This is Louhisaari the birthplace of Marshall Gustav Mannerheim who led the Finnish forces most famously in the Winter War against the Russians during WW2. The Finns perfected the 'Molotov cocktail' (Molotov was the Soviet foreign minister), which was used against Russian tanks. They also used their Suomi submachine pistol (arguably the best submachine gun in WW2) to deadly effect, especially in their surprise silent ski patrol attacks, which the Russians called, 'the white death.'
To learn more you can watch the video below:
Below is the great hall. The ceiling is the original from the 16th century, and hasn't been changed, which is unusual for buildings of this type in Europe. Most buildings are made from wood in Finland, so a stone building of this type is also unusual.
Sugar, and spices from the New World were so expensive, that the master of the house would lock them up in a cupboard (see below), and the servants would have to come and ask for them.
Some of the recipients of The Mannerheim Cross are buried nearby. The Mannerheim Cross is like The Victoria Cross, but harder to get.
The next stop was the seaside town of Naantali. The weather again was perfect, and around 30 degrees Celsius. The President of Finland has his summer residence across the water, and you can see that he is in residence from the flag flying at the top of the mast.
Tomorrow I'll be catching the ferry from Turku to Stockholm, Sweden where I will be staying for two nights.
The Aussie 🇦🇺 Bar, Turku Finland 🇫🇮 (above). Wherever you go you will find an Irish ☘️ & an Australian 🇦🇺 pub! 😊
It was a glorious 30 degrees Celsius, which is apparently hot for Finland. Best day so far in Northern Europe.
This is a great way to spend summer in Finland - sunbathing, swimming, sauna, boating, and enjoying time with family, and friends in nature. There are so many other things to do such as sailing, water skiing, and fishing is very popular.
Back in Turku, the river Aura is the central focus for restaurants and nightlife. Its very pleasant enjoying dinner and drinks by the river on a summer evening.
The restaurant, Tinta, on the river is very popular, and I enjoyed the pizza. If your missing Australia there is an Aussie bar, appropriately titled, 'Aussie Bar', on a boat moored in the river, that has Australian beer, and the broad Australian accent can be heard - we are everywhere in the world!
A Finnish woman vomited over the side when I was there, and I thought - how Australian!
Actually, Finns do have a reputation, which is worse than Australia's for heavy drinking. I've seen some pretty intoxicated people in Turku in my short time here, but no alcohol related violence. Finland overall is a very safe country.
I really like the Finns, they are very similar to Australians in many aspects, particularly in how we like to spend our summers, and their friendly egalitarian culture with a love of the outdoors. Furthermore Australia has a lot to learn from them in how to leverage being a small country with a skilled educated workforce approach in the Knowledge Economy/Digital Economy. Finland's education system is the envy of the worlds, and they have one of the most competitive economies in not only Europe, but the world.
We took a day trip today in the boat to the island of Vepsä in the Turku archipelago, which is owned by the city of Turku. This means its open to public to use, and there is a ferry from Turku.
There is a restaurant and bar with cottages you can rent over night. Furthermore there is a hill with a lookout that provides views over the archipelago, however it rained before we could take this walk.
These are some of the cottages you can rent over night. As I’ve stated before there are 22,000 islands to explore in the Turku archipelago. There is great fishing to be had here or you can camp at many of the islands if you wish to escape from it all.
Finns are quite close with Estonians, and can understand each other as they belong to the same language group. In the Cold War, some Estonians could receive Finnish broadcasts, so they knew what the Soviets were saying about the West's standard of living was bullshit. Estonia is another small country doing really well, by focusing on education and technology, most famously with Skype in the information technology field.
I had the best nights sleep for months here on the island. Mokki (cottage) life is very relaxing. Its like being on a summer holiday in Australia. Finns and Australians are very similar - bbq, swimming, boating, friendly, informal, equal, enjoying the beach and the outdoors, and of course drinking.
The property I’m staying on is a family farm, many of the houses on the island are somehow related by blood or marriage or they are life long friends.
We are took one of the horse and cart roads to the other side of the island where the main farmhouse is located.
This is the main traditional Finnish farmhouse.
Of course each farm will grow their own vegetables and herbs. Self sufficieny is important. Finnish cuisine is very healthy with lots of vegetables and fish.
This property has several hundred apples to sell to the market we saw in Turku. Once there were a thousand apple trees.
This is the road down to the main pier where produce are taken to market in Turku. The owners brother is also a fisherman that supplies the local fish market in Turku. There is a focus on fresh food culture, and organic food from the local producers in the area.
The sunsets on another beautiful day in Suomi (Finland).
Above is a funny explanation of the differences between the Nordic countries and the language issue - Finnish is completely different from the others.
I am in the archipelago off Turku, Finland at a cottage of my host. You may not know, but the archipelago is the largest in Europe, and has 22,000 islands, many of them uninhabited.
Most Finnish families have a holiday house in the countryside usually by the lake or the sea. It’s called Mokki life (cottage life) in Finland. In the summer holidays most Finns head off for Mokki life to experience a rural or seaside escape.
These cottages are usually passed on through the generations, and sometimes there are multiple cottages on the same piece of land for the extended family. Its a great tradition as the whole family can get together in summer including grandparents who can dote on their grandchildren. The kids love it as they get to run around, climb trees, swim, mess around in boats, and play with their cousins.
Of course there is always a sauna building. I experienced a proper Finnish sauna for the first time.
What you do is throw water on the hot rocks, the more water you throw the hotter it gets, and then run out of the sauna and dive into the water. It feels great. I repeated the process several times, and felt so relaxed.
We are on the main deep water channel between Turku and Stockholm, so in the evening the two passenger ships that make the run arrive and leave after they have unloaded. You have two companies to choose between with a morning service and an evening service. This ship was built in the shipyards at Turku, and has a new piece of technology (the pipe that extends vertically from the top) that helps dramatically to cuts emissions (note no smoke bellowing). Clean Tech (environmental sustainable technology) is promoted heavily in Finland, and is a growing export activity. This pipe is an example of the Maritime research and shipbuilding technology at Turku.
The women of this island seem to have a bewitching affect on men. My host's father was a young city law student who visited with a friend and saw a beautiful blonde Finnish country girl unloading sacks (this island is still a working farm) from a horse and cart, thought he would be a gentleman and help, but found he couldn't even lift one of the sacks. He was very impressed, and fell in love. There are numerous stories like this. The only way to reach this island is by boat, there are no cars, no fast food restaurants, so you have to walk everywhere or ride a horse. In summer the schoolchildren used to row a boat to school: in winter they would ski or ice skate as the river freezes over. The health benefits must be immense, because some people don't appear to age, and are fit and active into their late years. This is traditional Finnish rural living, and the Finns simply love being close to nature.
Meal times are announced by the ringing of a bell, and blonde haired kids seem to emerge everywhere from the countryside. Its amazing how fast they turn up!
However, I'm still connected to the outside world - Finnish telecommunications are an excellent network, and with super fast internet speeds.. Much faster than Australia's, although that is not hard. Finlands combination of healthy outside living, and advanced technology seems to be the answer to modern living. Its crazy to believe I'm still only half an hour by boat and car to the centre of Turku.
At night time I asked about the Winter War against the Soviet Union in WW2. The Finns are immensely proud of their military history. Every male had done military service, and they see it as a patriotic duty to do so. Finland still has what Australians call National Service, which my father completed in Australia. They have incredible group cohesion as a result, because it brings together men from all walks of life. Over 80% of male Finns have completed National Service, which is compulsory for males over 18, and there 900,000 members of the Army Reserve out of a population of only 5.5 million people. The Finns have to defend the longest land border in Europe, and are contemptuous of Sweden who don't have the same commitment to military tradition, and of course have Finland as a defence against the Russians. Sweden was neutral during WW2, whilst there was heavy fighting in Finland. Most Finnish families had at least one relative who served. Other countries are looking at Finlands defence model, especially poor Sweden, that had given up their National Service, and with the latest tension with Russia, realise they are in big trouble.
"In Finland Swedes are commonly thought of as gay, the men at least." said Roman Schatz. "They are soft and pale, they don't have hair on their balls. In the Swedish army they don't have to cut their hair. They give them hairnets!" (In 1971 the Swedish Army actually did order 50,000 hairnets to contain their soldiers newly fashionable long locks) wrote Michael Booth in, The Almost Nearly Perfect People behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia.
The Finns are smart and haven't given up their guns either, they have the third highest rate of gun ownership in the world. A Finnish sniper, Simo Hayha, a national hero, in WW2 has the world record of over 500 confirmed kills with a bolt action rifle without a rifle scope - they can shoot straight, thats for sure! The hunting is still good, particularly in the North. Furthermore, many Australians, especially farmers and hunters, might know the Finnish arms manufacturer, Sako, that arguably makes the best bolt action rifles in the world.
I asked whether the Russians would try and come again.
Turku is a beautiful port city on the South West coast built along the Aura river. Its also Finland's oldest city, and the old capital, before Helsinki became the capital. The city is officially bilingual with Swedish. Over 3 million passengers transit the port on the way to Stockholm where ferries leave twice a day usually the morning and the evening. You can also bring your car across if your doing a road trip in Scandinavia.
Turku cathedral is the oldest and most important building in Finland. Christianity was brought to Finland by Bishop Henry from England before he was martyred in the country. The Archbishop of Turku is the most senior bishop in Finland.
73% of Finland's 5.5 million people are Christian, and 72% belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, which is of course is Protestant, as you can probably tell from the lack of ostentation of the interior. There are only 12,000 Roman Catholics in the entire country.
Protestantism has heavily influenced Finland, because Martin Luther stressed the importance of scripture reading, Finland became one of the most literate countries in Europe. Education became highly valued in Finland, with secondary school teachers now requiring a Masters degree before being able to teach. Furthermore the Finnish school system is considered world class.
The Finns have what the German sociologist, Max Weber, called the Protestant Work Ethic, with a focus on discipline, hard work, and frugality. One result is they have the third most competitive economy in the world. They are also rock solid reliable, and honest - they will keep their word. As Michael Booth wrote in, The Almost Perfect People, "If a Finn tells you they are going to bring you firewood on Friday, you can bet your sweet ass the firewood will be there on Friday because, fifty years ago if the firewood wasn't there, you might die. Make a mistake in this country, and everyone will know you screwed up." Its also considered poor form to 'show off' or 'brag' about accomplishments in Finland, you just do your job.
Hesburger is a successful Finnish company based in Turku, that is the largest fast food restaurant in Finland. I went there for lunch, and I was very impressed. I can see why the Finns prefer this restaurant rather than McDonalds, which has struggled, especially in Turku. Hese, is a Finnish entrepreneur who started with one kiosk on the side of the road.
Turku has become the gastronomical capital of Finland with a booming restaurant business using fresh local products, and organic when possible. This is Cafe Art by the side of the river that is very popular.
"Kauppahalli" the indoor market hall of Turku from the late 1800's. This is foodie heaven, where you you can buy the best fresh meat, seafood, fruits, and baked goods available in Turku. MBakery is an award winning bakery in Finland.
I had a traditional Finnish dinner at a local family owned restaurant in my neighbourhood.
Finns eat a lot of potatoes and root vegetables. The country is renowned for the quality of its berries, which are full of vitamins and flavour from the amount of light.
Now, talking about light - today the sun went down at 10.50pm and will rise again at 3.30am! In the North, the sun will shine for 24 hours for three months, and in winter there is no sun for two months! This is the land of the midnight sun. In Lapland, the far Northern area the lowest temperatures in winter are between -45 Celsius, and -50 Celsius - you have to be tough and co-operate with your neighbours to survive in this country. Hence, the Finns have strong community bonds, and also shows why a sauna is a necessity - there are more than two million saunas in Finland. In the old days mothers would give birth in the saunas as they were warm and clean. When people died they were washed in the sauna before burial. Hence, a sauna is considered a sacred place in Finland.
Further reading:
Max Weber, The Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
Living in Berlin is relatively cheap compared to the rest of Europe, and it has attracted creative people, and now increasingly new small businesses - a startup culture is developing. In the cafes I overheard a number of people discussing new businesses, film projects, and other creative endeavours. Google has recently moved to Berlin, and tech companies are funding some of these new startups. It’s a very exciting time, and it may in the future address some of Germany’s problems I have identified in this blog like poor information technology, and poor customer service. Germany succeeded brilliantly in the Second Industrial Revolution, but has struggled in the Third (Digital economy) with no companies like Microsoft, Apple, Google, Uber, AirBnB (which I booked my accomodation with), Instagram or Tesla.
I took the U7 to Jacob-Kaiser Platz station, and it was only a short bus ride to Berlin Tegel airport. My next stop will be Helsinki.
My first view of Finland or, ‘the country of a thousand lakes.’ It’s beautiful - very green, lots of forests and of course, lakes.
Helsinki is less than two hours from Berlin, and as Finland is in the EU passport agreement area there is no need to clear customs. They also use the Euro as their currency.
I’m staying in Turku, which is about two hours from Helsinki on the South West coast in an area known as, ‘Finland Proper.’ Turku was for centuries the capital of Finland.
Nearly every Finnish home has a sauna, even in the cottages in the countryside that many have as second homes. This is the one in the house I am staying at. The sauna is perhaps Finland’s most famous export.
Well, the sauna, and the Nokia phone, back before the Apple Iphone took over the market.
