We were in a cottage between Hämeenlinna and Tampere, about 130 km from Helsinki. To get there we rented a tiny car and went there for the weekend with three people. We started on Friday afternoon and drove there in the middle of the rush hour.
In the evening we wanted to have sauna and grill. However we encountered the problem, that all the wood was pretty wet and it was hard to get the sauna and all the other ovens started. It took us over one hour to make fire. 
In the end everything worked out fine and we could enjoy the relaxing hot air. Afterwards we grilled infront of our cottage and even ate outside... at 4°C !!
The Saturday we went to Tampere, just to see the city. We walked around and visited some sights. It is a nice city, especially because it is located between two huge lakes. This give the city a certain character, as you are can not walk far without coming to a lake shore. We had lunch in the Kaupatori, the market hall of Tampere, we had köttbullar (Meatballs) with salad. 
The guys also bought there some bread and mausta makkara, a blood sausage, typical for Tampere. We wanted to grill again in the evening and also have sauna again. This time the sauna was already on when we wanted to warm it up. The other cottages in the area were also occupied and the Finns seemed to be better in making fire than we were. 
We enjoyed the 80°C sauna and grilled afterwards, however, this time we ate inside.The Sunday, we cleaned the cottage and headed home to Helsinki.
But before we stopped in Hämeenlinna as we read that it would be a nice small town with an awesome castle. When we came there, we were a little disappointed. Yes, it was a small town, but it was not so nice and also the castle was just... disappointing. 
We were walking around for maybe half an hour, were consulting our LonelyPlanet travel guide and decided then to finally go back to Helsinki, as there wasn't anything to see on the way.Last weekend I was once again, after a long time, in Turku. A. had bought tickets to a Christmas Dinner. What I didn't know was, that she meant with Christmas Dinner/Party a Christmas Sitz.
A sitz is something from the swedish speaking population, the students in particular. So to say its a ritual to get drunk. You sit with a bunch of other lads in a room, drink and eat. However, every time before you drink a snaps you have to sing a snaps song. 
As it would be too embarrassing to sing alone, the whole group is always singing... and of course drinking. I experienced it already once before, but this time was way better. It was chic, the food was really good and the variety amazing. 
After the eating and ritual drinking a band was playing and everybody was dancing. I didnt had so much fun in a long time....~M~
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