First Finnish Summer House Experience

Finland is known for its many, many lakes.  From Wikipedia: "Finland is a country of thousands of lakes and islands – 187,888 lakes (larger than 500 m²/0.12 acre) and 179,584 islands.  Its largest lake, Saimaa, is the fourth largest in Europe."  Many Finns have summer homes they visit on the weekends.  This weekend I was invited to the summer home and cabin of an older couple who oversees the LDS Institute program here in Jyväskylä.  There were 11 of us who spent Friday evening and Saturday at their summer home and cabin.  Here are some of the highlights...

Cabin we stayed in by a lake 55km outside of Jyväskylä.

We went fishing in the evening.

We ate sausages and chicken nuggets.

I rowed the fishing boat.  We didn't catch any fish, although we did run into a family of swans.

We came back to find crepes waiting for us. By far my favorite dessert!!  YUM!

Crepes with strawberry jam = two very happy girls!  This is Maria who has been so kind and welcoming.  She also translates for me at church on Sundays.  I'm pretty sure she's a modern day female version of Tom Sawyer!  I wish I could tag along with her on all of her adventures.

This is the outside toilet.  Well, the only toilet, actually, as there isn't one inside.  A good reason to drink lots of fluids in the morning so you don't have to make any trips at night.  :)

Pila and Maria coming back Sat morning after fishing.

The fruits of their fishing labors: a decent sized fish!  Maria made a fire and cooked it right up.

My first taste of fish in Finland.  (I am determined to love fish...eating fish, that is... before I leave...)  The picture of me looking grossed out by the fish was totally a candid shot.  Maria showed me the fish and inside was the heart and lungs...hence, my not so lovely reaction...

The reflection off the lake is remarkable.

My feet and pant legs were wet from walking through the forest.  So I was able to warm and dry them by the fire.  Ahhh...

Brunch in the cabin.  Porridge.  And lots of cucumbers.

The guys went fishing in the early afternoon and brought back a large pike fish.  They cut it up and we cooked it later in the day.

So… I discovered I was washing my hands off in the feet washing bucket.  Yeah.  Brilliant.  Granted, it was at night so I couldn't see the difference in the color of the water.  Thankfully someone told me later in the evening that the tall bucket was for hand washing.  If you can't live without hand sanitizer, summer houses are not for you. 

Sauna!!  Obviously (or not so obviously) this is a reenactment of my first time in a Finnish sauna.  You pour the water on the coals that sit on top of the wood burning stove.  It creates quite a bit of steam and heats the room.  We got in the sauna about 10:30pm so it was pretty cold outside.  But the tradition is to sit in sauna and then go swim.  So, I DID.  I was all in!  Just like the Chicago Sox.  "All in!"  So I jumped in the lake and screamed so loudly I woke the neighboring town.  Then back to the sauna to warm up again.  I don't think I'll be doing that in the winter when they go swim in the frozen lakes.  Brrrr....

The view from the front porch of the couple's summer home.  The brother MADE the lake.  Yes.  It took him 10 years.  He cut down the trees, sold them as lumber; took out all the dirt and sold that.  Then the water came all on its own as they have a stream nearby.  I couldn't get over how incredibly beautiful it is.  And what a visionary man to be able to envision something like this.  It's just stunning.

View from inside the house.  The newer Finnish architecture has very large windows.  It's no wonder why...

Wow.

My reflection peering off the dock.

Off to check the fish trap.

Just baby fish.

And to top off the perfect weekend getaway...more CREPES!! I mentioned to the group that I won't fit on the airplane when I head home for the Christmas holiday. Their response?: "You may be fat when you leave, but you'll be happy!" :) That is so true. The food here is so good. Good thing I ride a bike to school.