N The Inquirer | SUNDAY, AUG. 28, 2016 |PHILLY.COM|A| LARISSA MILNE

From Arctic Circle hiking to wild-berry-picking, from the archipelago to Lapland, one experience made them feel like honorary Finns: The sauna.

PLUNGING INTO

By Larissa about165 degrees Fahrenheit — and MichaelMilne yikes,you could practically smoke FOR THE INQUIRER some baby back ribs in that heat. he small wooden cottage We had come to Finland not quite nestled among the birch knowing what to expect. Because it’s treesinLapland looks consideredtobe part of Scandina- quite inviting. However, via, so named due to the Scandes the building overlooking a mountains running through this ex- Tcrystal-clear lake isn’tahouse; in treme northern section of Europe, it typical Finnish fashion, the entire often gets groupedtogether with structure is asauna. Norway,Sweden, and Denmark. As we enter,the scorched air hits Although asmall sliver of north- our bare skin like acoarse wool blan- west Finland pokes afinger into ket. Michael winces, looks at the ther- the Scandes foothills adjacent to mometer,and declares bravely,“It’s Sweden and Norway,the country only 75 degrees, we can handle that.” actually shares its longest border Then we realize the temperature is in with Russia to the east, which has Celsius. Aquick bit of clumsy mental also influenced the country over math converts the temperature to See FINLAND on N3

TheArctic Circle Hiking Area, top, outside Rovaniemi, Finland, offersstark beautyand plenty of wild berries forpicking during 20-plus hoursof midsummer daylight. Therarecloudberry,left, in the Arctic north, home to nomadic Finnish Laplanders and the reindeer theyfollow. MICHAEL MILNE

TRAVEL Q&A | N3 To Elsinoreand Hamlet’scastle —alas, fie,fie,asiege. “Creeping” delay deservesfollow-up The literary pilgrimage in Denmark that wasn’t with theairline. By To by Zinman that, called Kronborg (the town FOR THE INQUIRER is called Helsingor in Danish). It came for Hamlet and got Iron- is an outstandingRenaissance man. How could this happen? structure,aUNESCO World Her- I Anybody who has read my itage site. Its construction began past travel articles or has let me in 1574 to replace the building buttonhole them with travel sto- that burned down in 1420.As ries knows that Ilove pilgrimag- TomStoppard wittily figured out es —not of the religious variety for us when he wrote Rosen- but the literary.Sohow was Ito crantz and Guildenstern are resist an excursion to Elsinore Dead, abrilliant contemporary to see Hamlet’s castle? Iwas go- riff on Hamlet, chronologically, ing to be in Copenhagen, and it the English king who would PERSONAL is amere 45 minutes by train on have executed Hamlet’straitor- the superb Danish rail system. ous pals would have been Lear. JOURNEY | N5 There Iwould be, transported to Thus, the play takes place in the the melancholyDane’sdigs, reso- deep, dark Middle Ages, not the On vacation nance and ambience by the car- bright and brilliant Renaissance. volunteering at load. The play was first performed There’s acastlethere,all KronborgCastle in Elsinore(Helsingor in Danish), where“Hamlet” at the Globe around 1600, and PuppyPreschool. right, and an imposing one at unfolds, amere45-minutetrain ride from Copenhagen. TOBY ZINMAN See ELISINORE on N5

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FINLAND from N1 es, she says, “Nature is my supermar- the years. ket. Iget 70 percent of my food from the For centuries, Finland was part of the forest: berries, mushrooms, moose, and kingdom of Sweden, aperiod that end- birds.” Finland is an “everyman-rights” ed in 1809 when Russia gained control country where people can pick berries of it. That era of dominance lasted until and mushrooms in the forest and even Finland gained its freedom in 1917. The stray onto private property to do so. result is aland sprinkled with bits of Emboldened by Irene’sencourage- both countries, yet with afiercely inde- ment, we strike off in the Arctic Circle pendent character all its own. Hiking Area in search of berries. We The influences of foreign rule are most apply the insect repellent she thought- prevalent in Helsinki, amajor world capi- fully provided —mosquitos are almost tal that is relativelynew by European stan- as plentiful as the bilberries, although, dards; its oldest building dates to 1757. as Irene philosophically observes, “they The small port town grew in the 19th are the ones that pollinate the berries!” century as Russian rulers recognized its After an hour or so, we have foraged strategic importance for protecting the up arespectable crop, enough to make waters approaching St. Petersburg. atasty dessert. “The multifaceted nature of Finland’s Gettinginto the spirit of all things Finn- background comes into focus just off the ish, one challenge remains: the sauna. coast,” says historian Maarit Nieminen. To Finns, the inventors of sauna(pro- She has joined us for an island-hopping Passageways beneath the Fortressof Sauna near Arctic Circle: “Get sweaty and nounced SOW-nuh), taking in the dry heat trip through the country’shistory.“Each , from the 1700s. MICHAEL MILNE then jump intothe lake.” Santa’s Adventures is almost areligious experience practiced of our critical periods are represented daily by many people. The true Finnish here in the Helsinki archipelago.” experience goesbeyond anything we Tw enty minutes later,our ferry ride IF YOUGO might try at our health club back home. from town brings us to Island, Jarkko Leinonen brings us to thislake- aformer military compound dotted What to do Wheretostay side cottage for our evening immersion with fortifications built by the Russian yFood tours of Helsinki: Heather’s yHelsinki lodging: Sokos Hotel Torni: in Finnish culture, which includes awil- Army in the 19th century. Helsinki Ltd. www.heathershelsinki.com https://www.sokoshotels.fi/en/helsinki derness sauna followed by adinner of Abandoned for decades,the island re- /sokos-hotel-torni; fresh salmon cooked over an open fire. opened this year as anational park and yWildernesssauna and Arctic After stoking up the sauna’swood nature reserve. Now,visitors can walk adventures: JarkkoLeinonen, Hotel Katajonnaka: fire, he reminds us, “Sauna is best taken along the Alexander Trail in the footsteps www.santasadventures.fi http://www.hotelkatajanokka.fi/en/ naked. Stay in until you get sweaty and of the Russianemperor,visiting both man- yFinland/Helsinki tourism: yRovaniemi lodging: Arctic Light then jump into the lake. Repeat that a made military sites and natural sites. http://www.visitfinland.com Hotel http://www.arcticlighthotel.fi few times for the full experience.” The underground bunkers in which the yArctic Circle /Lapland tourism: We’re just north of the Arctic Circle. soldiers lived remain. Visitors climbing http://www.visitrovaniemi.fi This should be, um, invigorating. above the linden trees onto the ramparts We put off the cold water for as long above them are afforded arare view of as possible, but afterabouteight min- the Gulf of Finland, illustrating why the displaytheir wares in workshops built capital of Finnish Lapland and provides utes, the heat overwhelms us, and the Russians considered the site so vital. intothe old stone walls of the fort. more than its share of wild berries. It is chilly lake starts to look pretty good. Within astone’sthrow of Vallisaarisits a In summers, the islands off Helsinki also home to nomadic tribes —and the We sprint (sort of) down the dock and clusteroftinyisletshousing the Fortress are covered with wild berry plants, giv- reindeertheyfollow —who havehistori- take the plunge. Fortunately for us, the of Suomenlinna. Known as the “Gibraltar ing us further insight into Finland: Ber- cally roamed back and forth in northern long hours of summer sunlight keep the of the North,” it was built in the 18th centu- ries are abig deal here. Scandinavia and Russia, unfettered by water from getting too cold, and our dip is ry whenFinland was under the dominion “Combine asparsely populatedcoun- national boundaries. quite refreshing —enough so that we re- of Sweden. No longer needed for defen- try,ashort but intense growing season, Irene and Ari Kangasniemiare arti- peat the heat/plunge process twice more. sive purposes, the UNESCOWorld Heri- and 20-plus hours of daylight, and you’ve sans who share the traditions of their Thoroughly relaxed and feeling like tagesite includesthe formerSwedish fort, got berries of all sorts growing in profu- Lapland way of life. honorary Finns —and now dressed — along withseveral museumsand asmall sion,” says HeatherDomeney.She is lead- In true Laplander tradition, they live we tuck into the seared salmon. villagethatisoccupied year-round. It’sa ing us through the streets of Helsinki on a off the land in asolid wooden house With atwinkle in his eye, Leinonen popularspot for artisans,many of whom food tour wherethe markets are overflow- hand-built by Ari. says: “Now you are ready for sauna in ing with them, while several street cor- The voluble Irene explains the intri- winter,when Icut ahole in the ice to ners host pop-up farm stands piled high cate role of reindeer in the Lappish jump in the lake. Then you will be true with bilberries (wild blueberries),rasp- world, which involves alpha and beta Finns.” TheFortress of berries, even the elusive cloudberry. males and afew other twists of nature. Oh, boy,itlooks like we’ll have to Soumenlinna,inthe “Toreally appreciate Finland,” says We content ourselves with her summa- return to truly plunge into Finland. Helsinki harbor,offersa Domeney,“you have to head north and tion: “The antlers fall off naturally each look into Finland’spast go berry-picking.” year,and we don’teat Rudolph!” Philadelphia natives Larissa and Michael Milne under Swedish rule. Perched at the edge of the Arctic Cir- Surveying the surrounding landscape have been global nomads since 2011. Follow MICHAEL MILNE cle, the town of Rovaniemi serves as the studded with birch trees and berry bush- their journey at www.ChangesInLongitude.com.

TRAVEL Q&A ‘Creeping’ delay warrants email to carrier

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