Finland Favorite Tips by sinoda Top 5 Page for this destination

Vapriikki - museums in Finland

Favorite thing: In Finland there are 162 museums under professional administration (http://www.nba.fi/fi/tietoa_museoista).

All in all there little less than 1000 museums all over the country which gather some 5 million visitors every year.

Since Finland has roughly some 5 million inhabitants this means that there is one museum for each person living in Finland.

Fondest memory: One being the Vapriikki in Tampere - located in an old factory building in the industrial area.

Very nicely re-using the old architecture this is not only a good museum with changing exhibition but an exqiusit example of recycling buildings and whole neighbourhoods.

http://www.tampere.fi/vapriikki/etusivu.shtml

Ruska-aika ---

Favorite thing: - also known in anglo-saxon language areas as leaf-peeping (who has invented this very suspect expression?) - what an amusing word...

Anyway, from mid-Septembre to mid Octobre leaves change their colours before being torn down by the windy autumn storms. The best time for spotting this magnificent spectacle is obviously just around the change from Septembre to Octobre.

This phenomenon is at its best in Lapland during that time, but you can experience it all over the country. Just note that Lapland is famous for its RUSKA - it has developed an actual tourist season of its own!

Fondest memory: Don't just stare at the leaves hanging from the trees, have a look at the shiny carpet-like lawns and moores - they develope this same kind of metamorphosis....

Winter view over a frozen lake

Favorite thing: Marvellous and enchanting finnish landscapes.

I just don't seem to get enough of it. Finnish winter means still real winter with masses of snow, ice and low temperatures...

Fondest memory: This picture is taken at our cottage in middle-finland. It is about noon on Christmas 2002. The picture wouldn't tell, but it is some minus 20 degrees celcius.

There's about half a meter of snow and the ice on the lake is ca. 60 cm thick...

Land of lakes and swans

Favorite thing: Three species of swans live in Finland during the summer time:

by the sea shores the white swan in Latin cygnus olor and in Finnish kyhmyjoutsen

on the lakes in the inland the whooper swan in Latin cygnus cygnus and in Finnish laulujoutsen

and the rare bewick's swan in Latin cygnus bewickii and in Finnisch kääpiöjoutsen

Fondest memory: In the picture you a couple of white swan landing on our lake. Every year in the very early spring the same swans come to the same lake to breed and raise their off-springs...

During Easter when the ice on the lakes is already slowly melting there's always a dramatic spectacle, when other swans try to get their share of fresh water...

Swans have been very highly regarded animals to our ancestors, esp. in Carelia. It is said that there was along the Bear and the Elk clans a Swan clan... Even in paleolithic petroglyphs swan are distinguishable.

Marshlands in the south-west

Favorite thing: Why do you visit Finland? What do you expect?

Hope nothing and get everything.

Finland has a extraordinary countryside, nature as raw as life itself, mild as soft as the bears fur, dark as intimidating winter's days and as bright as the sun's kiss.

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Fondest memory: Even in the busiestmost area of Finlnd (south-west - called ruuhka-Suomi) you can encounter wild nature. Here marshlands in Varsinais-Suomi.

Birch wood

Favorite thing: Having spent my youth mostly in Switzerland the birch is a tree I know best from I our vacations in Finland. Well, there are birches in Switzerland, yes, but they are nothing compared to the ones up here.

People raised in central Europe will be fascinated by the vast and shiny birch woods you encounter everywhere in Finland, except in the very north.

Birch in Finnish is koivu and a whole birch wood koivikko.

In June and July when their leaves are fresh and still rather tender and the tree trunks are whiter than white you may believe having a vision! for it is such a beautiful sight and if there happens to be a lake somewhere close the glittering water will just make the it perfect.

Fondest memory: ___________________________________The picture on the other hand shows you a koivikko in winter's time - what a lovely sight as well.

Those Finns who know it do drink the juice of the birch called mahla and the industry uses it after preparation as a natural sweetener (xylitol) for the moment in chewing gum!

So next time when passing a koivikko, pause, take a halt and admire the scene.