Happy New Year! Where did you ring in 2014? We seem to start out each year somewhere different (in our five years in Munich, I think we were only there for its warzone-like Sylvester once). This year we had the pleasure of being invited to join some friends at their log cabin on a lake in a remote part of Finland. We’d lapped up their stories of snowy snowy New Year’s Eves past and could not wait to experience it ourselves.
The week before our trip we dug out our snow gear, having been warned that we’d need it. Last December it had gotten down to around -30°c (-22°f). Had we ever even experienced that level of cold before? Did we own appropriate clothing for this adventure?
Then a couple days before our trip, we heard from our host. No need to worry about the snow gear after all – we wouldn’t be needing it. The weather had been unseasonably warm, hovering several degrees above freezing, and was forecast to stay that way for our entire visit. And so it did.
We were in the Sulkava region in eastern Finland. There are lakes everywhere in this part of the country – just look at the map to see how perforated the land is. Surrounding the lakes you find mainly forests of birch and fir trees. Many of the lakes have just a handful of cabins around them, most of which are not winterized.
Each cabin also has sauna, sometimes in its own separate little building. In the summer one can alternate sweating with jumps into the lake; in winter the lake is frozen but there’s usually some fluffy piles of snow to roll around in naked. I was looking forward to this part, but it was not to be.
We did get a light coating of snow on the last day of the year, which made for some lovely photos and a picturesque afternoon walk. For dinner we had the traditional Finnish New Year’s Eve meal of sausages and potato salad. This was followed by the British Christmas pudding from our hamper, which we proudly doused with whisky and lit on fire.
The evening’s entertainment included the Finnish tradition of melting a small tin horseshoe and pouring it into a cold bucket of water. The shape taken by the tin is supposed to tell you something about your fortunes in the coming year. Apparently my 2014 will be rather abstract.
At midnight we drank champagne and set off fireworks over the frozen lake. There’s a 6-hour window during which setting off fireworks is legal in Finland, and the locals seem delighted to take advantage of this opening.
My favorite food discovery of this trip was Karjalanpiirakat – rye pastries filled with rice porridge – which we had for breakfast each day. Leipäjuusto, a squeaky fried cheese served with cloudberry jam, also dazzled us at the breakfast table.
My favorite new digestif is Salmiakki, a salty licorice liquor served ice cold. I also fell a little bit in love with Finnish television, which treated us to many delights including a Eurovision qualifying show (alas, no monster make-up). Despite the lack of snow, Finland totally charmed us.
Looks absolutely wonderful! I spend a few days in the lakes region of Finland during the summer and can just imagine how cozy it feels in the winter (even without mountains of snow). I also tried lead pouring (Bleigießen) for this first time on New Year’s Eve and can also report that my 2014 is also apparently very abstract looking. 🙂 Happy new year!
Happy New Year, Mandi! I hope your abstract year is off to a good start.
We hope to make it back to the lakes region in the summer sometime – I hear the swimming is divine, and that it doesn’t get too hot. Sounds like my kind of summer.
Here’s to squeaky fried cheese and an abstract New Year! All looks lovely to me. 🙂 But for shame, this means you would have missed the hashtag flurries of Blogmanay!!
Happy new year, Jools! Hope 2014 is treating you and the Mrs. well.
Ah yes, it was a shame to have missed all the blogmanay hashtaggery, but surely we’ll get a chance to experience it in person sometime in the coming years. We plan to be in Edinburgh for a good long while!