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The end of April marks a very special time on the Finnish calendar; the beginning of the spring! And Vappu is the closest thing you’ll find to Carnival in this part of the world.

Being originally celebrated as the international Labour Day, in Finland Vappu has evolved more into a massive one-week binge of students, and it reaches its peak on the Vappu Eve, the 30th April. Different kinds of traditions take place that week (e.g. Vappu pranks, sitz parties, sports, races, fresher students thrown into the freezing river/sea, Vappu magazines, etc.)

Starting already a week before, there will be pre-parties for Vappu along the week, until on the 30th April, which is the culmination of the crazy week and almost every student organisation in Turku has some kind of programme around the campus area.

30^th of April

In the afternoon there will be a traditional Vappu event in front of the Educarium from 12.00 to 16.00 with live music, punch and smiling students. This is the best time to start partying if you haven’t done that earlier that day!

Very important part of Vappu is putting on the student caps from 17.30. to 18.00. at Taidemuseonmäki (Outside the Turku Art Museum, Aurakatu). The whole Turku will be there so don’t miss it!
From the Art Museum, everyone heads down the Aurakatu to the river to gather around the statue of Lilja near the Aura bridge. Lilja then gets her student cap at around 19.00 with the help of the Student Unions. Before that, the students of dentistry clean her with their giant tooth brush, Sohon Torwet performs and the Student Unions of Turku greet the celebrating people. Later at night, you can continue with the celebration at different bars and parties around Turku.

1^st of May

On the actual Vappu day itself, the 1st of May, thousands of people gather at the Vartiovuori hill (at the intersection of Uudenmaankatu and Hämeenkatu) for a massive picnic from 10:30 to 16:00 to cure their hangover and enjoy each other’s company, hopefully the lovely weather, bands playing and so on. Just take a blanket, something to eat and drink and join in!
NB! The first of May is a bank holiday in Finland, plus grocery stores and Alkos will be closing a bit earlier on the 30th, so make sure you do your shopping well beforehand.

What to wear if I want to do it in a traditional Finnish way?

Usually Finns, especially students, wear their overalls and after 6 pm those white student caps. Other people can also dress up in a carnivalistic way, so if you don’t have overalls or a Finnish upper secondary school diploma (which is required for being allowed to wear those caps) just get a silly wig, glasses, balloons, streamer, a glass full of mead (a tradional Finnish Vappu beverage) and a doughnut in your hand, and the most important, a big smile on your face and you’ll be just about perfect!

Make sure you’ll be there to find out why all the Finns go crazy over Vappu and are waiting for this date like children are waiting for Christmas. We want you all to be there and share the most spectacular day of the spring with us!

I’m really looking forward to Vappu and I want to experience how it will be. I already heard a lot a bout it and I’m really happy that I can participate. I hope the weather will be nice and I’m looking forward to it 🙂

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Turku Castle is a more than 700 year old historical monument. It has stood guard over the river Aura estuary since the 1280’s. Its granite stone walls hold within them the history of Finland, Sweden and the other Nordic countries.

The history of Turku Castle begins in the 1280’s. During the centuries the fortification gradually changed into a grand greystone palace.

In 1556, King Gustav Vasa named his son Johan Duke of Finland. The era of Johan marked a new phase in the construction of the Castle. The renaissance halls were built during this period, which also marked the beginning of the reneissance era in Finland.

In the 17th century, the Governor General of Finland Per Brahe held court in the Bailey. Gradually the administrative centre moved out of the by then old castle, and gave way to a prison. It also served as a storehouse and as barracks.

In the 1941 bombings the castle was left in ruins. After the end of the war restaurations began. Nowadays the periods of construction can be seen in labyrinthine passages, walled up doors and windows and in mysterious staircases.

In 1809, Turku became the capital of an autonomous Finland and the central government of the Grand Duchy was placed in the city. Because of its historical status, there were already important offices in Turku. However, the capital was soon moved to Helsinki in 1812, because Emperor Alexander I felt that Turku was too aligned with Sweden and too close to the former mother country.

The Turku Castle is called Turun linna in Finnish. There is a huge musem in the castle at the moment. The castle is pretty impressive and it was really interesting to walk through it. It is one of the most famous sights of Turku.

Switzerland and Finland have really simmilar wildlife but there are also a lot of differences.

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Same animals are for example lynx, owls, wolves and bears.

We have a lot of different animals too here some examples….

SAIMAA RINGED SEAL

These rare inland seals have adapted to their freshwater home since they were cut off from the sea in Lake Saimaa – Finland’s largest lake – after the Ice Age. They are found only in Lake Saimaa. Thanks to conservation measures their numbers have recently risen to over 300, but they are still seriously endangered.

WOLVERINE

Also known as gluttons, wolverines are hardy arctic animals that look like small elongated bears, though in fact they are more closely related to Finland’s pine martens, otters and badgers. Wolverine-watching trips are organised in Eastern Finland.

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ELCH/ REINDEER

If you want to know more about them look at my earlier post.

What we don’t have is the sea so there are also some animals we don’t have…

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HARBOUR PORPOISE

Finland does not have any large Cetacean species within its territories. Finland’s only coast is on the baltic sea which is home to the Harbour Porpoise which is the smallest of the Dolphin Species in the world’s Oceans.
However, the Baltic Sea the population of Harbour Porpoise has dropped dramatically since the mid-1950s and is now at under 500.

Last weekend we had a cottage weekend. It was a really nice experience. The cottage was somwhere in the woods next to the sea. It was a beautiful place out in the nature.

A lot of Finnish people have a cottage somewhere in the countryside to spend their holidays or weekends. I think that is really nice but we couldn’t effort that because it would be to expensive.

Our program:

12:00 Arriving
13:00 Lunch
15:00 Cottage race
17:30 Dinner
18:30 Saunashifts
21:00 grilling
22:00 social program
00:00 middnight pizza

The cottage race was really interesting. We had five stops to do. The first one was baking pullas without a recipe. The dough was already made but we had to do the other steps luckly we hade some people who were experienced. The next stop was a fear factory. We tried typical finnish foods with closed eyes. Some of them were mämmi, leipäjuusto and salmiakki. After that we had to guess what the people of our group are eating while they explained it to us.

At the social program they gave us some words and we had to sing songs with these words in it. It was a lot of fun.

We were 16 people in one cottage there was a lot going on and it was a lot of fun. It was definitely worth it to go there and I would do it again.

It is really interessting even in the deepest winter the Fins are riding their bikes. I was very impressed, because in Switzerland all the people are starting to take the public transport or the car when the winter is coming.

It’s nice that in Finland they have paths specially for bicyclist. But in the beginning I didn’t know about that so it was a bit confusing for me. Also the cyclists here drive crazy look out for them.

I can understand why the people are riding bicycles here. It is fast and you can take some path that are not able to take with the car. I wouldn’t take it in winter because it is really icy and slippery but definitely in summer.

1.Best time to travel to Finland

For a warm summerholiday and a lot of light you should go between June and August. In September and October you will see Finland in a lot of different colours. If you want to see the winterwonderland you should go between December and March to Lapland. Maybe you are lucky and you can see the Northern Lights. Also in April and May Finland is beautyful the Nature is coming to life again in Spring.

2. Temperatures

In Winter it can become up to – 35° cold. But normal temperatures are between -5° and -15°. In Summer it can become up to 30° or warmer. The normal temperatur in Summer is around 20°.

3. Northernlights and midnight sun

If you want to see Northernlights you should go to Lapland. It is possible to see them between the end of August till April. But you need a little bit of luck o see them. In the Begining and the End you can see them more often.

The midnight sun is also something special of Finland. The sun doesn’t set between the middle of May and the end of July over two months. The best spot to see that is in Lapland but also in the other parts of the country it is possible to see that.

4. Safety

Finland is a really safe country. You don’t need to have doubts about it. In an emergency you can call the number 112.

5. Shopping

Finish shops are normaly open form Monday till Friday 9-20 o’clock. Saturdays form 9-15 some are till 18 o’clock. Some are also open on Sundays.

6. Alcohol

When you are over 20 years old you can buy all the different alkoholic drinks in the Alko-shops (governmental). To buy wine, liqueurs and spirits you have to go to a Alko-shop. Beer and Cider can also be bought in a supermarket when you are over 18.

7. special travel hint

Be prepared for mosquitos in the Northern parts of the country. You should take a mosquito repellent with you. And I wish you good luck!

8. sauna

If someone invites you to go to a sauna you should join them. It’s a honour to get invited.

9. Time

Finland is one hour ahead of us.

10. money

The currecy of Finland is Euros.

11. electricity

The outlets are the same as in Switzerland.

12. language

In the northern countries they use the first name to speak with other people. The offical language is Finnish.

A few days ago, a friend of me told me something really fascinating about Finland. At first I couldn’t believe it but then I looked it up in the internet and she was right! Finland is the happiest country in the world in 2019! .

The World Happiness Report is a landmark survey of the state of global happiness that ranks 156 countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be. This year’s World Happiness Report focuses on happiness and the community: how happiness has evolved over the past dozen years, with a focus on the technologies, social norms, conflicts and government policies that have driven those changes.

Although it gets very cold and dark in winter the Fins are still happy people. I think money and a good standard of life doesn’t automatically mean you’re happy, but being satisfied with what you have definitely makes you happy. It is nice to see that Switzerland (6th happies county) and Finland are one of the most happies countries in the world.

To the finnish-swedish studenttraditions belonges the sitz parties. Every sitz has a theme. I went to one with the theme „Harry Potter“.

The party takes place while sitting, which means that everyone has to look for the place with his name tag and is only alowd to get up under certain rules.

The most important parts of a sitz are „drinking“ and „singing“.

Singing:

Every sitz party has a songbook. The person who wants to start a song has to get up, present themself and start to sing the song. You can sing an own song which everyone knows or sing one out of the book. The most of the songmelodies are known so that everyone can sing it. While you are singing you can shout tempo +/- to speed up or slow down the song. If you shout omstart you have to start the verse again and if you hear „mellansup“ you have to take a sip of your drink.

Drinking:

Traditionally after the first song you will drink a shot of Vodka. After every song you have to drink. The women have to toast first to their left then to their right and then to the person opposite you. The men start with right, lrft and then opposite. Thats why normaly they try to sit men and women alternative. While you are doing that you have to say „SKÅL” and look the person in the eyes.

You get a three dish dinner. A starter, a main dish and a dessert in the end.

Our sitz was leaded by three people. They look that the people are following the rules and if not they get a punishement. Punishments can be for example you get bound together with your neighbor, you have to dance or you have to drink a shot.

There are rules like you have to ask all the people around you for permission if you want to go to the toilet. You shouldn’t arrive too late to a sitz and you are not allowed to use your phone during the sitz. But there are breaks to do these things.

After the sitz we had a afterparty and danced a lot.

I really enjoyed the sitz it was a nice typical finnish experience. I would like to have something simmilar in Switzerland.

• RUISLEIPÄ (RYE BREAD)
• RIISPUURO (RICE PORRIDGE)
• HERNEKEITTO JA PANNUKAKKU (PEA SOUP AND PANCAKE)
• LOHIKEITTO (SALMON SOUP)
• SISKONMAKKARAKEITTO (SAUSAGE SOUP)

TRADITIONAL FINNISH MAIN COURSES

• LIHAPULLAT MUUSILLA JA PUOLUKKAHILLOLLA (MEATBALLS WITH MASHED POTATOES AND LINGONBERRY JAM)
• MAKARONILAATIKKO (BAKED MACARONI WITH MINCED MEAT)
• KARJALANPAISTI (MEAT STEW)
• PYTTIPANNU (PAN FRIED POTATOES WITH SAUSAGES)
• KAALIKÄÄRYLEET (STUFFED CABBAGE)

“STREET FOOD” IN FINLAND

• PAISTETTU MUIKKU (FRIED VENDACE)
• LIHAPIIRAKKA (MEAT PIE)
• LASIMESTARIN SILLI (MARINATED HERRING)

FINNISH DESSERTS AND COFFEE SNACKS (SIMILAR TO SWEDISH FIKA)

• KORVAPUUSTI (CINNAMON ROLLS)
• LEIPÄJUUSTO LAKKAHILLOLLA (CHEESE BREAD WITH CLOUDBERRY JAM)
• MUSTIKKAPIIRAKKA (BLUEBERRY PIE)
• KÖYHÄT RITARIT (FINNISH FRENCH TOAST)

I tried a lot of these typical finnish foods. My favourites are the sweet pastries.

An other typical finnish thing is Pulla. See the recipe below.

Dough:

• 5 dl / 2 cups milk
• 50 g fresh yeast / 2,5 tbsp dry yeast
• 1 egg
• 2 dl / about ¾ cup sugar
• 1-2 tbsp cardamom
• 1 tsp salt
• 13-15 dl/ 5,5-6 cups white wheat flour (all-purpose) 
• 150-200 g / ¾ cup of butter, but could use a little more or less

Filling:

• 100 g / about 1/3 cup butter
• cinnamon
• sugar

Finishing:

• 1 egg

Decoration:

• sugar (not necessary)

1. Start by taking butter to soften in room temperature about an hour before you start to make the dough.

2. Warm up the milk so that it’s luke warm. Sprinkle in the yeast and blend. With dry yeast milk needs to a bit warmer.

3. Add sugar, egg, cardamon, salt and about 3/4 of flours.

4. Put your hand in the dough, add the softened butter and start kneading the dough. Add the rest of the flour little by little while kneading.

Please note that kneading the dough is a very important part of making the cinnamon rolls! The more you knead, the fluffier the dough gets. Patience pays!

5. Knead dough until it is smooth and a bit bouncy. The dough is perfect when you can remove it from the bowl so that it does not stick to the edges too much. If it does, add a little bit of flour and knead a bit more.

6. Raise the dough in a warm spot under a cloth. Let it raise for about 45 minutes to 1 hour until it has doubled its size.I

7. As the dough is raising, take the butter to be used for the filling from the fridge and let it soften in room temperature.

8. Lightly flour a clean work surface with all-purpose wheat flour. Pour the dough to the table and split it in three parts.

9. Using the rolling pin, roll the dough out to make rectangular sheets (about 30 x 50-60 cm).

10. Spread the softened butter with a knife on each of the dough sheets. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top of the butter layer.

11. Roll the dough sheet into a tight roll and leave the seam underneath the roll.

12. Cut the roll into to a triangle-shaped pieces.

13. Place the pieces on the table the narrower side facing up. Use your thumb to press the top of the pieces all the way to the bottom.

14. Lift the ready buns on the baking tray (use parchment paper to prevent sticking) and let them raise under the cloth while pre-heating the oven to 225ºC.

15. When the oven is ready and the cinnamon rolls have risen, finish them by applying egg with a baking brush. Decorate the cinnamon rolls with sugar crystals or fine sugar if you wish.

16. Bake in 225ºC for 10-15 minutes.

17. The cinnamon rolls are ready when the color turns into golden brown. Some like them lighter, some darker –  try and see which one works best for your taste buds.

That’s it! If you want to enjoy the cinnamon rolls Finnish style, make some coffee or tea and invite your friends over for a delicious treat!

Enjoy!