Bog Tour & More

What better place to start our exploration of Eastern Europe than in a country whose name literally means Land of the East, Estonia.

It could also be described as our final Nordic country, as the people and culture are more closely related to Finland, than to their Baltic neighbours.

Definitions aside, we arrived by ferry to the old, beautiful and touristy city of Tallinn.

Its cobbled streets and charming town walls date back to 1265.

While it's a little gimmicky, it's also a little awesome that the local salespeople adorn ye-olden-day clothing to recreate the town's medieval heyday.

Among the medieval sites are bars, restaurants and colourful buildings from the 19th century.

Tasty tasty venison

Inside the town hall

Next up, Estonia's second city, Tartu.

Tartu is a very pleasant university town, but as it's summer, there seemed to be a lack of exciting student atmosphere. Nonetheless, we went to the university botanical gardens so that you could see even more photos of flowers.

Soomaa National Park is an area in Southern Estonia covered in bogs. Luckily we were appropriately shod with bog shoes.

It felt like we were walking on a gigantic waterbed. It's easier to see how they work in this live-action short film.

As it turns out, the bogs are home to a variety of wild berries which are absolutely free!

Clockwise from Top left: Bilberries, Wild Strawberries, Blueberries & Cloudberries.

The return journey in a canoe.

On our final day in Estonia, we hung out by the sunny beach of Pärnu. The Baltic Sea was surprisingly warm and the beach packed with local, Russian and Finnish tourists.

Finland

Upon arrival in Finland, a most momentous occasion occurred. Yes, it was the 26th anniversary of Josh's birth.

It only seemed natural to celebrate in super Finnish style, as we happened to be in Kuopio, Finland. Here is our guide to a successful Finnish birthday.

Step 1: Traditional lakeside lunch of kalakukko (bread baked with fish inside).

Step 2: Finnish smoke sauna (80°C with no chimney) followed by a swim in the nearest 10°C lake. Repeat until satisfaction is achieved.

Step 3: Classic roast dinner accompanied by live accordion music and 50 septuagenarians singing along to their favourite Suomi folk songs.

Step 4: The birthday must be finnished with a lumberjack show.

Finland's Got Talent!

If you've ever looked at a map of Finland, and seen its 187,000 lakes you will agree that it is indeed silly.

Of all the lakeside towns, our next stop, Savonlinna is one of the prettiest.

St. Olaf's castle, a border fortress used by both the Swedes and Russians in defence of each other. Those little rooms that jut out from the towers are of course toilets.

From there we took a short hike to, you guessed it, a lake.

Finally, we made it to Helsinki.

The market square, or Kauppatori, with reindeer, mink and fox furs (bottom left) and birch for hitting oneself in a sauna (bottom centre).

Helsinki's main churches: Left: The Russian Uspenski Cathedral, Top Right: Helsinki Cathedral, Bottom Right: Temppeliaukio Church which is built within a rock.

Architecture in Helsinki

Helsinki has been named the 2012 World Design Capital. Because of this we went into more shops than we've done in any other city, i.e. more than two.

We also went to the Design Museum, in which the most interesting exhibit were these three Nokia phones. From left to right: Mobira Senator, 1982, 9.5kg;  Mobira Talkman, 1985, 5.5kg; Cityman 900, 1987, 760g

A cannon at the Suomenlinna sea fortress.

We boogied our last night away at the Storyville Jazz Club.

The Arctic

The latest part of our magical mystery tour across the universe was the long, long, long drive from Norway to Finland. Luckily we are driving in summer so we don’t need snow chains.

The drive would take us from Valldal, the strawberry capital of Norway, to Jokkmokk in the Arctic Circle, and then on to Kuopio in Finland, a total of 1,854km.

Early in the journey, we took the Troll’s Road. This long and winding road has an incline of 9% which is something of an attraction for many day trippers. 

Along the way was the tunnel to Hell (There's a place in Norway called Hell). It was nice to get back to earth after that. We also drove through the world’s longest road tunnel, 24km, but forgot to take a photo – it’s hard to photograph every little thing.

With a little misery, it was time to say goodbye to the Norwegian wood and strawberry fields forever. At least we still have some money left.

At one point we had to slow down and wait because some reindeer were crossing the road in the rain. We saw some boys, and a girl help another girl reindeer.

Then Josh ate one of them. Yaz preferred to let it be.

We reached the Arctic Circle in the middle of our drive at the Sami town of Jokkmokk (The word Jokkmokk means “River’s Curve”). In February, around 50,000 Sami come together for a market festival in -40°C.

In Jokkmokk, the two of us went to the Sami museum to learn about a day in the life of the Arctic nomads. One exhibit showed the difference between the droppings of the native animals. It won’t be long before we are experts. By the way, don’t call a Sami a Lap (or a nowhere man for that matter).

Once in the Arctic we made a point to stay up late. It looked like it would be cloudy, but then Yaz said “Here comes the sun” and it became a good night for a white midnight (and a bad one for Mr. Moonlight). Yes it is very strange, it really could have been any time at all. 

Since the sun doesn't set, we drove late into a hard day’s night. For not a second time we camped by a lake and a beautiful sunset with pink light flying here, there and everywhere. We’re getting better at camping all the time.

Yesterday we were in Sweden, the night before in Norway, but now we are in Finland. Of course, tomorrow never knows.

The End

P.S. I Love You