I'll be honest and say I didn't really know what to expect and so tried to keep an open mind. I'd had many conversations with my brother 
Finland, land of a thousand lakes! [Way more actually]
I had just spent about five weeks in the UK during a spell of unseasonably hot weather; Not 47°C hot like summer in my part of Australia but 27°C+ which seemed hot in a land where they don't seem to believe in air conditioners! I'll admit their red-flushed faces were funny to me at first, but the no air conditioner thing made my life hell in respect of sleeping so...The joke was on me.
I can remember sitting at Heathrow Airport thinking how welcome a little cooler weather would be and with that in mind I boarded the Finnair plane and headed to Finland to see my brother for the first time in about fifteen years, meet my niece 
I'd heard there were some lakes here and there...About 188,000 of them actually, totalling about ten percent of the total area of the country. That's a lot of lakes of course and no matter where one goes in Finland one is either on a lake, in a lake, looking at a lake, next to a lake, thinking about a lake, falling in a lake, skating on a lake, ice fishing on a lake, having a BBQ beside a lake, boating on a lake, skipping rocks on a lake, saying the word lake...Let's just say that if you are in Finland a lake will feature prominently...You may even be a lake! Trust me, this is actually possible - I'd not lie to you.
On arrival to Lakeland Finland...Well, lakes y'all...Lakes!
And wouldn't you know it...It was hot! That's right the UK heatwave scenario had also hit most of Europe and it was about 28°C the day I arrived...It got hotter too, never cooler, except at night but inside trying to sleep you wouldn't know it because these Finnish knuckleheads hadn't heard of air conditioning either. What madness is this?
Sleeping wasn't pleasant, something to do with triple-glazed windows, no air-flow and no goddamned air conditioning! But little brother to the rescue; He arranged a fan which made things a little more comfortable. I'd actually bought one at Tesco in the UK although I left it there because it was too bulky to put on the plane. So, fan-equipped, I was able to sleep in the hellish heatwave gripping Finland. [Wasn't quite that bad really]
Meeting my niece for the first time was such a beautiful moment for me. It's amazing how quickly the emotion of love can overwhelm a person right? Because it was so hot we were able to go to the lake and swim which was a nice moment for me.
We bonded and had so much fun splashing around. I taught her how to skip rocks which, in truth, was actually just throwing little pebbles into the water after which she had to wash he hands each time - Sand you know...Seems she's just like her uncle G-dog in that respect. I Also taught her how to say g'day mate like a real Australian - Something she can still do almost three years later - It's pretty cute y'all. There's us below.
Each day we'd take a walk to the lake nearby my brothers house and splash around, skip rocks and have fun...She's got a funny little giggle and seems to find enjoyment in the little things and I certainly valued the time we spent together there, all made possible by the fact the weather was hot and they have lakes! - A blessing in disguise. Thanks weather and lakes, I love your work.
Coming from Australia where life often revolves around being in or near the water, beaches, rivers and lakes, I wasn't sure what to expect but the Finns seem to do things pretty much the same as us, albeit with a funny accent and not as much awesomeness.
The beach we went to near my brothers place was often filled with families doing watery, beachy things and the sounds were similar, if not the language. I picked up some words though...One or two anyway. Shark wasn't one of them as it would be in Australia...No sharks in the lake. In fact, I think there's nothing dangerous in Finland...Well, maybe just too much vodka but that's subjective.
With the country having such a short summer, sometimes almost non-existent I'm told, they make the most of it when they can and I don't blame them; They hit the beach and lakes and do Finnish things. Although, in truth, they seem to do alright in winter also with skating and ice fishing on the lakes. I'd actually like to see the country in winter but the extreme low temperatures don't sound good at all! Minus 30°C is cold apparently. 😳
IMy brother took me around the place a bit and in our travels we passed many lakes. It didn't seem to matter where we went there was a lake, most of which looked like screensavers off my computer, although my photos don't do them justice.
The set above shows a berry farm we went to, a couple of random lakes and an amusement park called Särkänniemi. It has a big rollercoaster an aquarium & planetarium which is pretty cool. We didn't go there but
My oldest brother, who also lives in Finland,
Something that took some getting used to was the amount of daylight hours; There was something like eighteen or nineteen hours of daylight when I was there and it felt really odd. Even when it got dark it wasn't actually dark at all and it played havoc with my already messed up sleeping patterns. Light and heat when trying to sleep - What the actual fuck.
On one particular sweaty bright evening I decided to take a walk, by the lake of course, and snapped a couple of pictures. It was about midnight when I took them and as you can see there's plenty of sunlight. These Finns are weirdos!
I was really lucky that the weather was so good as there's always the potential for it not to be, even in summer. It allowed me to enjoy different aspects of the location and activities with my family. And, you know, it's not all that weird at all...In fact, it's a rather nice place. Sure, they talk funny. Sure, they have an over abundance of light and lakes. Sure, they talk funny...But it's a legit place I really enjoyed - It's worth the seven trillion kilometre trip to get there and worth risking falling in a lake for.
Leaving was quite difficult for me but that had more to do with the fact I had to say goodbye to my niece and knew it would be at least a couple years before I saw her in person again. As it turned out that didn't happen - My planned trip to Scandinavia last year was cancelled. Thanks pandemic. I'm not sure when I'll see her again to be honest, but we video chat and that's something at least.
If I didn't have family in Finland it is unlikely I would ever have gone to there...It's simply too far from where I live and there's so many places I'd rather go first. Having said that I was pleased to add Finland to the list of places I've been and I hope to go back. This post is more about its lakes, an integral part of Finnish life, although there's so much more to experience there and someday I'd like to get back and have another look around.
Words you need to know in Finland. Master these words and you will have no problems travelling the country.
Munkki: Legit Finnish donut
Kahvia: Coffee
Munkki and kahvia: Donut and coffee
Kiitos: Thank you
Moi: Hi
Moi moi: Good bye
Kaaduin järveen: I fell into the lake
I'll put them into a sentence for you:
Moi, may I have a munkki and black kahvia? [get's donut and coffee]. Kiitos, moi moi. [Later that day]...Oh fuck, Kaaduin järveen! 😁
I take no responsibility for my incorrect translation from English to Finnish.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind
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