My father-in-law, Ernie, is proudly Finnish. His father was an immigrant from Finland and his mother was first generation Finnish American. Ernie grew up in a primary Finnish speaking home. He still speaks some Finnish and he has managed to keep in contact with several relatives who still live in Finland. Ernie and my mother-in-law Jan visited Finland 19 years ago. Eric and I always said that if Ernie and Jan ever wanted to take another trip to Finland, we should drop everything and just go with them. Well, this was the summer we did just that! Finland is a beautiful country full of lakes and forests and farmland. It is every shade of green you can imagine, and then some. The pictures that follow do not do justice to all that green. They will only give you the tiniest hint at how very verdant Finland is in the summertime.


Now as far as I can tell, the Finns are a straightforward people. They do not appear to indulge in a whole lot of senseless romanticism.
The English translation of the name of this beautiful lake is "Water Lake". Gets right to the point, doesn't it?

(Eric took this shot with his cell phone... not bad, huh?)


Young trees sprouting in a forest in Kuopio.



Finland is full of wildflowers in the summer.





Moss growing on rocks in a graveyard in Kuortane.



Lichen on a tree in that same graveyard.



Farmland in Kuortane.



If you want to take a picture of a sunset in Finland in the summertime, you have to be willing to wait... and wait... and wait... and wait... and wait...
My mother-in-law took this picture. She has far more patience than I do!



Early in our trip, I learned two Finnish words - "kissa" which means "cat" and "kiitos" which means "thank you".
Initially I was afraid to use my new vocabulary words for fear I would mix them up.
I didn't want somebody to hand me a cup of coffee, only to hear me respond "cat".
In this picture Eric plays with a couple of barn kittens he discovered when we visited the home of his cousin Pekka.



This is a picture of Eric and his father outside of their ancestral home in Kuortane.
The house was moved by a relative, board by board, from a site across the road.
Nobody has lived there in decades, except barn cats.

Please note the grin on my father-in-law's face. He was like that the whole trip!!!
My father-in-law ran all over Finland telling life's story to just anybody who would listen - tour guides, store clerks, customs officers.
(Finns are VERY polite and patient people!)


We spent a couple of days at the beach by the Bothnian Sea.



Angela: "Honey, come down to the beach with me!
Eric: "Grumble, grumble, grumble"
Angela: "I hear the Swedish Bikini Team is in town working on their tans..."
Eric: "Let me get my suit!"



We are fortunate to find Seti friends in many of the places we travel!
Pasi Karonen was kind enough to treat us to a fabulous lunch in Kuopio and to show us around a nature preserve in that area.



Left to right - my mother-in-law Jan, Eric, me and Pasi.
In the background - beautiful Finnish scenery!!!



"Sauna" is the only Finnish word that has made it into the English language.
One cannot go to Finland and not at least try a sauna.
(Tip for first timers... try NOT to think about all the sweaty behinds that have rested on that wood before you!)



"Kahvi", which means "coffee", is another Finnish word I learned early in our trip.
Finns drink a lot of coffee... and I truly mean a LOT of coffee!!!!!!!
There are intricate social rules for "taking coffee" and I'm pretty sure I inadvertently violated quite a few of them.



One cannot "take coffee" without a little pastry to go with it!

Finnish donuts are delightfully chewy and laced with cardamon.
Finnish cinnamon rolls are more "bready" and less sweet than typical American cinnamon rolls.
Finnish pastries are delicious!!!!!

I hope these photos give you all a little taste of Finland. If you ever have a chance to visit Finland, I know you will enjoy it!

Awesome pictures, Angela and Eric! Visit Finland is now officially on my to-do list!

Thank you for sharing the wonderful pics, Angela.

Looks like a fine time was had by one and all.

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

WOW! Thats just beautiful! Glad you guys had a great time! Thank you for sharing those pictures with us!

---

Thank you Angela for sharing your beautiful pics of Eric and your vacation to Finland. Very Beautiful!

Glad you and Eric had a great time. And those are some awesome pictures.

---

[/quote]

Old James

Wonderful pics.

---

With each crime and every kindness we birth our future.

Such a beautiful country! Thanks for sharing those pics with us. :-D Glad you and Eric had such a great time together.

Hi Pasi!

neat Angela.. thank you for sharing.

Psst... Eric's Donald Trump Hairdo needs work

---

Janice

Thank you for sharing.

---

Pluto will always be a planet to me.

Seti Ambassador
Not to late to order an Anni Shirt

Looks like you had a fabulous time, Ang.
And great pix of a beautiful country!

---

...
BETTER THE WORLD ~ PAY IT FORWARD
...

Wow, it looks like eastern Canada, very nice.
Thankyou.

---

Yummy looking Angela, Yer other pics do look awesome too, but his one would Finnish Me right off, if My budget wasn't like it is, I'd buy some, Good pastries have left Me with some good memories. My beard is almost as good too, just not nearly as white yet and no I'm fairly well preserved for 51, My hairline hasn't moved ever.

---

The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

I spent two weeks in Finland for a World Cup competition.

Observations:

1. Finnish is without a doubt the hardest language for a native English speaker to pick up. I speak a fair bit of Spanish, Japanese and a smattering of Russian and had the hardest time asking for simple conversational items even after diligent study.

2. Finnish people are without a doubt some of the nicest people in the world.

3. Finnish boyfriends do not like it when their girlfriend make friendly with the USA guys.

4. Finnish cider is brilliant, just brilliant. Light, delicious, cold and .... why is there a giant swan looking at us?

5. It rains every day.

6. During the brief spring/summer they have, the entire country is impossibly green. You'll see shades of green you've never even imagined existed.

7. Slot machines are everywhere. I played 5 euro on one in a hotel lobby while waiting for a friend and won 340 Euro...in coins. Win.

8. Finnish food is typically horrendous save for a few moments of brilliance. 3" spongy crust pizza with tomato sauce, tuna fish, cheese then cucumber was not one of these moments.

9. When you're walking around at 'sunset' at 0100 and wondering why your internal clock resembles a Salvador Dalí painting, don't fret.

10. Finnish people have no idea what Mexican food is or should be. Americans visiting there are not smart enough to realize this and will order Mexican food in Finland regardless. I'm an idiot.

11. The public transport system is pretty brilliant.

12. Tequila in Finland is moderately priced and imported from Mexico. I'm an idiot.

13. Almost every Fin I ran across spoke at least conversational English.

14. Finnish coffee is made with hate, disconnect and caffeine. It is glorious.

---

Executive Director GPU Users Group Inc. -
brad@gpuug.org

Great pictures, Angela. Love the graveyard shots.

---

Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.

Albert Einstein

Ang
What are the flst things on the right? I wouldn't travel to Finland for a Donut.

---

Pluto will always be a planet to me.

Seti Ambassador
Not to late to order an Anni Shirt

those do look interesting uli.. I have in my mind a deep fried pizza dough sprinkled with sugar....

---

Janice

To me they are a form of Waffles and are big in Germany. I was hoping it was one of those.

Julie, I know, in the USA we call them Belgium Waffles, but I am in Europe Mode.

---

Pluto will always be a planet to me.

Seti Ambassador
Not to late to order an Anni Shirt

Uli wrote:

What are the flst things on the right?

The flat things? Don't know. Didn't try them.



Slavac wrote:

2. Finnish people are without a doubt some of the nicest people in the world.

Agreed!

4. Finnish cider is brilliant, just brilliant. Light, delicious, cold and .... why is there a giant swan looking at us?

Agreed! I tried a pear cider that was delicious... Oh look, the Russian border - let's try to cross it when the guards aren't looking!

6. During the brief spring/summer they have, the entire country is impossibly green. You'll see shades of green you've never even imagined existed.

Agreed! Finland in the summer is the greenest place I've ever seen!

8. Finnish food is typically horrendous save for a few moments of brilliance. 3" spongy crust pizza with tomato sauce, tuna fish, cheese then cucumber was not one of these moments.

I found the higher-end stuff to be delicious and the more pedestrian stuff less so. At the recommendation of Eric's cousin Mikko, I tried reindeer pizza. I didn't think it "worked" with a whole wheat crust. Also Finns eat pizza with a knife and fork! What's up with that?!!! And yeah, cucumber goes with or on everything there. I saw cucumbers served for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

13. Almost every Fin I ran across spoke at least conversational English.

Everyone under 55 or so speaks English... the older folks - not so much.




Soft^Spirit wrote:

Psst... Eric's Donald Trump Hairdo needs work

Neither one of us had a chance to get haircuts before we left and Eric's hairline is receding, but not in any organized, symmetric fashion... So yes, I'm afraid at times he does resemble "the Donald".

Well Angela I'm glad You two enjoyed Yourselves, But seriously pizza w/a fork? OMG...

8. Finnish food is typically horrendous save for a few moments of brilliance. 3" spongy crust pizza with tomato sauce, tuna fish, cheese then cucumber was not one of these moments.

I found the higher-end stuff to be delicious and the more pedestrian stuff less so. At the recommendation of Eric's cousin Mikko, I tried reindeer pizza. I didn't think it "worked" with a whole wheat crust. Also Finns eat pizza with a knife and fork! What's up with that?!!! And yeah, cucumber goes with or on everything there. I saw cucumbers served for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

---

The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's