life on the slow lane in finland

 

Finnish Countryside
‘Road to the unknown. Little dirt roads scattered all over lead to thousands of hidden little summer paradises’

Explore life on the slow lane. Take a trip to the unknown – the safe kind – where time stops and all you have is birds chirping at sunrise and waves softly lapping at sunset. Sounds like a paradise? It is, bar some mosquitos and lack of life’s “little” luxuries, or not so little – depends how you see the lack of running water, toilet, and sometimes even electricity….

Finnish Countryside
‘Let’s talk about clichés: a little red cottage by a lake would be the Finnish ones. But they are so cute!’

This paradise is called the Finnish countryside – that northernmost country with hundred thousand lakes and over half a million cottages by those lakes, rivers and seaside coastline. When summer comes, particularly July, this whole country retreats to their cottages to live their lives the same way their great-grandparents did: in the middle of nature, away from neighbours and those big-city amenities.

Finnish Countryside
‘Sunset close to midnight. Beautiful calm lake, a bird, sometimes mist rising. Eye candy.’

As the Finnish summer nights are short, the need to light and electricity isn’t that crucial and cooking is mostly done outside on a wood-lit fire pit – preferably enjoying own catch of fresh fish and stuff…Sounds a bit too much? Maybe it does, but one needs to live to really experience and understand what living with the nature means – and you’d be surprised how much you might enjoy it!

Finnish Countryside
‘Angry Birds kids fishing rod. Three patient children taking turns. Fishing is a magical thing!’

We don’t have a cottage of our own, but I’ve yearning for years to buy one. meanwhile we get our nature fix by visiting friends cottages and did so for a few nights this year also. We had our Spanish au pair with us and I was frankly a bit worried about how she’d feel, but she absolutely loved the whole experience of fishing at the dock, rowing on the lake, learning old sauna customs such as stimulating your blood circulation by beating your muscles with fresh birch branches, not seeing any other people on the beach, or even the lake and having no background noise of traffic, planes and other city sounds: that’s totally unique and different.

She might not have been so excited about the standalone natural “toilet” facilities, but life seldom is perfect (and you can find luxury cabins with all the comforts, and I’ll confess sort of liking having them too)…So let me introduce you the life on the slow lane in pictures; sun, swimming, sunsets, fishing, rowing and a bit of champagne too…

Finnish Countryside
‘In my childhood getting blueberries, raspberries, chanterelles and few other things meant going to the forest and picking them yourself. This was a first one for my twins and they loved it, one in a bowl, three into a little mount…but still enough for a nice blueberry pie!’
Finland countryside
‘Another little fisherman trying his luck’
Finnish Countryside
‘No wind in the willows- but in the birches. To wake to a view like this is pricelss’

 

Finland countryside
‘270 lake view. Perfect location. Watch the sun rise and sun set from your cottage. Just amazing!’

 

Finland countrside
‘Row, row, row your boat…it’s such a relaxing experience – and a tough sport at the same time!’
Finnish Countryside
‘While the rest of the family was enjoying the cottage life, little miss A. was in a summer camp just a couple of stone throws away in the beautiful manor. Lucky girl!’

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