Finnish frolics

Helsinki Cathedral
Originally uploaded by rtw2007.

The ferry to Finland was a bit of an odd journey. The ferry itself was fine, but we were suddenly on board with lots of Finns heading back to Turku after the weekend in Stockholm. Lets just say that they were an odd bunch – think of a marginally (and we mean only marginally) toned down version of the Finnish band that won the Eurovision Song Contest last year and you won’t be far wrong. We were particularly bemused by the three women dressed in glittering black Elizabethan dresses, complete with enormous Elizabethan skirts supported by hip boulsters (think Elizabeth I with her very wide hipped dresses, but less regal). We initially thought that they were the entertainment, but apparently not. And they were still wearing the same thing the next day, so they clearly hadn’t come from a fancy dress party either. So now we are confused – is it some form of traditional Finnish country dress? Or the clothing of an odd religious sect? Or just plain mad?

We are now in Helsinki where, not put off by the freak show on the ferry, Michael braved the big Art Deco Finnish sauna yesterday to sweat it out with lots of naked men in the boiling hot wood sauna, electric sauna, regular sauna and pool. They apparently like their saunas here (there is one sauna for every three people in the country) and also their public nakedness. Sadly, all the ice has melted, so we have been unable to participate in the Finnish tradition of jumping in and out of a hole in the ice and then rolling around in the snow a lot. Shame.

Last night we went to a bar at the top of a hotel with great views over the city. There is a sin tax on the alcohol here, so it is still expensive in bars, though in the supermarket it is far more reasonably priced. And unlike in Sweden you can buy decent strength beer in the supermarket – you only need to go to the state run alcohol shops (fantastically called “Alko”) for wine and spirits. So we have been enjoying some Lapin Kultas for the past few evenings.

We’re now feeling nervous about heading into Russia and wondering what we need to declare; whether they will confiscate our money / laptop / GPS as per the stories we have read from other overlanders; questioning how easy it will be to follow our Cyrillic map etc etc. Our nervousness is not helped by the fact that as soon as we mentioned Russia in Sweden, everyone we spoke to immediately launched into questions about whether we are fully familiar with the etiquette of bribing policemen. We are not. How much do we pay? When do we pay it? Do we get a receipt?!. Its exciting to be heading out to St Petersburg, though, and we are really looking forward to seeing the city.

Thanks for the comments on the blog, much appreciated. Congratulations to Gavin and Cesca!!

PS Claire – thanks for the educational info and you will be pleased to hear that they sell Newcastle Brown Ale even here. Pitto – Cally Thistle are struggling, rookie manager Broadwith is being threatened with the sack. Thrilling 4-3 defeat to Celtic last night, though. The crowds loved it.