Sometimes in life, as in travels, we really don't know what to expect when encountering other cultures, countries, and continents. Some things come as a pleasant surprise, and other things, no so much. You can imagine my bible-belt cultural shock when I found out about how the Finlandese love their saunas. In fact, the Finlandia sauna is a huge part of the Finnish culture. On
By Cacinda Maloney How on earth can I write a story about Finland without the mention of a sauna experience? I don’t believe I can and this time will be no exception. I dove into the culture and history of the Finnish sauna on my last trip to Helsinki that you can read about here. The immersion into the culture of a Finnish sauna is
By Cacinda Maloney Maakalla Island, Finland There was a quiet stillness unlike anything I had experienced before. I knew that Maakalla Island of Western Finland was remote, but the eeriness I felt upon stepping off the boat gave me a bit of a shiver. Stepping onto Maakalla Island, Finland It was mid-August and so the weather was picture-perfect for today, as
By Cacinda Maloney Vaasa, Finland map Arriving in Vaasa, Finland, I was ready for an adventure and Finland does not disappoint. Vaasa is the gateway to the western side of the country. This is where the narrowest part of the Gulf of Bothnia is connected to Finland by their longest bridge, the Replot, in the Baltic Sea. The Replot Bridge near Vaasa,
By Cacinda Maloney Great news on the blog today, as my travel life is always full of surprises! I never thought I would be heading back to Finland so soon, but I have an amazing adventure coming up soon! I am delighted to be going back to Finland, but this time to the west coast. I will be working with VisitFinland on an upcoming trip
In January 2014, I was invited to be a part of the Nordic Blogger Experience and as a result, was invited to go to Finland. I wrote about my amazing Finnish Sauna Experience and the Scandinavian Design Houses that I visited, but there is this one thing I haven’t mentioned yet: I took a day trip to Tallinn, Estonia!! You must do this if you
By Cacinda Maloney What a whirlwind trip I had to Helsinki, which is also a world away. I suddenly got transplanted into a winter wonderland from the heat of the desert! Helsinki, Finland One huge selling point of Helsinki, Finland is that fact that it is close to other major cities and so Helsinki is like getting 2 for 1 when it comes to