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Finlandic advice / suggestions please

(21 posts)
  • Started 4 years ago by unhurt
  • Latest reply from I were right about that saddle
  • This topic is not resolved

  1. unhurt
    Member

    Q1: Anyone been bike touring in Finland? Met a woman from Oulo on a ferry to Orkney and later we hung out in Edinburgh - I may have rashly announced I would visit Finland by bike this September. Hoping to arrive by train or ferry. Helsinki seems a must. Oulo to say hi to Katja & family. But where else? Along the Bothnian coast? East to do some autumn bear watching in the border national parks? Head right up north, take a wee side-trip over the border to Murmansk?

    I've been promised that Finland's copious biting things with wings will have mostly gone by September.

    Q2: Name the quality film:
    No, this is the Valley. Finland is the capital of Norway.

    Posted 4 years ago #

  2. Arellcat
    Moderator

    Long(ish) shot but Urpo Taskinen might have some ideas for you? He cycled to Paris, from his home town of Juoksengi in Sweden, to attend COP 21, and he made a film about it.

    https://twitter.com/urpotaskinen

    [+] Embed the video | Video DownloadGet the Flash Video

    Posted 4 years ago #

  3. unhurt
    Member

    Suppose it depends if he went south through Finland or Sweden!

    Posted 4 years ago #

  4. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    I'll be there in July and will scope it out for you.

    (I read the title as 'Financial Advice/ suggestions' and I was ready to sell you mouse insurance.)

    Posted 4 years ago #

  5. Frenchy
    Member

    I'm sure you're already aware of https://www.seat61.com, but linking in case anyone reading this isn't, and is planning similar adventures.

    In particular, he has what looks like a useful map of the various train and ferry options between London and Scandinavia here: https://www.seat61.com/Finland.htm#Route%20map

    Posted 4 years ago #

  6. unhurt
    Member

    @Frenchy - I love that site, and it's given me many, many "bad" ideas.

    @Iwrats - so I can reclaim the costs of counselling to deal with the inevitable guilt generated by intentional mouse murder?

    Posted 4 years ago #

  7. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    No, so that you could purchase new mice to replace any that died.

    Posted 4 years ago #

  8. unhurt
    Member

    I suspect mice are a self-renewing / replicating resource and am unconvinced that I would ever need to pay cash money for some. Though if it's not like-for-like replacement maybe I could upgrade to a higher-end model of mouse...

    Posted 4 years ago #

  9. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    Go and see CORSON. He'll have mice. Maybe.

    Posted 4 years ago #

  10. paddyirish
    Member

    I was there in September 2018 and it was great. Helsinki has its hire bikes and 1200km of cycle paths in the greater city atea. It is perhaps the most car free city centre of its size I have visited. I went to Jyvaskula in the lake district, Mrs Paddy was at a conference. It was cold and wet.

    Finns are great foragers, seems a source of national pride and identity. So expect to see lots of berries and chanterelle mushrooms, as September is a perfect time to visit for that.

    Happy if you want to PM for further details of what we did

    Posted 4 years ago #

  11. acsimpson
    Member

    I was there as a teenager and don't remember much other than discovering the path was a bog which we had to push the bike through. The bog was of course home to some vicious flying vampire beasts which make midges look timid.

    It was also interesting trying to sleep in a tent on the arctic cirle +/- in the middle of summer.

    That aside I have fond memories of the trip, just not the cycling.

    Posted 4 years ago #

  12. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    @acsimpson

    But all the best paths are bogs?

    Posted 4 years ago #

  13. unhurt
    Member

    @paddyirish a few days in Helsinki seem like a definite plan - I might have a German friend with me for that part, and if she can hire a bike that's even better...

    @acsimpson yes, my timing is partly to avoid the flying teeth!

    Posted 4 years ago #

  14. paddyirish
    Member

    @unhurt - sent some more specific advice to IWRATS

    Quick post here on the cycling which was an immediate reaction when I got home

    http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18137#post-260595

    Highlights for me were Suomenlinna- a fortress island about 1/2 hr by ferry from the port - a world heritage site worth 1/2 day.

    The Icebreaker fleet is on the Katajanokka peninsula and worth a walk past - they are huge.

    We stayed in Katajanokka jail which was fun - you get your own cell which was very clean and comfortable and a good feed the next day. The first place I've seen handcuffs in a vending machine...

    The Ateneum Art Museum near the main station was well worth a trip- we got a personal guided trip by a former employee, which really added to it.

    In general it was expensive, though i found that I could eat more than adequately (for similar prices) out of supermarkets and have one meal out per day.

    I got a tip about a soup kitchen at the Hakaniemi Market and it was well worth a visit- had parsnip smoked reinderer soup which was superb and many veggie alternatives.

    If you are veggie, best you don't read on...

    the best place was Lappi Ravintola a real gastronomic adventure- Lapp cuisine - https://lappires.com/en/

    There was an expensive Russian restaurant near Tove Janssen square which sold potted bear, but we didn't end up going there.

    Regrets were not going for a sauna, though we had one in our room in the last night, and also missing out on a trip to Porvoo, about 50 km East, which looked lovely.

    Happy to share cycle routes if you like. was lovely getting outside the city on a good day

    Posted 4 years ago #

  15. minus six
    Member

    as this thread also serves up mice advice -

    they really aren't keen on peppermint oil.

    use a diffuser to give affected areas a strong peppermint aroma

    any noted ingress areas, stuff with a rag saturated in peppermint oil works wonders

    also wee saucers of peppermint oil on skirting board runs wherever you spot any mouse droppings

    they'll soon disappear elsewhere

    this advice does not extend to rats however

    Posted 4 years ago #

  16. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    Rat-piss pasta. We remember. We cannot forget.

    Posted 4 years ago #

  17. paddyirish
    Member

    @IWRATS, assume you read this and that is why Joensuu?

    Posted 4 years ago #

  18. gembo
    Member

    @paddyirish, I like your thinking but I would encourage you also to check out the World Heavy Metal Knitting Championships

    Posted 4 years ago #

  19. paddyirish
    Member

    @gembo, I did know that, my bad...

    Posted 4 years ago #

  20. gembo
    Member

    @paddyirish, try not to beat yourself up too much. Our default will generally be cycling related after all.

    Posted 4 years ago #

  21. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    @paddyirish

    I am keen to turn a pedal or two in the Finnish woods, but as @gembo suggests the main motivation is Heavy Metal Knitting. (My favourite heavy metal is probably bismuth, despite my known fondness for mercury, and my favourite knitting style is Shetland lace knitting.)

    Posted 4 years ago #

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