New experiences, old ways

Smoke Sauna

Having visited Finland half a dozen times I've already experienced some of the more obvious (perhaps stereotyped) parts of Finnish culture and cuisine: like taking saunas and eating reindeer. But the start of this trip has given me the chance to try some new (to me) Finnish traditions.

We had been invited to visit at Konna's laid-back friend Taiska's family cottage - this worked quite well for us as it is on the route to Kesälahti from Helsinki - so we decided to stop over on the way. We were warned that T's mum had a reputation for providing a very generous spread, and we weren't disappointed. Included in the feast was roast elk (hirvipaisti), a bit like beef but richer, softer and almost crumbly, and which I found out later T's dad said he had a close relationship with, meaning he had hunted it himself.

T & family have been building additions and improvements every summer for years, the latest being a Kota (a sort of teepee shaped hut) but more importantly they have a savusauna (smoke sauna) which is 
the old way to heat a sauna using the smoke from the burning wood not 
just the heat for the stones and water. This gives a much 'softer' and more mellow sauna, less harsh löyly (steamy heat 
that comes from throwing water on the stove) particularly compared to 
modern electric stoves; the drawbacks are it takes a long time to heat 
(as all the heat is stored in the massive brick stove as it can't be 
burning while you use it), and smoke=soot so touch any surface and you 
get equally sooty. Not only was the sauna itself different, but for 
the first time this was taken by me with a group of Finnish males, 
including an enthusiastic and talkative rock singer, and a more 
phlegmatic T's dad; so none of that self conscious modesty needed ... 
To cap off this cultural social experience we also drank sahti (an
acquired taste - being a sort of prototype for beer with no hops and very strong) between sessions. I think I'll stick to the Lapin Kulta.  

The next day, after sleeping in an 18th century log out building 
(aitta), we went to the local town's Uotinpäivät (which is a fair that 
commemorates the Viking Olaf's involvement in the area) where amongst 
the stalls selling birch bark baskets, fake crocs, felt shoes, and 
lehtuja (fake crepes) I got the chance to hand grind some flour on T's 
Dad’s stall. And tomorrow we'll make sämpylä (something like bread rolls)...

[edited 18/8/08]

We'll be right back after the break...

Mini-mökki, Vaasa

We're off again - to Kesälahti then Koli for a couple of weeks of mökki (cottage) and camping - so probably no more posts for a while... Unless we find a campsite with wireless Internet! (And even then no pics as we'll be working off my iPod). But before we go we've been literally inundated with requests - okay just the one then - to know a) how to pronounce Hölynpöly; and b) how to leave comments...

a. My best representation is "Herlewen-perlew"; but any better suggestions welcome

b. Just click on the 'comments' link at the bottom of each post. If we don't go mökki höperö in the meantime, I'll catch up with them when I am back!

Freedom!

JE! mummo stepped in from the main door; door slammed close behind her leaving the winter storm outside; she was in the summer; beach and sunny weather - swimming is a possibility; have to go whatever it costs; see you in the waves. JE!

Architects on holiday: Aalto to Asuntomessut

One of the curses of being an architect is that it is pretty hard to get away from the stuff (architecture that is) unless you go camp in the wilderness somewhere - but even the tent is an ingenious tensile fabric structure... Well getting out of the urbs will come later, but on this little cultural tour of westen Finland we managed to pack in plenty of architectural sightseeing.

First off (Monday) we stopped in Seinäjoki to see not the Tango festival, but the central civic area - church, library, town hall, theatre and town square all to the masterplan and design of Alvar Aalto between 1951-87. The region is known for it's flat plains, so it interesting that a striking feature of the design (after the 65m high church tower) are the artificial hills for the church lawn and town hall.

Seinäjoki Town Hall with Church of the Plains behind

Seinäjoki Town Hall, Aalto Civic Centre

Tuesday we visited the Asuntomessut (housing fair) in Vassa. This is a annual event showcasing a housing development, from one-off architect designed houses, to apartments and family homes. This years site, a curving waterfront development, has pushed the balance towards the one-off houses after last years larger and more sub/urban site. To be honest there was only one house that really stood out, but some of the more modest houses (in sixes or fours to a court) where also very impressive compared with the typical UK development. I should also say the site was packed with families, not just 'trade' visitors like us.

The fancy bit of the Asuntomessut, Vasaa

Our favorite house, somewhere behind the crowds...

Thursday: After the visit to the folk festival (see separate post) the night before, we went back to the Folk Art Museum in Kaustinen and got a look round, including the auditorium buried in the rock of the hill side. Completed in 1998 it shows the Finns have no fear of using contemporary architecure to give a home to their traditional culture, and was described as a 'Finnish Acropolis' in AR.

Kaustinen Folk Art Centre

After the lull for the Jazz we find the smaller Lomas (holiday home) exhibition outside Pori on Sunday.

Lomas (holiday home) exhibition house, near Pori

But the best is saved to last, as on Monday we head to Noormarkku for a guided tour of Villa Mairea. Built in 1939 for the Gullichsen's this is seen as one of Aalto's main works (with Aino, Alvar's wife contributing considerably), and doesn't dissapoint 70 years later - rivalling the Picasso's kept on it's walls as a work of art. We can only see the main 'public' reception rooms as the family still use the house, but these are so rich in subtle detail an hour is easily filled.

Villa Mairea, Noormarkku (not my video BTW, we weren't even allowed to take photos inside)

I suppose the real curse is on the non-architects (sorry Bore) who get dragged round various buildings, and put up with extensive photographic essays of obscure modernist sites... 

Well you could always go camping instead.

Onnea nimipipäivä / Happy nameday

photo: aburt / flkr

Tänään on Konnan ja Boren nimipäivä, mutta koska me matkustamme autossa Helsinkiin, ei ole maniskkakakku tänään. Ehkä huomenna?

All that Jazz

Pori Jazz Festival

Gannet Colony 

Maybe I have been sitting in the sun too long, but have you ever seen a nature film of birds (gannets maybe) where the birds are packed into their nesting grounds - social yet territorial - feeding and sending up a clamour? Well in this case the 'clamour' is Finnish and the the 'gannets' picnic-ers. And away down the bottom of the slope is a stage occasionally inhabited by jazz performers... But the huge flock feeds and socializes oblivious to the intrusion, until Santana arrive bringing proceedings to a frenzy of flapping.

Yes definitely too much sun.

Kaustinen folk music festival: Folk You!

Kaustinen Folk Music Festival 'Arena'

You may wonder at the gratuitous use of the F word in this post, and so do I... But this is the biggest folk gathering in the Nordic region so fiddles, accordians and strange harmonies abound. Costumed folkies start jamming 'spontaneously'. The festival takes over half the small town using the music school and grounds as the main base, including an impressive canopied main arena.

After a bit of wandering we see Baltic Crossing, a group of young Finnish, Danish and English musician with a passion for their music. I'm also pleased to find wireless access as well as beer and cider in the outside bar.

The main event is Angelique Kidjo, whose West African sound to be honest is not my sort of thing, but goes down a storm with the crowd - despite an enforced ban on video and photos after the first three songs. Now only the Jazz festival to, er, look forward to... but just remember Folk You!

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Sent from my iPod

Miksi hölynpöly? Why fluff and nonsense?

This blog is an open diary of our time in Finland, mainly for family and friends to know what we are up to.  Think of the posts as a mixture of postcards, scrapbook pages, idle jottings, and the like; some serious, some not, some sarcastic, some fictional. I will also occasionally inflict my bad Finnish on these posts, so in advance I will apologise to any of my Finnish hosts who may be reading - anteeksi!  However I will let the Turtle 'Konna' apologise for herself for any bad English/Suomea she might perpetrate when she posts...

Let us know what you think.