sweat in the sauna, swam in the sea, enjoyed cider and grilled chicken on the terrace, watched the Euro Cup game inside, ate chocolate, chatted (a lot of it was in Finnish but several of them still made a great effort to talk to Lauren and me!) and then about 20 exhausted Finns (plus 2 pooped Americans) sprawled out in the loft upstairs for a night (well, more like morning) of sleep.

Us girls went home the next afternoon to shower and get some decent sleep, then went back for more Mid-Summer fun that night! It was crazy, it was fun, and it was so absolutely totally and completely and INCREDIBLY Finnish :) I loved every bit of it!!!

The dock where we jumped into the Baltic Sea

A view of the sauna from the dock

Just a few of the Finns and the Americans...good times :)

Representin' America!!

 Alright my battery is about to die again so I will have to share the adventures of the cruise to Stockholm, Sweden for another day as well as the weekend at the wonderful Hoikkala summer cottage!!

Tomorrow Lauren flies back to America and Sanni and I will explore more of Finland's amazing capital, Helsinki. On Friday I'll be in London, and it will be time for the adventures to start all over again!