tour #2 – Suomenlinna, sauna & a wedding

tour

…air attack on Finland – day four: Suomenlinna, sauna & a wedding

…there it was, my last day in Finland. I just want to mention it came way too fast.

Today is 27th July, Happy-Tom’s birthday, the so-called HAPPY TOM DAY. The day the whole TURBOJUGEND is celebrating the birthday of TURBONEGRO‘s very own HAPPY-TOM in the whole world. Here in Finland, this party is being celebrated with a visit to the island of SUOMENLINNA.

SUOMENLINNA, which means “Finnish Fortress” in Finnish, or, in Swedish, SVEABORG – “Swedish Fortress”, is a fortress which was erected in 1748 and it consists of many islands at the gates of HELSINKI. Since the military position was given up in 1973, this place has blossomed into a meeting point for tourists and locals likewise. More than 700.000 people are coming every year to visit the island which belongs to the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage.

The weather forecast seemed to be pretty much on point since the sky was pretty grey when we arrived at the harbor. Thank God it didn’t rain and although this day happened to be a MONDAY there were lots of JUGENDLICHE there.

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The crossing just took 15 minutes and so we quickly left the Finnish capital behind us and finally got rid of a bunch of seagulls.

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The first target on the island happened to be the local supermarket. Fully packed with food to be grilled and cooled beverages we went out there to find a nice place for a picnic. Straight along the way and through the ancient fort we finally found one at a huge meadow next to the sea.

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Since I was so curious about a historical monument right in the middle of the sea I decided to have a closer look at it. I was accompanied by THE HEATHEN, ENKIMANKI and VILKKU. Our first stop happened to be the museum ship VESIKKO. It is a submarine from the 1930s of the German U-BOOT KLASSE II. It was used in WWII and was completely demilitarized after the war. It has been on exhibit at SUOMENLINNA since 1973.

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Anyway, we spared ourselves the tour of it and went on with our tour around the island. The sun had come out by that time and thus we felt a bit warmer. There are quite some canons next to the submarine on that island. This place happens to be the perfect playground for men who have remained and will always remain children in their hearts. By the way: such a “cannon” surely can inspire quite a fantasy.

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We felt like little boys looking for adventures during our trip on that island and we told each other stories from the past. That is how, for instance, I learned something about a plant which ENKIMANKI and VILKKU used to attack each other when they were little…or how they just teased the girls by throwing it against them since it happens to be very sticky and the girls’ hair and clothes happened to be perfect targets.

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A part of the island is still being used for the military so it can happen that speedboats appear and race through the branches. Whoever has looked closely at the photos might have seen one in one of the previous pictures. But I pardon you in case you did not. It is very well camouflaged. All in all, it remains a gorgeous place and if you just looked in the right direction you could have the impression that our group happened to be very close to the sky.

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We went back to the others who were all talking, doing sports or just enjoying summer with a cool beverage in their hand. At the end of our walk I had found a beautiful place which was just perfect for a group photo. At that moment our group had grown so big that I could take a really impressive picture. I just want to remark, that all of this happened on a Monday, a typical working day.

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What follows are the obligatory sticker pics. Some of the people who have had their pics already taken on Friday took the chance to take a second one and one or another pic was taken anyway. At the end, everyone dressed up and we went down to the sea to take a few more pics.

A little note: It´s too late. The right stickers will be coming soon.

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When we came back JÜRGEN DE RAVENOUS, had already heated up the barbecue and thus we had to eat something before we went to the sauna where most of the others had already gone to. I talked a bit to LE DENIM, President of TJ VANTAA and his first lady ROYAL ASS. Both of them have TURBONEGRO tattoos and I have to say that LE DENIM’s Hank tattoo really has left an impression on me.

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I had already described the Finns’ love of sauna. Doing the whole sauna thing on a, as I learned later, hottest day of the year, was a bit strange for me I must confess. When we arrived at the sauna, most of the guys had already been in there once or twice. So the clothing just consisted of a towel and a Kutte. No, the Kutte was not being taken inside. The sauna is being entered naked. Totally naked except for a cold drink in your hand.

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Whoever has been waiting for hot and sexy photos…read this: You gotta do it in real life and it’s incredible and any attempt to take a picture of it would never do it justice. So, I can just recommend to you to plan a visit to a Finnish sauna. You are not going to regret it. But: The sauna has to be in Finland. But that is self-explanatory, right?

I went through 3 rounds at the sauna, but I have to say that the last one wasn’t quite voluntary…but if there is a Finn who challenges you to do it…you have to do it. He was probably amazed by my resistance to heat and by my endurance. I just had to accept this challenge. In-between and afterwards we relaxed at the terrace…but one or the other person suddenly got tired there whereas others went totally crazy and were up to all kinds of shenanigans.

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It was dark already when we, with lots of applause, said “Goodbye!” to the innkeeper and went back. Another short tourist-stop, because…seriously…who has never wanted to take pictures of a glimmering sunset through a tunnel? After that we went back to mainland.

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A long day had passed…but it was not over yet. Just as as it had happened on the day of my arrival we went to BAR BASE where people had a few or more drinks. The absolute highlight, by the way, happened to be the spontaneous engagement of KAISA K. KAMALA and VILKKU and them getting all the blessings from Turbojugend Finland GodfatherJÜRGEN DE RAVENOUS. All the best to the two of you and Ahoi!

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And that´s the end of the story. I will leave Finland tomorrow very early. Too early at all. These were some of the best days in my life and I´m so thankful for all the kindness and love that was given to me during my trip. Thank you all. Very special thanks to my friend JYRKI – I can´ t thank him enough. My brother, you are always welcome at my place. Love and peace.

Ahoi! from the road
Miroslav aka Sir Polariot

If you like to support FACE THE JUGEND, you can order these pictures in the SUPPORT SHOP. Please don´t steal the pictures.

P.S.: I only had 3 hours of sleep that night before I had to head to the airport.  THE HEATHEN was supposed to have another stop in Kopenhagen, but I had to go to my next destination the day after…which happened to be the…WELTTURBOJUGENDTAGE.

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