A Day in Teuva
Continuing our Finland adventure, Juha and Raija would take us to Teuva where my great-grandfather Charles Sillanpää was born in 1878. We would visit my cousin Sinikka (Raija’s sister) and, being Shrove Tuesday, she prepared a tasty traditional meal of pea soup and kropsu (also known as pannukakku) covered with a mix of lingenberries and raspberries.
We would then drive south-southeast of town to Snowpark Parra which is a local ski hill.
Juha drove around the ski hill to an area where he pointed out the former edge of the sea in ancient times. The portion of Finland around the Gulf of Bothnia has been rising about 1 cm per year since the end of the last Ice Age, basically bouncing back after the pressure of the ice sheet that once covered most of the country.
We would then visit Juha and Raija’s nearby forest cabin.
Being deep in the forest, this very cool rustic place has no electricity. While we were there, we would enjoy hot glogi with almonds and raisins.
Juha then showed me around and we talked about his forest management approach and discussed the differences with our forest management, particularly with our challenge finding a market for mature white pine in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
One difference you note right away about Finnish forests compared to the upper peninsula is how much less undergrowth there is in their forests. Even drainage is carefully addressed.
Of course, their cabin also includes a sauna and they even have a nearby pond they have dug where they can swim as well.
Returning to Teuva, we would have coffee at Sinikka’s along with laskiaispulla which seems very much like a distant cousin to the Polish paczki we see back in the U.P.
Returning to Seinäjoki, before dinner we would enjoy an amazing sauna at Juha and Raija’s place. It is no surprise that there are more saunas than cars in Finland, as Juha and Raija have one in their home, one at their forest cabin, and one at their lake house. Our sauna that evening would even include a vihta (bundled birch branches) from Teuva that we whipped one another with during our sauna.
Adjoining their sauna, Juha and Raija have a room with a fireplace where we relaxed and enjoyed drinks by the fire.
The next day we would travel with Juha and Raija to Vaasa where we would see a couple of art museums, but more about that next time!