It was raining in Helsinki on my return in the beginning of May, and the thermometer showed only 10 degrees Celsius. Quite a shock compared to warm, sunny and colourful Almuñécar. Seeing it from the bright side, it’s nice to get the morning newspaper at four in the morning and enjoy the latte and pep-up slogans at my favourite coffee shop Johan et Nyström. But the best of all, I have become a great grandmother to a little baby girl! The parents did not want to know the sex of the baby, so we came to Finland equipped with a mini flamenco dress and a Messi football outfit, size 1. Well, the latter gear can wait until the arrival of the right kind of wearer. But, on the other hand, girls play football even at a professional level, so why not give her the dress on her first birthday?
The second best thing I have enjoyed since my return was revisiting the real Finnish sauna with a wood-fired stove and the scent from the leafy birch twigs called vihta, with which we Finns flagellate ourselves after having thrown water on the hot stones in the stove. After a shower, a dip in the sea and a glass of cold beer and grilled sausages, the life is perfect. Unlike wood burning saunas, the smoke saunas use a stove without a chimney. The smoke escapes through a shutter in the wall or roof. The popularity of the smoke sauna has diminished over the years, but there are still many people who claim that the smoke sauna is the only “right” alternative.
The sauna ritual has been performed in Finland for thousands of years, ever since the first settlers dug a ditch in the ground, heated a pile of stones, and threw water on the stones to give off a vapour called löyly. Just a few decades ago, many Finns were born in the sauna, especially in rural areas. The sauna was very suitable for the purpose, plenty of hot water was available and hygiene was excellent.
The sauna declined in Europe in the Middle Ages when the Reformation made the European bath house almost extinct. Finnish, Russian and Scandinavian peoples continued their traditions of sweat bathing. Today, Finland has 5,4 million inhabitants and 2 million saunas. Sweden, with 9 million inhabitants has about 300.000 saunas and Norway with a population of 5,1 million has less than 50.000 saunas.
In the Finnish sauna, no clothes or swimsuits are allowed. Foreign visitors tend to be a bit uncomfortable about that, especially if they visit a public sauna. Some of these establishments have bossy washer women who tell you to drop your trousers before they start scrubbing you. This can be a bit scary. You are, however, supposed to bring a towel, so those who are prudish tightly bundle themselves up in a towel, at least when entering the steam room.
There is one widespread misconception that the Finnish sauna should have something to do with sex. Men and women visit the sauna separately. Couples go together, parents go with their children, and everyone is comfortable with that.
Some like it hot. We Finns enjoy ourselves in temperatures of 80-100 degrees Celsius. We go to the sauna weekly, twice weekly, daily. We’ve got saunamania.