Finnish fetishes

Finns love their dogs, they walk them everywhere on the leads and even allowed on some carriages of the train.

There is a phenomenon here of the Moomin character in a book. These little critters are everywhere. There was even a museum in Tampere I had to go check out. Move over trolls, the Moomins are here. Actually I hardly saw a troll souvenir.

Public transport was really good and everyone cycled, even grannies and pops. Everyone had nice legs 😉 There didn't seem to be much traffic around Helsinki because of that I guess.

Enamel mugs - sold everywhere and in bulk.

Smoking - not taboo here like it is at home and smoke anywhere except eating places thankfully.

Saunas- they love these and there are plenty of sauna places around. I didn't have one, I'm not a fan although I nearly went to the "last public wood fired sauna" just 2 km away but ran out of time. I'll do that when I visit again.

I found the Finns to be very friendly and helpful once you get past their Russian-like reserve. Just flash them a smile and say "G'day mate" and they're putty in your hands. They love it when you try their language and say "kiitos" for thankyou.Read more