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Finnishing school...
- 7 days ago
- 14 min read
Is Finland really the happiest country in the world?
By Jon Newey - retired Architect, Blood Bike rider, Adventure traveller - with Tigger - Triumph Tiger 800 XRX
I’m in Rovanemi. It’s a slightly uninspiring town which sits directly on the Arctic Circle in central Finland. My hotel is good enough for a one night stop-over, but I wouldn’t want to stay for a week. The tourist industry here is mainly geared towards the winter. In the winter there’s skiing, dog-sledding, snow-mobile safaris and Santa experiences. By contrast, Rovanemi’s summer tourism feels like a bit of an afterthought. There are no cruise ships calling in here like there are in all the towns on the coast of Norway. There are just a few low-budget retirement-home coach tours and an irregular supply of grubby adventure bikers ploughing their way up to Nordkapp. Even the hotel’s sauna is switched off. I may count myself amongst the grubby adventure bikers, but the face in the mirror says ‘coach tour’ so I guess that’s how I got invited into the free dinner buffet with the rest of the old fogies. Varifocals at the ready….Now where did I put my teeth?
One sleep later it’s Saturday morning. Tigger and I are on the road soon after breakfast. As usual the roads in Finland are straight, featureless and lined with Narnia-like forests. I prod Garmin from time to time to try to find something more….Norway-like, but even the smaller side-roads conform to the same
featureless Finnish paradigm. At one point the small road we’re on widens out dramatically and there are signs warning about aircraft. Apparently this stretch of road doubles as a makeshift runway from time to time. I’ve never seen that before. Although this ‘road’ is wider it’s still flat (obviously) and straight (obviously) and lined by never-ending trees. Has anyone seen Aslan…?
I stop for petrol and grab some lunch. ‘Kahvi ja munkki’ is the thing to do here, coffee and cake. Yum. We press on.
We pass through the town of Oulu, all modern office blocks and wide cobbled streets. It’s the biggest town I’ve seen since Oslo. As the afternoon draws on we approach the town of Kokkola which sits on the west coast of Finland, looking out west over the Gulf of Bothnia towards Sweden. There’s a campsite. There’s a small cabin available. There’s pizza. There’s a beach. That’ll do for me. Later there’s even a sunset. I haven’t seen a sunset for a while because the sun hasn’t dropped below my horizon in the past couple of weeks. I sit on the beach and watch the sky turn red. Sounds peaceful? Not really. This campsite is so busy. The place is full of people and there’s so much noise! See what I said earlier about Finland’s summer-season tourism? Well now that we’re south of the arctic circle - and next to the sea - there’s definitely a summer season in full flow!
I’m only here for a one-night stop-over so it’s fine. While relaxing in my cabin it occurs to me that in Norway I visited the birthplace of Ibsen, the playwright, and I
went to the 12-storey Edvard Munch art gallery. But what I didn’t see was anything relating to Norway’s great composer Edvard Grieg. Then, as if by magic, when I wander over to the campsite’s ‘service’ block for some essential ablutions there’s Grieg’s ‘Peer Gynt’ suite playing over the music system. It’s Solvieg’s Song to be precise, the one where she sings about her lover who’s gone on a long journey and hasn’t said when he’ll be back. Apt, maybe? How nice to have a toilet block with a bit of class!*
Banana, waffles, jam and apple juice for breakfast. It’s Sunday again so everywhere is closed and there’s next to no traffic. Today I have a tight schedule to work to: I have a time-slot booked for visiting an iconic piece of architecture, the Town Hall in Saynatsalo. My time slot is at 14:30, and Saynatsalo is a five-hour ride away from here. The weather is warm and windless. I decide to ‘iron butt’ it all the way from Kokkola, stopping only for fuel and water. My route takes me through some small forest roads. At last! Some gravel tracks to keep me awake! OK, they are long, straight gravel tracks, between acres of trees, but it makes a change from the endless miles of straight tarmac.
As we head east through central Finland the landscape changes a little. There are more lakes and fewer trees. The Finnish word for Finland is Suomi which means land of lakes. There’s even an occasional clearing where some farming is going on.
Saynatsalo is a small village on an island in one of Finland’s largest lakes. The Town Hall there was designed by the Finnish Architect Alvar Aalto. It was completed in 1952. I’ve seen pictures but now’s my chance to see the real thing. Tigger delivers me there in good time and I sit under a tree to try a sketch. Sketching ‘modernist’ architecture is never easy. All those straight lines and stripped-down details. What’s more, a lot of my chums already know what the building looks like so I can’t make it up!
The guided tour that I’ve booked is in Finnish, but there’s an accompanying video with subtitles. I’m amazed by how small the building is. Just half a dozen rooms and a small (but exquisite) council-chamber. For such a giant of the architecture world it is all astonishingly modest. ‘Human’ architecture is what Aalto called it. It is certainly an inspiration for what can be done on a small site with a small budget, with a lot of innovative thinking and a forensic attention to detail. This wee building has more charisma than you can shake a birch forest at!
For any architects thinking of doing a pilgrimage to Saynatsalo I can tell you that there are rooms within the Town Hall that you can book for over-night stays. I found that out too late, so tonight I have an AirBnB waiting for me not far away on the next island. My host, Sari, greets me in her idyllic sunny garden. My room is at the back of her car port. It is spotless and has everything I need, including a well-stocked fridge from which I can help myself. There are even some fresh eggs from Sari’s free-range chickens, chickens who immediately decide that they must keep me company everywhere I go.
Sari suggests I try the sauna later, followed by a jump into the nearby lake. Hmmm. It is 27 degrees outside. The lake sounds more inviting than the sauna, but this is Finland… It would be rude to say no! Apparently this particular sauna dates from the 50’s and was a favourite haunt of Mr Aalto himself. So later, when I take my turn I know I am parking my butt cheeks where famous butt cheeks have parked before.
Finns like their saunas hot, 80 degrees C is a minimum, and they like their lakes cold. Invigorating. Yup, Invigorating. That’s the word. I'm surprised to find that I love the combination. Maybe I’m starting to understand why the Finns are such a chillaxed nation! They've officially been the happiest nation on earth for eight years in a row.
Helsinki is next on my hit-list. It’s only 3 hours away from Saynatsalo so there’s no hurry to get on the road in the morning. Sari comes over to wave me off, accompanied by a flurry of Kot-kot chickens. I’ve really enjoyed my short time here. I’m seriously thinking of coming back one day. The sauna, the lake, the chickens, the Aalto butt cheeks…
I’ve allowed Garmin a special treat today. I’ve allowed motorways to feature in Garmin’s route planning. Well, Helsinki’s a big place and it just doesn’t make sense to navigate on side roads all the way. I stop in a service station for lunch and a guy called Sammy wanders over for a chat. He’s interested in Tigger and wants to know where we’ve been and where we’re going. He doesn’t have a bike these days, he says, but in 1992 he rode a GPZ900 from Helsinki to Gibralter and back. He has photos on his phone that he’s keen to show me. After a wee while I have to make my excuses or I’ll be here all day!
Back on the road the traffic gets progressively heavier and the junctions become increasingly complex. Soon we’re on Helsinki’s ring road, the 101. Garmin keeps up a constant barrage of instructions in my helmet (left lane, right lane, slip road, roundabout…). Road names and place names come thick and fast in an incomprehensible melange of Finnish and Garminese. Tigger and I cope with it all, just about, and eventually find our way to the carpark for tonight’s Abnb.
My host, Renata, has already seen Tigger and I do two laps round the building so she’s down at the entrance door waiting for us as we pull up. Phew. We’re here.
Renata’s apartment is on the first floor. The temperature inside is 30 degrees. There’s a thunderstorm brewing in the sky. It all feels quite dramatic. Once I’ve unloaded Tigger the first thing I need is a shower. The next thing I need is food from the nearby supermarket. Then I can stop and gather some thoughts. For the past seven days I’ve been doing one-night stop-overs. That can get pretty exhausting. Pack. Ride. Unpack. Sleep. Repeat. But now that I’m in Helsinki I plan to spend three days getting my act together. I plan to get Tigger serviced at the Helsinki Triumph dealer, and I plan to book some ferries and accommodation for Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius. These places are tourist hotspots on the south side of the Baltic Sea. I fear hostels and hotels may be booked solid over there already. Oh, and of course I need to see a bit of Helsinki while I’m here too.
My phone bings. It’s a message from Ingrid. Remember her? She’s the young Swiss biker who I met in Trondheim. She made it to Nordkapp! She’s sent me a photo. Brilliant! That’s a great achievement for her on her first solo bike trip. A few minutes later it’s followed by a second message. Not so good. She’s crashed her bike. She says she’s OK, but there’s another photo, this time showing a GS800 looking distinctly second-hand. The fairing is smashed and the instrument cluster is broken. Oh dear. She asks where I am and whether I’m anywhere nearby. I reply that I’m in
Helsinki, about 1000km away. I feel sure the network of motorcycle clubs that I tapped into in north Norway would give her any help she needed. She seems to have things under control, though. She’s a resourceful lass. She’s making for Oulu which is her nearest BMW dealer. I tell her to keep in touch and I offer her some suggestions for campsites and hotels that I’ve stopped at on my way south. I expect it will take her three days to get to Oulu depending on how badly damaged her bike is. By then I plan to be across the Baltic Sea in Estonia. I guess plans can change though…..
Next morning I ride Tigger over to Vantaa Triumph, a 20-minute sprint away. At the service desk we consider what tyres they currently have available in Tigger’s size. I choose a Bridgestone A41. It’s the road-going version of the Bridgestone knobblies that I’ve been using for the past two years. It’ll do. The
front tyre isn’t getting changed just now, so for the time being I’ll have an off-road front and a road-going rear, but hey ho, I’ll live with it until I get home. Tigger’s oil gets changed, the oil filter gets done, they plug Tigger into their computer to switch off his service light and they log the service onto Triumph’s databank. They even give Tigger a much-needed wash. Fab. So now Tigger’s ready for the final 3,000 miles (and six more countries….) between here to home.
I need to scrub-in the new tyre. I know just the way to do it. A few kilometres east of Helsinki is the town of Loviisa, and in the forest near there is a quirky place that I am keen to visit. The dual carriageway taking us out of Helsinki is sign-posted to St Petersburg. Oh, how I wish I could go there for a visit! But the border between Finland and Russia is a definite no-go area these days so there’s no chance at all of me getting through. I suspect that St Petersburg will be off-limits for the rest of my days. Shame.
It takes forty minutes to ride to Loviisa. There’s a gravel track from there leading into the forest. Typical! An hour ago I had a knobbly tyre on the rear and now I don’t (although to be fair there were no ‘knobs’ left on that old tyre anyway!) We head deeper and deeper into the forest and then I see it. A rock by the side of the track. A big rock. It’s a 3m high boulder. But this isn’t just any rock. This is the boulder called ‘Burden of Dreams’.
Burden of Dreams is legendary amongst climbers. It is, as far as anyone knows, the hardest boulder to climb anywhere in the world. It is rated at V17, and has only been climbed four times. World champions have failed. Olympic gold medallists have failed. And now here I am standing in front of it. For all its fame it is still completely wild. There’s no car park. There’s no sign saying ‘Boulder of Dreams this way’. There’s just a gravel track disappearing deeper into the forest and a big boulder poking up out of the undergrowth. Do I try to climb it? Of course! Do I get my feet off the ground? Not a chance. That’s what I expected. My local climbing gym in Edinburgh has a plastic replica of Burden of Dreams. The real climb is steeply overhanging at about 45 degrees from vertical. In my climbing gym they put the replica up on a vertical wall, and I still couldn’t get my feet off the ground! Anyhow. I came, I saw, I failed to conquer it…..and I rode back to Helsinki. Mark my words, it’s a World Heritage Site in the making.
My host in Helsinki, Renata, is great fun. She works as a gigging-waitress in lots of different restaurants. Tonight she’s working at one called Wanha Mylly and she suggests I go along there for dinner. It’s a short ride away on Tigger. There’s a sunny terrace and the food is great. Can’t ask for more.
Next morning I finally get a chance to visit the centre of Helsinki. My first stop is Senate Square, dominated along one side by Helsinki’s Lutheran Cathedral. The front of the cathedral is covered in scaffolding, but that’s not unexpected. Finland’s weather plays merry havoc with its intricate stucco and plaster detailing and the building is constantly being repaired and refurbished. Next I pop briefly into the National Museum, and then I wander down to the harbour. There’s a market at the harbour. Orange stalls are offering food, white stalls are offering souvenirs. The local delicacy is salmon soup, which makes a tasty lunch. In the distance is Helsinki’s ferris wheel. It’s like the London Eye but with a uniquely Finnish twist: Two of the cabins are sky-saunas…. Behind the ferris wheel is the red brick Russian Orthodox cathedral with gold orbs on its spires and beyond that is an island fortress built by Sweden.
Finland has a love-hate relationship with its neighbouring countries. Sweden was in charge here for 600 years until Russia decided to take over. Eventually Finland shrugged off both neighbours and became independent in 1917. Most of Helsinki’s architecture has Russian overtones. Most of the road signs are in Finnish and
Swedish. There’s currently a healthy rivalry between Finland and Sweden in everything from ice hockey to the Eurovision song contest. By contrast there’s currently no diplomatic relations with Russia and the Russian border is firmly closed.
I learn that Finland’s public buildings are not allowed to fly the Finnish flag except of special flag-flying days. One building is the exception. That’s the Helsinki City Hall, which has special permission to fly the Finnish flag every day of the year. Why? Well because it is next-door to the Swedish embassy where they fly the Swedish flag every day of the year. Of course the Finnish flag on the City Hall is bigger, and flies on a taller flagpole than it’s Swedish counterpart….
Back at my Abnb Renata has plans for me. She’s long been keen to become a ‘biker chick’. She has the leathers and a helmet but has never been on a bike. She wants to show me a tour of Helsinki’s best cafes and restaurants from Tigger’s pillion seat. It’s a blast! I’ve no idea where we’re going but Renata calls out instructions from behind and she grins and waves at everyone she sees. We eat reindeer pie in the Regatta Café and cinnamon buns at the Kompass Café. At each stop she puts on her shades, poses next to Tigger and insists that I take a photo!
On the way we visit Finland’s monument to their great composer Sibelius. We also stop at Loyly, Helsinki’s top-knotch sauna. Loyly is a seriously upmarket place. There are Porches and Ferraris parked outside. The ‘beautiful people’ are all sitting on the terrace in expensive T-shirts and top-brand sunglasses. As usual I’m lowering the tone! Renata and I are just here to see the place, not to use it. We wander up to the roof where there’s a platform with a panoramic view over the city. I take the obligatory photos and we head off.
So…. A word about Finnish saunas: Finns are notoriously shy and introverted people. They usually don’t like to talk to each other and they keep out of each other’s way as much as possible (is this part of their secret of happiness….?) Yet they’re not shy about taking their clothes off and bunching up together naked in a sauna. They are shy, however, when it comes to talking about it. Trying to get a straight answer from anyone about the accepted etiquette for Finnish saunas has proved to be very difficult. Here’s what I know: It seems that it depends where you are and who you
are with. Alone in your own sauna you’re supposed to be naked, sitting on your own small towel. That’s the most effective ‘cleansing’ arrangement. If you are with close friends and family you might also be naked, but covering parts of yourself with a towel would be acceptable. In this situation men and women might use the sauna at different times. In a mixed public sauna next to a lake or next to the sea, bathing costumes would be the norm. But in a public sauna next to a chlorinated swimming pool bathing costumes are usually banned because the chlorine fumes from the bathing costume are not acceptable inside the sauna!!
Wood-fired saunas are considered superior to electrically heated saunas. In the sauna it’s normal to ask your fellow sauna-users before you add water onto the hot stones to create steam. This steam is called loyly, from which the big posh sauna takes its name. It is the steam that makes the sauna feel so hot, so it is only fair to ask before you do ‘loyly’. Dotted around inside the sauna are buckets of water at different temperatures, ice-cold, cool and luke-warm. These are for you to scoop over yourself from time to time when you feel the need. An hour is a normal time to spend in the sauna, followed by a cleansing dunk in whatever nearby water source you can find, pool, lake, river or sea. There you go. My guide to getting your kit off, or not, in a Finnish sauna. Feel free to add comments if you think I’ve missed anything!
Apparently most first dates in Finland involve going to a library (libraries are another Finnish obsession, another clue to the source of happiness, perhaps). If the first date goes well a second date would usually involve going to the sauna. Make up your own mind about the clothing etiquette. Library: Definitely clothed. Sauna: It depends…….
Back at Renata’s apartment I watch her as she circulates photos of herself as a ‘biker chick’ to all her friends…..and to her boyfriend. Hmmm. He’s bigger than me. Maybe it’s just as well that I’m heading to Estonia tomorrow!
And with that, the part of this tour that encompasses Scandinavia and the Nordic countries, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Finland, has come to an end. Tomorrow the tour crosses the Baltic Sea. Tomorrow I’m taking the ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn to start exploring the Baltic States…..
*Check Marita Solberg’s version of Solveig’s song. Listen right to the end and wait for the applause. Fabulous. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8AD75_sNJM
Tigger miles in 2023 = 8,024
Tigger miles in 2024 = 6,259
Tigger miles in 2025 so far = 7,318 (= 11,710 km)
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