Snow shoes and nakedness

Two new experiences for me today. This morning Tiina and I went for a walk on the snow in snowshoes. Occasionally these sunk into the snow showing just how deep it was and how impossible it would be to walk without the shoes. These shoes allowed us to take a path over the snow instead of having to stay on the road or established pathways.

Walking on top of deep snow

Tiina leads the way

Miles and miles of snow

Toto lets Tiina join him on his mountain

We then went to see 'Samiland', an exhibition of the Sami people. Very interesting. There were many correlations between the Sami people and the Maori of New Zealand and the Aboriginies of Australia, especially in how they were treated by the new people of the country. Now there is a UNESCO world heritage programme designed to preserved the culture (as well as Maori, Aboriginal, red Indian, etc....). The exhibition included an outdoor display of Sami huts, and some live deer.
A bit of trivia; J.R.R. Tolkien, author of 'The Hobbit', and 'The Lord of the Rings' based some of his writings (legendarium) and languages on the Sami people and the Finnish language.

Nomad Sami people around 1880

Deer

Coffee in the cafe afterwards with a panoramic view

So of course I had to play - this is a 'miniature' effect - camera setting. Cool huh!

We had pizza for lunch at a very authentic Italian restaurant

The naked bit

We went to a spa. This was a fairly new experience for Barry and I as we soon found out that this meant we had to strip naked and shower ourselves in a communal shower, then sit in a very hot communal sauna, and shower again before putting our togs on and entering the pool area. When I say communal, I mean among our own sex, so it was woman only in our area. This is the usual way in Finland. Not so for us in New Zealand unless you belong to a nudist club, so I was a bit unnerved at first. Funny though, before long I felt quite comfortable.

The pools were something else. They were a mixture of varying temperatures and included automatic jets that literally pummeled you. Talk about massage! There was also a fun slide, and a freezing dip pool next to a very hot pool. We all used this. Barry lasted about 0001% of a second before leaping out and refusing to go back in. Tiina, Seppo, and I all dipped in and out three times and stayed in for the recommended 20 seconds the last time. It was so cold it physically hurt but felt amazing when going back into the hot water. Every part of the body tingled.

By the time we had another naked shower, Sauna, and final shower I was the cleanest I had ever been and completely relaxed and rejuvenated. It was excellent.

We are back at the little place we are staying in. Perhaps we won't have a sauna tonight but we are about to have sausages roasted around the fire-pit for supper. And its snowing outside. 

Toto enjoying the snow. The little hut in the background is where we roast our sausages.