Last weekend's X-Factor saw the Finnish singer, Saara Aalto, wow the judges, so I thought I'd give you ten things you need to know about her (and my) native Finland. Finland is a land of thousand lakes. At last count there were 187,888 of them - more lakes in relation to a country's size than … [Read more...]
Five things you should know about a Finnish sauna
Image: Visit FinlandI was three days (yes days!) old when my parents took me into a sauna. It was early spring, and we were visiting our summer cottage near Kangasala in the Häme province of Finland. By all accounts I loved the heat and gurgled away on my mother’s lap.I’ve been an avid sauna-goer … [Read more...]
Sauna hats
Last time when I was having my hair done at the wonderful Rossano Ferretti hair spa, it was a day before my holiday in Finland. Towards the end, when my hairdresser Clare was putting the straightening treatment on, she reminded me that I should leave my hair unwashed for 3 or 4 days to make … [Read more...]
Not skiing in Åre and ‘old’ friends
This pretty mountain train terminus is one of my favourite buildings in Åre village.I've just come back from a skiing holiday to Sweden, where we'd planned to spend most of the time on the beautiful pistes of Åre. In the event I got only a few days on the mountains, because unseasonably warm weather … [Read more...]
Midsummer in Lemland, Åland
After a sleepless night when it never got fully dark, my post about midsummer in Åland is going to be a rather picture-laden one.The house is traditionally decorated with silver birch branches. The festivities started almost as soon as we settled in on Midsummer's Eve. Wood-buring sauna was … [Read more...]
Wives and squirrels
I woke up this morning to the news that a wife carrying competition is going to take place in Finland later today. That time already, I thought. This, the 15th Eukonkanto World Championships in Sonkajärvi is an annual bizarre news item on the BBC. Somehow, every year, it fires … [Read more...]
