Friday, May 27 ... our last day

Our last day in Finland and on our official trip was a great one. We traveled 3 1/2 hours by train farther north into Finland to the city of Jyväskylä...the home of the rest of the Koivistos. Here were we met by Samuel Koivisto (or Sammpa) and Katie Koivisto. Eventually, Katie's husband Jyri (Samuel's brother) found us as well. They spent a few minutes telling us about Samuel's business and the city of Jyväskylä. Then they got down to the real reason we came. We knew that the group had had enough of touring and meetings. We decided it was time to enjoy the Finnish tradition of sauna.

Samuel, Katie and Jyri took us to an island, where we cooked Finnish sausage and pulla bread. We also split into two groups (men and women) and spent time in the sauna. The concept is to sit and enjoy the steam for as long as you want, then run and jump into the lake...back into the sauna again for awhile and then back into the lake. It was great fun and worth the train trip.

We spent a beautiful day on the island. Now, most of us will meet the taxi at 4:30 am and head to the airport. Some of us are coming home. Marcy, Heather, Stefanie and Meagan are headed to Copenhagen for a few extra days. Dave is headed to Estonia and then Poland. He'll be gone for a few more weeks.

I can't load all of the video, for some reason, watch for one more entry after I get home.

Samuel Koivisto tells the group a bit about his business and his city. Jyri and Katie are seated with their little son, Kai.


Below, we get to business...out on the boat and then to the island..

Katie, Marcy, Meagan, Heather and Lisa head out.

Samuel, the pilot, Kai and Jyri.

Katie and Stefanie make it to the island, with the help of Samuel and Nathan.

Jyri supervises while Dave, Troy and Eric get the fire going to cook our lunch...great sausage with all the trimmings.

The sauna...from the back.

The sauna from the front.

The lake ... from the sauna and nearby (below).

I actually helped a bit...getting wood ready for the sauna...it's heated by burning  wood.

The men went first...I had to jump in and then get out to take the pictures. From the left ... Jeremy, Jyri, Eric, Dave, Nathan and Troy...Samuel had first shown us how.

Next, it was the women's turn (Heather took the picture since all the men were not around at this point). Lisa, Marcy, Stefanie, Katie (their coach), and Meagan.

We were all invigorated...what a great way to end the trip.