Hyvää Itsenäisyyspäivää!

Or Happy Independence Day! Who is exhausted at just looking at those words? This language is still a daily challenge!

Back to Independence Day: in Finland it is celebrated on December 6th when they gained their independence from Russia in 1917. Finland had not been free before, but there were native people with a Finnish identity. The Swedes ruled from the 12th century until 1809 when the land was handed over to Russia and Finland became a Grand Duchy of Russia. The Russian Empire collapsed after the February and October Revolutions in 1917 and led to the collapse of the Grand Duchy of Finland. It gets complicated, but there was a power struggle in the Finnish government between the socialists and the non-socialists, independence was declared on December 6, 1917, and a brief civil war ensued that involved the Russians and the Germans. I think this will require another post in the future as my Finnish history is not strong and I think the story is long.

Independence Day is a national holiday and a flag day, so most people have the day off (public transit runs a limited route), the shops are closed, and the flags are flown. There is a military parade that rotates among the large cities of Finland (not in Helsinki this year), which is different from US parades: no floats and no candy. In the afternoon, a group of selected students form a torch-lit processional from the grave of the unknown soldiers to the President's House while singing. And at 6:00, people light two candles in their windows. 

A popular Independence Day past time is watching the President's Ball. The President holds a ball each year for about 2000 guests which include Knights of the Mannerheim Cross (a military decoration), members of government and parliament, judges, ambassadors, and other dignitaries, some people of the President's choosing (celebrities, activists, and this year common working people: a scientist in our department was invited), and finally former Presidents. The entire ball is broadcast on national TV and the most popular part to watch is the grand entrance where each guest shakes hands with the president and his/her spouse. The running joke is that it is an evening when 2.5 million people watch 2000 people shake hands. The germaphobe in me wondered whether there was a giant bottle of hand sanitizer for the guests out of view of the camera! People are dressed in formal attire and those with the flashiest dresses or shoes or hats capture the attention of the camera crews, sometimes at the expense of the next person in line. Depending on your feelings about being on camera, you would either love or hate being behind the woman with the most beautiful dress. After all of the people have filed in and the last hand has been shaken, there is a dinner and a dance, again all broadcast on TV. The cameras provide shots of the food, the people loading up their plates in the line, and up-close-and-personal shots of people dancing. During the broadcast, the TV journalists interview some of the guests, asking such questions as, "What does Finnish independence mean to you?" People poke fun at this TV event, but half of the country watches it anyhow and it is the topic of conversation on December 7th at work and in the newspapers, on the internet and on talkshows. 

How did I spend Finnish Independence Day? I blended some Finnish favorites: eating brunch and watching the handshake parade, with some of my favorite American downtime activities: reading and watching movies. It was a treat to have a day to relax!

Christmas cards

As we have received our first holiday cards of the season (thanks for the extra effort, friends and family!), and my coworkers have been talking a lot about writing their Christmas cards, I thought I'd post about it. I say Christmas cards because in Finnish, there is not a politically correct phrase for 'Happy Holidays' or 'Holiday cards'. Finland is 90% Lutheran, 5% Orthodox, and 5% other, which has to include the other major religions and non-religions. This is the only thing in Finland that I've encountered that is not PC. Everyone I've talked to here celebrates Christmas and they don't think a thing of saying 'Hyvää Joulua' (WHO-va YO-loo-ah). Even December is called Joulukuu, or Christmas month.

Christmas cards here are different from the traditional American cards. It would be rare for someone to send a family picture, and instead the cards are often holiday-themed postcards. The mail service, Posti, runs an offer on cheaper postage for Christmas cards. If you don't have a 'No ads please' sign on your door, you receive a red envelope from the post carrier that you fill with your Christmas cards and if you give it back to the post carrier by December 13th, and you pay only € 0.60 per stamp. If you get it to them by December 17th, it is € 0.70 per stamp. Stamps are normally € 1, so it may well be worth your efforts to finish your cards early. And with the special Christmas card offer from Posti, they deliver the cards just in time for Christmas.

Sauna ilta

I've finally made it to a sauna in Finland. I was beginning to feel bad about naming my blog 'Saunas and Santa Claus' and not yet coming across either.

Let's start with the Finnish word sauna. In English, most people would pronounce it as 'saw-na'. It is a borrowed word from the Finnish language where the correct pronunciation is 'SAOW-na' -- the first syllable rhymes with cow. Now that we have that out of the way, onto the more interesting stuff.

You will find saunas everywhere you go in Finland as it is a way of life for the Finns: every apartment building has either a common one if the building is recently remodeled it is likely to have a sauna in each unit. Houses will have one either built in or as a stand-alone building just a few steps from the door. There is a sauna in the gym locker rooms and there are rumors of a sauna in my building at work, but I haven't seen it nor have I heard of anyone using it. Saunas are heated either by a wood burning stove in which the smoke is either allowed inside the sauna or is vented out through a chimney, or they are heated by an electric stove. The smoke saunas are the original and are making a comeback, but they are not as common as the electric stove saunas. The temperature reaches somewhere between 80 and 110°C or 176-230°F -- warm enough to slow cook food, and it was certainly used in the past and is used occasionally for cooking today. No matter the method of heating, there are stones on the oven on which water is thrown to produce some humidity. When the water is thrown, the steam rises making the top of the room very warm: if it is too warm, you simply move to a lower bench or step outside to cool off.

The dress code for the Finnish sauna is your birthday suit. That's right -- no clothing allowed. I would also recommend removing all jewelry as it gets hot! If you live in an apartment with a communal sauna you simply reserve a time and you go with your family. There are also public saunas and they are designed so that there are separate men's and women's saunas. But what about sitting my behind down where someone else was sitting? No worries: you shower before you enter the sauna and after and you take with you a small towel or disposable seat cover on which to sit.

Now to the fun part: it's another option for entertainment. I went with some coworkers to a Helsinki sauna institution for a girl's night out and we made an evening of it, the sauna ilta. We sat in the sauna for some time, maybe 10 minutes or so and then cooled off by either sitting in the dressing room or going outside. Some people come prepared for this cooling off part! A group of 'grannies', as they introduced themselves to us, were set up with their knitting, sparkling wine, and fruit, cheese, and crackers. This cycle of heating and cooling is repeated a number of times. There is also another way to cool off during the winter: jump into a snow bank or an icy lake! Finland is the true land of a thousand lakes, clocking in at 187,888 (sorry, Minnesota!), and these are popular places to build summer cottages and of course a sauna. When the lakes freeze, people cut holes in them for fishing and for cooling off from the sauna. This certainly isn't for the faint of heart. 

I came home feeling refreshed and relaxed -- was it the sauna or some girl time? I'm not sure but I now know the appeal of being warmed through on a chilly day. There is also the added bonus of a more youthful appearance. Maybe the Finns have discovered the fountain of youth?

Helsinki in 48 Hours

We were recently put to the challenge of playing tour guide in our new city. A dear friend, Jenny, from 'The States' came to visit for the weekend en route to a business meeting. It was November when the days were becoming noticeably shorter, some of the tourist type attractions were closed, and the weather wasn't optimal for lounging at the outdoor cafes. A challenge indeed, but we were never bored and even had to scale the tour back a bit.

Since she just arrived, what better to do than eat? We had Finnish cold-smoked salmon for supper and then went out for some fresh air. In the city center, one of the hotels has a bar (Torni) with a great view of Helsinki from their top floor: the 14th.

The next day we took advantage of the grey skies and toured the city. We took in the major churches before lunch: The Church in the Rock, the Lutheran Cathedral, and the Orthodox Cathedral.

We lunched at the indoor harbor market and found this guy!

After checking out both the indoor and outdoor markets at the harbor, we had afternoon coffee to refuel and plot our next move. We decided on a little shopping and some resting before supper. There are endless restaurants in which to dine in Helsinki and choosing one is difficult, but we did manage to find one that served some Finland originals: reindeer and barley risotto with beet sauce.

 




















The next day was Sunday, and Father's Day, so we had a lighter itinerary. We did make it to the contemporary art museum, Kiasma. Their ongoing exhibit is entitled The Book of Life and featured Finnish artists Osmo Rauhala and Tosi Kyseessä as well as Toby Ziegler. After that it was time for a quick lunch and to get Jenny back to the airport. The weekend flew by and we had a great time catching up. And we were grateful to our gracious tourist in trying out our Helsinki tour! A big thanks to Jenny for the use of her pictures!

When in Wien

A few weeks ago (already!) we took a trip to Vienna, or Wien, Austria. Despite the clouds, some light fog and occasional mist, the early November weather was perfect for sight-seeing. We spent the weekend enjoying the beautiful properties and manses that the 6-century ruling Habsburgs built, the art of Gustav Klimt, and Sachre torte. 

Here is St. Stephen's Cathedral, which was covered so that they could give it a good scrubbing. The difference between the cleaned and not-yet-cleaned spots was drastic! St. Stephen's is more or less in the center of the 'inner ring' now, but when construction began in the 12th century, it was outside of the city walls. Interestingly, it has since been discovered that the cathedral was built upon old sites of religious sites (graves, churches) that date to the Roman times in the 4th century. Inside the catacombs (closed to tours while we were there) contain many notable Austrians, including bishops, dukes, and parts of the Habsburgs bodies. Apparently when members of this family died, they left instructions to be dissected and their body parts buried all over town.

These pictures are only part of the Habsburg city residence, the Hofburg Kaiserappartements. It was immense. We didn't tour it due to the short time we spent in Vienna, but it contains a few museums and all of their silver collection. Today, parts of it now have civic use, such as the National Library.

The sun came out as we walked through the Hofburg complex to see the National Library...

...and City Hall in the distance was also beautifully highlighted in the late afternoon sun.

 Our tour of the Habsburg's residences continued with the Schloss Belvedere, or Belvedere Palace, built in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The complex was the summer residence of Prince Eugene and was comprised of two buildings, the Upper and the Lower Belvedere, an orangery and stables, all of which were separated by immaculate gardens. This castle has been turned into an art museum where a large collection of Austrian paintings are on display, including Gustav Klimt (the highlight of the trip for me). Shown is a view of the garden from the Upper Belvedere, and the Upper Belvedere.

We spent the next day at the Versailles of Vienna: Schloss Schönbrunn, yet another Habsburg residence. This particular one was their hunting residence. Some shack it was. You start to get the feeling that each successive ruler needed to out-build the last. Anyway, this complex was quite a distance from the city, and the main residence contained over 1400 rooms: only 40 are on display to the public. The following two pictures are the view of the entrance and the rear of the residence.

From the rear of the residence, the gardens were in view, as was the Gloriette. This was built to be the focal point of the gardens and contained a dining hall that was sometimes used for breakfast. I guess one tires of seeing the same old 1400+ rooms and must go somewhere else for breakfast. Today it holds a cafe. The gardens here were vast and very ornate. I did not post pictures because I didn't manage to take any that did justice to their beauty.

Aside from these beautifully preserved remnants of the Habsburg, Vienna has something for all tourists. If shopping is your thing, the pedestrian mall in the Inner Ring is rather gentrified and you will find H&M, Tiffany's, Fossil, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, and many many more. There are also some shops selling tchotchkes for tourists, bakeries and flower shops with their goods spilling out of the doors.

We also paid a visit to the Vienna institution, the Hotel Sachre, for a piece of their world-famous cake, the Sachre torte. The first time we walked by, there was a line nearly 100 people deep. So we did the rational thing and came back to have chocolate cake for breakfast the next day. The cake was a bit dry, but I don't think that this is unusual after hearing reviews from others. There was a layer of apricot jam in the middle and it was covered in a chocolate ganache.

While in Vienna we had to try out their other famous dishes. Below is a shot of leberkäse, which I would guess to be the inspiration for Spam, but I don't know for certain. Your guess is as good as mine as to what is actually in this, but traditionally it contains bits of onion, pork and beef and some spices, all ground very finely and baked together in a loaf pan. Brent enjoyed it, and I tried a few bites. It was ok (delicious in Brent's view), and likely shaved a few years from our lives. 

We also tried out wienerschnitzel and goulash with spaetzel. In some parts of the US, wienerschnitzel was adapted to be made with pork and called a tenderloin. I am now convinced to not mess around with pork and that veal is the way to go with this dish. The goulash was also very good with large chunks of beef cooked in a spiced tomato sauce. Finally, we wandered through the Naschmarkt and found permanent market stalls where people sold fresh produce and other food products such as coffee, wine (they are known for their white wines), fish, and meat and some hand-made goods such as soaps and woolen goods. Its popularity was apparent as it was packed with shoppers. The city was also preparing for the Christmas season by setting up stalls for the Christmas market in front of the city hall:

The city was beautiful, packed full of something for everybody. It is very easy to navigate and most of the major attractions are within walking distance of everything. If you tire of walking, there is an extensive metro system as well as a number of tram and bus routes around town. I highly recommend going and I look forward to a return trip sometime in the future.