The Finnish Riviera

« Butterfly shutters on Hemulen's house at Moomin World in Naantali. »

Three small galleries of photos from a short trip through the Finnish Riviera:

• Moomin World
• Unikeon Päivä, a.k.a. Sleepyhead Day
• The Finnish Riviera

I don't remember precisely when it was, though I suspect I noticed the Naantali brochure when we were anxiously waiting for Otava's arrival in the Stockholm ferry terminal, that I read a blurb about a town called Naantali throwing someone into the water early on a mid-July morning as part of a tradition called "Unikeon Päivä", a.k.a. Sleepyhead Day. It claimed that the last person sleeping would be chased into the harbour and be doomed to being sleepy for the rest of the year. I thought to myself, "Wow, there's a contest I could win every year, not to mention that it sure would explain alot." It also mentioned Moomin World and a spa whereupon I was immediately sold on the idea of paying a visit to Finland's "Sunshine Town", the Finnish Riviera. My desire grew as seasons marched on and I hadn't been further outside of Helsinki than Espoo.

I didn't have much holiday time this year as it's my first year working and no one tells you that you accrue holiday time at a rate of 2.x days per month until April which then determines your annual allotment. This means instead of the fabled and seemingly impossible 4-6 weeks of annual holiday, you get only a few days if you start work in November as I did. And you only work 5 days a week but you have to have 6 days of holiday to take a week off which is some throwback to times that few remember or know why it remains done this way. I didn't know you could take unpaid holiday time in lieu of having paid holiday on your first year, either. So, I had a few days worth of flex-time that I scheduled for a 3-day tour of the Finnish Riviera through Hanko, Raasepori, Naantali and Uusikaupunki.

All roads lead to Hanko, at least this is how it has appeared since I arrived as there are countless signs that say "Hanko" along the roads. I've been wanting to know all this time what is so great about Hanko that everyone needs to know which roads go there. The country is too small to have something like signs in western Colorado pointing to St. Louis which is 600-800 miles away since it's the nearest point of civilisation around that drivers will recognise. In fuckallnowhere you either live there or keep on driving in hopes of finding something other than country and western on the radio. So, in the interest of figuring out what the big deal about Hanko was, we drove there first. Not too far from Hanko along the King's Road is Raasepori Castle. I had been there before, but it was a nice pitstop for coffee.

Hanko is the southernmost town in Finland which explains the abundant signage. It is also a rather large port hosting the largest guest harbour in Finland as well as acres of imported cars waiting for transport. The tallest lighthouse in the Nordic countries, Bengtskär, is near the coast as well. We walked around the old town, had lunch in the seaside casino whose interior is straight out of a 1970s ABBA music video and went on our way since it was somewhat dreary and rainy. One thing I noticed as we were strolling around town was that there must be some cosmic law regarding seaside towns and all the crappy kitsch that goes with them since even Finland isn't immune to its relentless ubiquity. I always wonder who is buying the lighthouse door knockers or the stuffed viking pirates.

From Hanko, it's an easy drive to Naantali which is just north of Turku since much of the 4-lane highway has been finished, though large chunks of the 2-lane donkey cart road between Helsinki and Turku remain. Jarkko booked a room at the Naantali Spa Hotel as the town has been historically well known for its spas since 1863. Elvis, too, was staying at the spa in the Footsteps of Elvis exhibit, reportedly the largest of its kind outside of Graceland. It was entertaining to see the busloads of geriatric Finnish Elvis fans pay 12 eur to relive a bit of their youth. I was hoping for poodle skirts and Elvis impersonators, but no such luck. The spa had flag poles in the front driveway which displayed the flags of their guests' countries. The next morning I looked up and there was old glory waving in the breeze and it made me feel really uncomfortable though I'm sure the intent was just the opposite.

After a relaxing dinner in old town, and a bit more wine than we needed, we wobbled back to the hotel to rest up for visiting Moomin World. My vision of Moomin World was decidedly American in scope and concept. I remain rather pouty that I was denied the joy of blueberry Moomin pehmis (soft-serve ice cream) touting the "Made with real Moomins™" mark of quality. I missed the Moomin-shaped water tower that should have rightly been a towering landmark visible from miles around. The Moomin Shop had gifts mostly for kids and less Moomin merch than what you could find in Stockmann. I delighted in the fantasy of a Moomin merch paradise with unique items you could only find at Moomin World that I could send to friends and family. I respect the fact that the Moomin franchise, Tove Jansson's family, has told Walt Disney to piss off and that they are trying not to be complete commercial money grubbers but, c'mon, they're charging 16 euro per head for Moomin World, why not make some interesting and unusual merch available only in Naantali to make the trip even more special. Yes, I'm bitterly disappointed that I didn't find any fun Haisuli miniatures or cookie cutters. I'll live. :)

The park itself is cleverly appointed with features straight from the Moomin books that those who have read the books will delight in. It's not an amusement park with roller coasters or thrill rides, no, it really is just about the Moomin stories. There are, unsurprisingly, lots and lots and lots of young children. So many, in fact, that the two of us wandering around without such an accessory felt more than a little out of place, even suspect. The Washington Post ran an article, Invasion of the Moomins, back in 2001 about a visit to Moomin World which is interesting since the Moomin really aren't known at all in the US for some reason. Not much has changed since then. I was rather surprised at the complete lack of anything in English for children who aren't Finnish or Swedish. Even the tourism office and website seemed to have precious little for the non-local tourists. The Moomin books have been translated into numerous languages but Moomin World doesn't seem to be as welcoming to children from elsewhere in the world which is a pity since the books are endearing to both children and adults who might enjoy Moomin World if they had the opportunity.

After leaving Moomin World, we returned to the hotel to enjoy the spa part of the spa hotel. :) It was sorta funny sitting in the co-ed turkish steam bath wondering which vague shape in the thick fog was Jarkko. The cycle of sauna->pool->sauna continues to be unexpectedly refreshing even as I keep telling my colleages that St. Louis' summer is actually quite like the Finnish sauna only without the benefit of being naked or having the ability to flee the oppressive heat when you've had enough. Massages came next as Jarkko insisted on us both having a session of trying to take the stiffness down a notch. It's so weird when you stuff your face in the padded hole on the massage table and a complete stranger begins rubbing your fat down while you think of nothing in particular and hope that you don't relax so much that you start farting. :)

We rose the next day at an inhumanly early hour to go see the event that brought us to Naantali, Unikeon Päivä, a.k.a. Sleepyhead Day, where one unlucky, upstanding and prominent member of the community gets dumped into the harbour at 7am. There's little information about Unikeon Päivä in English and what little there is tends to be inaccurate so the following is from Vuotuinen Ajantieto by Kustaa Vilkuna which is a bit of an authoritative classic on Finnish calendar lore and holidays.

The Sleepyhead Day: 27.7

The strange "Unikeko" name is met already in the calendar of the Hemming hymnals in 1652 before which it had to have been in common use because is not a late translational borrowing. In other languages, there is only talk of the "seven sleepers". The origin of the memorial day is from the seven martyrs from Ephesus, the young men Maximianus, Malcus, Martinianus, Dionysius, Johannes, Serapion, and Constantinus, who fleeing the persecution of the emperor Decius slept the years 249-447. The earliest record of this legend is from the year 570. In the Nordic countries, the day was celebrated already in the Middle Ages. In Finland, the seven sleepyheads day was originally on 26.6, as well as in a couple of bishoprics of Denmark. In the middle of the 1700s, the day was moved to its current position, which is the same as with most saint calendars of the Swedish and Norwegian bishoprics.

The belief that if one sleeps late on Sleepyhead Day that one will be sleepy for the whole year is probably of a relatively late origin. The one who stays last in bed will be called "the sleepyhead of the house and the laziest one for all the year". But, if one went to the stables early in the morning with one's eyes closed, both the man and the horse became equally early risers. A horse is a naturally early riser. These kinds of portents have earlier belonged to the end of the "keyri", i.e. the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the new one. One portent of the natural kind is the common adage: "If it rains on the sleepyhead day, it will rain seven weeks straight."

To the summertime holiday and spa season of Naantali belongs the continuously happy sleepyhead tradition with early wake-ups, vespers, and other festivities. The current custom, which in recent years has grown into a three day carnival, was started in the heyday of the Naantali spa in 1889. The masseuses started amusing their guests in a folk-like manner. The loud and colourful procession and dumping a well-known figure who slept until seven into the sea have become the high point of the festival.

The Finnish almanac is probably the only calendar left these days which still has "Sleepyhead Day" in it. Since 1973 it has been printed alongside the popular name, "Heidi".

So here we were sitting around the harbour at about 6.30 in the AM, after having had a bit too much sangria the night before, waiting for the thrill of watching someone get tossed into the harbour. Clearly, my threshold for excitement had reached a new low. At one point I looked to my left and Jarkko noted that the President was about 20 feet away on the presidential boat which had come over from Kultaranta, the President's summer residence, across the bay. I thought that not only would that never happen in the US, but wondered why Tarja wasn't having breakfast with some world leader or something more, well, world leaderish instead of hanging out on a boat waiting for somone to get tossed into the bay, especially after her husband was Unikeko in 2002. Soon after, the majorettes marched onto the pier followed by a few guys dressed like Venetian gondoliers carrying a body draped in a grey wool blanket. They carefully, almost apologetically, tilted the stretcher towards the water and the chosen Unikeko of 2005, Risto Rinne, the CEO of Neste Oil, plopped into the water with little fanfare but much applause.

Afterwards, people dispersed for breakfast and a children's costume contest where, surprisingly, the themes were very similar to Halloween costumes in the US as there were superheroes, pirates, and political figures. There was one pirate who had his little sister dressed up as his wench, a set of twins were made up as golfers and one little girl made a convincing 1920s flapper. The majorettes gathered in front of a small tourist choo-choo tram, the Unikeko arrived and the parade proceeded to wind through the streets with costumed children, adults clad in pyjamas, and grandmothers knitting on the go following behind. The festivities would last for the rest of the day. We went back to the hotel for breakfast and headed for a tour of Kultaranta, but the next tour wasn't until 1pm and we wanted to get home at a reasonable hour as I had to go back to work the next day, so we departed and drove towards Uusikaupunki.

We visited Uusikaupunki specifically to see Bonk Industries, an elaborately conceived and executed museum fabricated for the sole purpose of giving the town a bit of tourism appeal. The town apparently felt like they needed some historical cachet so they made up Bonk Industries and the exhibits are so beautifully and meticulously crafted that it's convincing until you start to read the story which is pretty over the top. Uusikaupunki's tourist office also had a surprisingly large number of publications in English as opposed to Naantali which is a far larger, more touristy town that has very, very little in English, including their web page which had the English events and news sections under construction for most of the year. The second local attraction that wasn't created solely to attract tourists was the Myllymäki hil windmills where there used to be dozens of them for grinding grain before more modern machines forced them into obsolescence. It's a lovely little town that I'm sorry we didn't get to enjoy more time in. It is also worth mentioning that many of the towns along the southwest coast host festivals that they must coordinate with each other since, if you plan carefully, you can make your way through the towns hopping from one festival to the next. Had we time to stay, Uusikaupunki had a music festival starting the next day.

Southwest Finland is the so-called Finnish Riviera because it enjoys more sunshine during the year than much of the rest of Finland which, in all honesty, isn't really saying much. :) It is also the area of Finland that embodies the image of Finland and Finnish life that is most familiar to foreigners, most likely due to being a popular area for tourism. It is a beautiful, but populous, part of the country. I have yet to visit eastern Finland and Lapland, but maybe next year.

n.b - I had intended to write this earlier with more witty anecdotes and humour, but I've been tired, sick and unable to do much other than gape at CNN for the past week. So, if anyone made it this far, I hope it didn't make for horribly dull reading.