Finland : Where People Live Below -30° Celsius

Home to 5.5 million people and Europe's eighth largest country, if the idea of how such vast population live through this astonishingly winter weather to below -30° celsius then this blog is for you!

Finland is a country in Northern Europe bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, and Gulf of Finland, between Norway to the north, Sweden to the northwest, and Russia to the east. The capital and largest city is Helsinki.

Geography :
Finland straddles the Arctic circle, encompassing 1,88,888 lakes and acres and acres of wilderness with most of the people living south to the country.

Climate :
It provides overwhelmingly clean respiratory air to breathe in. With winter comes stark darkness and polar nights which drops below -30° celsius. On the other hand, summer brings endless sunny days and light-body feel. Furthermore, Finland endures a long cold winter lasting six to eight months, from November to May.

Combating the frost :
For most Finns, the most convenient way to thrash subzero temperatures is the loyly. Loyly is the steam which comes when one throws water on hot stones in a sauna.

With a population of 5.5 million, there are 3.3 million saunas that are built in their houses itself. Infact, people are born inside a sauna.

One can indulge in a before-sauna ritual which is to whip one up gently by the fresh birch twigs. It may sound strange but it is known to be soothing to the skin. There is pleasant fragrance and sensation that follows which carries your mind to the forest. A bath, a social get-together or having food, a sauna can be used as an all-purpose spending.

What follows a sauna session?
Often but not all times it is followed by a plunge into the icy water. It may sound frightening cold. No doubt, it would bring a momentary loss of feeling in the legs. But why it's considered to follow is because of the energy boost that it brings.

A bit about Sauna:

Traditional saunas are heated by wood, burned either in a stove with a chimney. Whereas a smoke sauna is heated by a stove with no chimney. The smoke sauna is believed to be the best by Finns. When most of the smoke has escaped after wood is burned down, the doors are closed. This leaves the embers to heat the sauna to the proper temperature giving a soft heat and aroma of woodsmoke.

Out-door activities for snowy escapades:

If dressed well, then the sporty activities are real fun, ain't they?

From snow-mobiling, snowshoeing, and husky and reindeer safaris to down-hill or skiing, ice-fishing, there's a big lot of sports one can indulge in at Finland.

Also, a cup of hot chocolate with a vast, serene white-winter beauty spread across miles sounds amazing!

Clearly notable is the fact that, Finland is not only about mass of cold land and home to Santa Claus, but there's a whole lot of amazing offbeat wintery way to happily live to.