Finland

[julia]

I recently came back from a holiday in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. We chose it for our holiday because we had some special British Airways miles which needed using up and we could fly direct from where we live.

I was so wonderfully surprised by what a fantastic place it is - clean, green and beautiful, with relaxed, gentle, polite people everywhere we went. There was water everywhere and people swimming in it! I particularly noticed a public children's play park with buckets, spades, diggers and other toys provided - no one had stolen or broken them, and there was no litter or dog poo.

All the furniture and furnishings (in our apartment and in cafes and on the marvellous public transport) was so beautifully comfortable and well-designed, and all the people dressed in a way which I so admired - simple and elegant and, again, somehow comfortable. The architecture was stunning.

I think Helsinki would be a great place to lead a really full but very simple, environmentally conscious life. Unfortunately my husband has a spinal injury and would struggle with the icy winters (I would LOVE them - I used to live in Austria!) so I can't apply for a teaching job there - at least for now.

[Teacher Terry]

That sounds so beautiful! My DIL is from Poland & we had a similar experience when we went to visit. Poland is also a cheap country to visit because they are not on the Euro. In fact, we are going back for our 2nd visit soon.

[julia]

Finland isn't cheap but I never felt ripped off - everything we bought (supermarket food, meals out, museum entry and public transport) was high quality.

I've heard that Poland is beautiful - there are a lot of lovely Polish people in the UK and my niece's grandfather on the other side of the family was Polish so she's been there lots of times and loves it.

Sometimes the countries which are not the obvious tourist destinations are surprisingly wonderful. I loved Venice and Prague but found the busyness exhausting and had a couple of nasty experiences with fraud.

I forgot to say that I left my iPhone in the taxi from the airport. Our Airbnb hosts assured us that we would get it back, even though we didn't even have the name of the cab company. They tracked it down for us and, sure enough, the taxi driver found it on the back seat and returned it to us. I'm sad to say that I don't think this would have happened in the UK.

[Gardenarian]

It sound like a wonderful place to visit, or to live. I've read many articles on Finland in the past few years, all saying what a happy and prosperous and healthy place it is.

I wish the U.S. would follow their example - in education, maternity/paternity leave, health care, etc.

[Teacher Terry]

My DIL says Prague is a great place to visit so we will go there in Aug when my hubby & I make the trip. My BF & I are going in Oct for a week because my son found us tickets for half price so could not pass up the opportunity. I have been to Italy 2x's but it was a lot more expensive. That's fantastic about your phone. That probably would not have happened in the US.

[Spartana]

I went to Finland many years ago (and am still in contact with some people I met there) and thought it was a wonderful place. I had a Eurail Pass so took the ferry (free with pass) from Sweden to Finland, stayed at hostels and then took a train as far north as I could thru Finland (and with a stop in a northern Finnish town at the end of the rail line called Korai or something like that) before going into Narvik, Norway - both towns about 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Was there (Narvik) for the Summer Solstice (camping on the beach watching in the midnight sunshine!). I also though Finland would be a great place to live. The people are reserved but friendly. Just don't think I could master the language though :-)!

From somewhere in Northern Finland:

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1438&d=1412028041

[flowerseverywhere]

Terry, Just got back from Prague. Be prepared to walk on cobblestones. A lot. Check out Rick Steve's and eyewitness guides for good places to eat. Watch the following movies filmed in Prague:immortal beloved, operation daybreak and Amadeus. I went to the Jewish museum but did not go to the local concentration camp. I am glad I went but had nightmares that night. The architecture is stunning. Also, many of the churches and the Rudolphinium have wonderful concerts and operas. Well worth to familiarize yourself with Mozart before going. I was surprised how many people spoke English. More casual dress than I suspected
haven't made it to Finland, thinking of maybe Holland next.

[Dhiana]

One of the most amazing people in my stitch group is from Finland. She is a beautiful person inside and out. Speaks Finnish, Swedish, English, is married to a German which she speaks in their home. They lived in Shanghai for several years so she speaks Chinese and now Japanese also!

She'll walk in with about 8 rows of knitting in a gorgeous yarn and at our next meeting about 2 weeks later will show up wearing the item; a beautiful maxi dress =0
If I could be even half as amazing as her I would consider my life well lived.

[julia]

I went to Finland many years ago (and am still in contact with some people I met there) and thought it was a wonderful place. I had a Eurail Pass so took the ferry (free with pass) from Sweden to Finland, stayed at hostels and then took a train as far north as I could thru Finland (and with a stop in a northern Finnish town at the end of the rail line called Korai or something like that) before going into Narvik, Norway - both towns about 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Was there (Narvik) for the Summer Solstice (camping on the beach watching in the midnight sunshine!). I also though Finland would be a great place to live. The people are reserved but friendly. Just don't think I could master the language though :-)!


From somewhere in Northern Finland:

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1438&d=1412028041

I tried to learn some Finnish before I went - I already speak fluent German and other European languages - and found it incredibly hard! I really wished I'd made a bit more effort.

What a lovely picture!!

[Teacher Terry]

Flowers: thanks for the info about Prague!

[Spartana]

I tried to learn some Finnish before I went - I already speak fluent German and other European languages - and found it incredibly hard! I really wished I'd made a bit more effort.

What a lovely picture!!My grandparents are from Sweden and my mom is from Germany and I just can't figure out what in the world Finnish is related to! It doesn't sound Scandinavian at all - doesn't sound Russian or even European at all. Actually sounds Polynesian. Even the last names of my friends there are long weirdly spelled and unusual sounding. Now I'm curious and will have to google the it.

[iris lilies]

I am getting a yen to visits Scandanavian countires. All of the films I see from that area shows gorgeous countryside and a populace that is close to nature, they love swimming and hiking and being in the lakes and outdoor areas.

[iris lilies]

Terry, Just got back from Prague. Be prepared to walk on cobblestones. A lot. Check out Rick Steve's and eyewitness guides for good places to eat. Watch the following movies filmed in Prague:immortal beloved, operation daybreak and Amadeus. I went to the Jewish museum but did not go to the local concentration camp. I am glad I went but had nightmares that night. The architecture is stunning. Also, many of the churches and the Rudolphinium have wonderful concerts and operas. Well worth to familiarize yourself with Mozart before going. I was surprised how many people spoke English. More casual dress than I suspected
haven't made it to Finland, thinking of maybe Holland next.

Prague is definitely on my list!

[Spartana]

I am getting a yen to visits Scandanavian countires. All of the films I see from that area shows gorgeous countryside and a populace that is close to nature, they love swimming and hiking and being in the lakes and outdoor areas.

Yeah my favorite area of Europe but expensive! I just googled Finnish stuff and came across this pic on Wikipedia - guess it was from Narvik, Norway (1500 miles from the North Pole and 150 north of the Artic Circle) and not Finland. Very cool place though and worth a visit - oh and the photo looks a bit familiar :-)!

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1439&d=1412132635

[SiouzQ.]

My ex-father-in-law emigrated from Finland after the war. My first trip to Finland was in 1985 (?) with his son (my boyfriend, and later my husband). FIL paid for everything! We toured through France, Germany, and Switzerland for two weeks, then swung back north to pick up FIL in Hamburg and then drive to the ferry that would take us to Denmark, drove through Denmark and Sweden, then another ferry across to Finland. FIL has a beautiful cottage on the Baltic about an hour from Helsinki. The first trip I was gone 6 weeks, the second trip was a belated honeymoon in which we took the train as far north as it would go into Lapland, then hopped on our bikes and proceeded to bike our way up into Norway near the Russian border (this was before Perestroika). Took a ferry around the fjords of Norway until we find a bikeable road road to head south on. I have to say that bike trip was THE hardest thing physically I have ever done! But so worth it! It was stunningly beautiful, and I remember we climbed Mt. Sana (sp?) at midnight but the sun was still up and by the time we went to sleep in our tent it was 3am and bright sunlight. That was weird...

We happened to be at the cottage the year when Gorbachev was ousted. That was weird and interesting to see the reaction of the Finnish people; I remember we were in a bank in Helsinki exchanging money and this big black diplomatic car pulled up real fast and these men in dark business suits with attache cases rushed in and were whisked away for some "important" business. I've always wondered what was going on with that. The news headlines at that time where huge, but I couldn't read or understand much of it. We relied on the nightly BBC broadcast to find out what was going on!

I think I went back one or two more times while I was still married into this family. I really treasure those opportunities my ex-FIL gave me. It was very generous. My daughter just *might* have been conceived on the sun-warmed rocks of the little island where the cottage was located...two summers ago my ex FIL, who is around 88 years old, invited his grand daughter (my daughter) and grandson (my ex-husband's son from another relationship) to visit Finland with him. Again, extremely generous on his part. She loved it!

[Packy]

The question of the origin of the Finnish People is one that has been given many wrong answers. A lot of people figure the Finns have Asian ancestors, think they look Asiatic; but with the possible exception of indigenous Lapp People in the far north of Finland, it just isn't so. Finns, are Scandinavian, geographically, culturally, and genetically. Just a little different, prolly due to the extended isolation of far Northern Europe . . It is possible that some Lapps have intermarried with European Finns, thus contributing to an inaccurate stereotype of them being all being Asiatic. Personally, I've observed that a lot of people living in the North Central USA who have a lot of Scandinavian in them--Danish, Swede, Norwegian, as well as Finn, have broad flat faces with high cheeks. But, I don't figure they are Asian, and neither do anthropologists. Sure don't. Sorry.