We awoke a bit sad this morning because today we are going home again after our amazing holiday in Jyvaskyla. I am sitting at the airport right now after a long train trip from Jyvaskyla to Tikkurila and I am thinking about the Finnish sauna. The first thought coming to my mind is that I am going to have to build a sauna in my own home now! The saunayoga was amazing to do and the smoke sauna we went to was so refreshing and wonderful. I dont think I can do without one anymore in my own daily life. I'm sure Matti would appreciate a sauna in Holland as well!

I also learned something new about sauna during this trip: the dive into the cold water or a walk through the snow after a hot sauna. At first I thought Finnish people must be mad to be doing this! But after trying it myself I have decided that it does indeed add a refreshing dimension to my sauna experience. And an experience the sauna is indeed in Finland, at least for me. I think a trip to Finland is not complete without a visit to an original Finnish sauna: it is an integral part of the culture here. For Finnish people a tip if they have foreign guests that will be joining in for a sauna: make sure there is some private space for the to get dressed and maybe give some extra towels to the guests so they can cover themselves if they feel shy. Also, Dont add too much water at once to the stones! Else people that are trying sauna for the first time will run away and think they can't breathe anymore!

Well, that was it from me about my trip to Finland, I hope you all enjoyed reading about my experiences here and I hope that if you are not a Finn yourself, you might be inspired to try out the sauna as well now!

After a busy day yesterday we had some time waking up early for the hotelbreakfast. A few cups of coffee and tea later we felt much refreshed. Strenghtened in this way we decided to go for a swim before we were being picked up to go to the smoke sauna. What a lovely pool there is at the Laajavuori hotel! I went to swim a bit and afterwards we sat in the jacuzzi for a while enjoying the lovely view. When we were done swimming we headed back towards the dressing rooms and I was in for a surprise: there were no private dressing rooms! I decided to put my clothes on over my still slightly wet swimming gear since I felt a bit shy getting undressed in public.

After some freshening up in the hotel room it was 1pm and Erkki, the host of the  Savutuvan apaja, picked us up together with Heidi Ruotanen from Sauna from Finland. After a surprisingly short drive we arrived at this sauna wellness center. Especially for us a smoke sauna was prepared already at 8am in the morning! Needless to say we felt like highly honoured guests, because Erkki also gave us a tour of the whole area. There are so many lovely old buildings to be seen - it is almost too much for a short afternoon! After the tour we went to the sauna houses. Erkki explained the procedure to us and mentioned to me that if i dared to go into the really cold ice-covered water after I had been in the sauna that I would get a special certificate! After some doubting I decided I was going to have to be brave and try it! So off we went into the smoke sauna - which was truely wonderful! It smells very different from a normal sauna; it smells like a wood fire and, according to me, the way a sauna should be smelling.

Then the moment arrived: it was time for me to take a dip in the freezing cold water. I decided the best course of action was to just get it over with quickly so I ran ahead and step by step went down the ladder into the hole in the ice. At first I didnt feel a thing, but when i got out again i started to feel very very cold, and my toes had gone completely numb! I ran inside again quickly for a warm shower and felt very proud of myself. Matti was right behind me and took an even deeper plunge into the cold waters - i was quite amazed. After our cold dips we went for some more time into the smoke sauna, joined by Heidi and Piia from 'Sauna from Finland' and had a very friendly time together talking about this and that. At some point here a photographer came from the Finnish Press Agency to take some pictures of me steaming from the sauna outside in the snow and another of me dipping my toes into the cold water again. This was very funny to do. We decided to get dressed again after some 2 hours of smoke-sauna fun and we were invited inside for some food. A beautiful salmon was prepared for us in front of a roaring fire. Heaven! It was so amazingly good tasting! During the dinner I talked with a journalist about my experiences here and Heidi and Piia talked some about Sauna from Finland and the survey they did about the image of Finnish sauna held by foreigners.

After this really amazing dinner, one of the best I had, Heidi and Piia suggested we visit the museum of central finland. We were just in time - it closes at 6- and we were very lucky: fridays have free admission! we very much enjoyed the exhibition about the history of the area and the way people lived in this area and how the city of Jyvaskyla formed. when we were doing viewing all the interesting areas of the museum we decided to go for a sweet desert into town: to the Viking restaurant Harald. What a nice restaurant this is! The staff are dressed in authentic viking costumes and the dishes are also authentically, most of the time, viking! Several cups of tea and some lovely cake, icecream and jelly later it was suddenly 9 o clock and time to head to the hotel again because we had a busy day travelling home to Holland again tomorrow.

Had a truely wonderful day today, this first day we are in finland. We got up early again to enjoy the hotel's breakfast. A lot of things were available: from yoghurt, knackebrod and karjalanpiirakkaa (I asked what they were called) to scrambled eggs and meatballs.

After this we decided to relax a little bit in the room because at 11 we were meeting an instructor to try our hand at Saunayoga. This is yoga done while sitting on a bench in the sauna at 50 degrees C. I already liked yoga but this kind of yoga is even more fun. You really feel like you are making your body healthier while excersizing and speeding up your metabolism. After this we took a shower and then waited for our relatives to arrive. It was very nice to see them again.

We decided to head into town to do some shopping. Our shopping trip was very successfull! We all found something we liked. We decided to end the day at a restaurant where they had pizza, because Matti really likes this. When we were all full we headed back to the hotel for a cup of coffee and tea and then said our goodbyes.

Right now we are enjoying the great view from the hotelroom while watching a film on tv and enjoying a bottle of cider (wish we had those in Holland!) and also a really nice platter of fruit, chocolates and cookies that was delivered to our room when we were out - Yum! Tomorrow I am going to experience my first smoke sauna I am told. Im very curious!

Now for another night of rest so that we are ready for another full day.

We got up real early this morning to catch the train to Schiphol Airport. Things went very well flying to Helsinki. Unfortunately the airplane from Helsinki to Jyväskylä had a bit of a delay but it gave me a good opportunity to catch up on some overdue schoolwork! Now I can start my holiday in Finland with a clean conscience.

We arrived in Jyväskylä around 8 'o clock local time and the friendly ladies from Sauna from Finland were awaiting us already when we arrived. Goodness what a welcome! Flowers and goodybags and lots of enthusiastic chatter on the way to the hotel. When we arrived at the hotel both me and Matti were completely impressed - we really felt like two very lucky people to have won this prize! We checked in and went up to our room to deposit our luggage, the short time we saw the room we were already wowed, and we went down again for a late dinner with Heidi and Piia. We had a very nice and enthusiastic conversation about the Netherlands and Finland and sauna and anything else we could think off.

I cannot help but feel happy anticipation to what is going to come the next few days. After this dinner and some goodbyes me and Matti went up to our room and took a nice relaxing bath and are now installed with a cup of tea and a cup of coffee and some Very delicious chocolates.

I simply cannot wait for all the things we're going to experience tomorrow!

It is now 9 'o clock in the evening and all our things are packed and standing ready to go. Tomorrow we're getting up bright and early to catch the train to the airport. We said goodbye to all our pets and family. Now just another night of sleep before we can set off.

We are both very much looking forward to seeing Finland again. The last time we were there was in the summer. I imagine it all looks quite different in winter!
I simply cannot wait to set foot in a nice hot sauna to get the winterchill from my bones! I hope this time tomorrow we'll be in one.

Well, time to sleep now; busy day behind me and a busy day ahead of me. Finland here we come!

We'll arrive to Jyväskylä in January the 18th, and spend the next three
days exploring sauna culture in Finland.