Finland: A Picturesque Land of 1000 Lakes

Yulia Trubnikova shares her travel to one of the best countries in the world…

Finland is a Nordic country in the region called Scandinavia, it’s a peninsula with the Gulf of Finland and Gulf of Bothnia waters surrounding it. The country has land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north and Russia to the east.1_2

Why did you travel to Finland?

I was lucky enough to be born and raised right on the border of Finland and have traveled there for over 300 times. I have to say that this small and lovely country in the North has never failed to make my every trip enjoyable. Why I keep going? I don’t even know where to start!

Finland is a natural clean oasis in our speedy, polluted and plastic world. I travel there to relax. Imagine being stressed from a million things; there, you can just get on your bike and ride along the numerous bicycle roads while enjoying an unreal picturesque landscapes, meeting rabbits and squirrels on your way (yes they are not afraid of people there!) and completely disconnecting from the hazard of the world. I deliberately don’t use the car in Finland; it would be a crime to lose the opportunity to breathe the freshest air in the world. You can literally “get drunk” from the oxygen there and get a guaranteed sleep like a baby.

Finland is a highly sustainable environment and it has one of the top best ecologies in the world. What’s even more amazing is that even they are so close to nature; they use the most sophisticated technologies in everything they do. This country attracts many tourists through spending a peaceful time in the cottages by the lake, grilling, camping and biking in the summer; and skiing and skating in winter.

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What is your favourite location for a perfect backdrop to photo?

One of the top places in Finland is Imatra’s waterfall (Fin. “Imatrankoski”) in the town of Imatra on the Finnish/Russian border. It is a natural rapid going down along the Vuoksa river’s stony sleeve. Since 1929, the rapid has been blocked by a dam as the Imatra hydroelectric plant began operation. Today, the dam is opened daily between June and August, as well as on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, which attracts thousands of tourists over the season and its considered to be one of the National sightseeing. Every summer evening you’d see a bunch of tourist buses there and the people crowding on the bridge over the rapid waiting for it to be open. Accompanied with the dramatic music (like Evanescence), this view of irrepressible power of water gives you a goosebumps indeed.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the most photographed place in Finland.

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Tell us an interesting fact about this?

  Tap water in Finland is so clean so you can drink even the hot water straight from there.

Nokia, the name of the iconic phones back in the days, is actually a name of a small town, the place where the company of Nokia has been established about 150 years ago.

Finland is the highest coffee consumption country in the world per capita! Surprised? Me, not! Average finn consumes 12 kg of coffee per year. You can smell coffee starting from the customs where they stamp your passport. This is how I understand I’m in Finland already  Coffee is a lifestyle.

In most of the coffeeshops where you get a cup of coffee you can refill it another time for free. You just come back to the counter and say a magical word “santsi”.

Finnish education system is considered the best in the world being actually a very flexible and very interactive system mostly without the homework.

How would you describe the local cuisine?

Located on the North and covered with rich forests Finland has such natural foods like mushrooms and berries, and northern wild forest animals that are traditionally used in Finnish cuisine. Here you can try reindeer or moose meat evenon the pizza! I personally love reindeer meat, which has a minimum fat and surprisingly very very tender!

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Obviously, I can’t forget the role of fish in the local cuisine since the country has more the a thousand lakes and the Baltic Sea around. Salmon is the most loved fish indeed. It’s a cold-water fish so the Finnish climate is just an ideal environment for salmon farming. Finnish people know and offer a thousand ways of curing and cooking salmon, like cold and hot smoked salmon, with pink salt, with rose pepper, with cranberries, with garlic sauce and so on and so forth. I’d say salmon is Finland’s national fish because it’s so dearly loved by Finns… and me, oh boy, I am obsessed with salmon too! The typical garnish would be potatoes since its widely cultivated over the country and it goes very well with their favorite dishes.

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Nordic berries are one of the Finnish natural treasures, which you can pick up sometimes from the side of the road! Don’t worry, the country is so clean and all the vehicles are using neutralizers so it is safe to eat from there… I did many times! Blueberries, forest strawberries, raspberries, cranberries, wild berries, cloudberries are just a few to name. The berry jam is always beautifully packed and can definitely be a great souvenir for your foodie friends.

What’s next in your plan?

Definitely visiting Lapland! An area above the Arctic Circle, a motherland of Santa-Clause and of Northern lights, it’s a unique place in the world and in my must-go list in the nearest future.

Instagram: @trubni

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