Flight to Finland - August 10

We travelled to Finland today! I had been an exchange student there back in 1985, and was keen to revisit old friends, and show my family around.

Technically, the trip started yesterday, with the now-familiar train trip to London. We took a hotel near Heathrow airport, and had dinner at a nearby pub ,'The Three Magpies." Anyway, there was no stress in getting to the airport this morning. Finnair was much classier than the El Cheapo Ryan Air we had used before, actually giving us lunch, and puzzles for the children. I found the Finnish announcements strangely comforting, although quite incomprehensible nowadays. Mind you, with my hearing aid on the blink again even English announcements are inaudible, so there you go...

The first feeling of Finland was the birches surrounding Helsinki airport. Then, all the lakes and large stretches of forest. So much unpopulated space! ( Mind you, the airport had been packed. Some sort of renovations going on.)

We noted all the islands as we flew down to Kuopio airport. Pia was waiting for us there. So nice to see my former host-sister! She was very brown - they have had unprecedented hot weather here- temperatures in the 30's. Anyway, today it was damp and just pleasantly warm. It was about an hour's drive to Iisalmi, our destination.

There we met Mette, 18, just returned from a year's exchange in Holland herself. Ville, 16, was there too. Kari, Pia's husband, came in later. Pia served up 'kalakukkp', a local specialty of fish baked inside bread. It was just as delicious as I remembered! Then we went down to an athletics meeting to watch Pia's youngest daughter, Milla,run in a relay. She had just won the 100 metres, which she ran in 12.72 seconds - making her the fastest 14 year old in Finland. Very impressive!

We took her home, and went for a swim down at the lake. We swam off the pier near the sailing club, in nice warm water thanks to the hot summer. Back for a sauna. Ahh! How I have missed these!

Pia's children then went off to sleep at their dad's house, as we have taken over their bedrooms! We just needed a sheet to cover us, in this hot arctic place...