Anyway. Autumn Moon has arrived and with it the rain, longer nights and today I could even see my breath in the air. Goodbye summer. I heard an expression the other day, In Finland the summer may be short but at least it doesn't rain so much.
To welcome the changing of the guard we went for a smoke sauna on Sunday. This alliterative delight sounds a bit Bob Marley but it's not. The idea is that before the sauna is prepared you light a big smoky fire in the hut and impregnate the walls with...smoke. Then you clean out the embers and prepare your normal sauna, lots of hot rocks* etc. Apparently its not carcinogenic; The only health warning I saw was a sign telling you not to jump off the jetty into the lake between sauna sessions (we did anyway - rebellious high five!). Anyway, it was lovely. In winter the lake freezes over and you can go to avanto where the swim is now via a hole in the ice. If you're in the area, here's the link. Also, go soon because smoke saunas are also known for burning down. Who'd have thought.
Jetty for jumping
As we were leaving the sauna a Lara Croft style security guard came and asked us if we'd seen the Russians. It seems they'd snuck in without paying (sauna addiction is a serious matter). We had seen them but they'd long scarpered (back in the USSR) and were now spending the roubles they'd saved on hooky vodka.
I think more surprising was not that people would take advantage but that advantage taking isn't more common. Finland seems to work almost entirely on a trust system. None of the houses where I live have fences around the gardens (as Dog and Cat have discovered to their gamboling delight), you don't see security guards in shops, bicycles are often left unlocked and I haven't heard a car alarm since I arrived. Yesterday they needed to fit a ventilation fan in my apartment and the builders just let themselves in with a key they got from God knows who.
It's a brave new world people. Perhaps there's hope for us all yet.
That'll do for now. Next time I'll tell you about Cat and Dog's latest adventures.
*I said not like Bob Marley.
No comments:
Post a Comment