Read Around the World February 2024: Finland

Map link 

Brrr we are off to the land of the Midnight Sun get your warmest clothes out.

Fun facts from this website:

• The highest point in Finland is the Halti on the border to Norway in Lapland. It is 1,324 m/ 4,344 ft high.
• The longest river in Finland is called Kemijoki.
• Helsinki is the northernmost capital city of continental Europe.
• Finland is the most forested country in Europe.
• Finland has over 187 000 lakes and is the country with the most lakes. Finland has the largest lake district in Europe.
• Finland borders three countries: Norway, Sweden and Russia with the longest border shared between Finland and Russia.
• As Finland is one of the most northern countries and the area extends into the Arctic region, you can experience the Northern lights and Midnight sun in Finland.
• Whilst the capital city Helsinki is the largest city of Finland, other big cities include Espoo, Turku, Tampere and Oulu. The interior areas are sparsely populated, with most inhabitants living in the Southern parts of the country or along the coastline.
• Finland is the only Scandinavian country that uses the Euro as their currency.
• Rovaniemi: The capital of Finnish Lapland is home to the Santa Claus Village.
• The northern town of Finland is also the center of the husky sledding and snowmobile safaris and here you can go exploring on arctic circle hiking trails.
• In summertime, from early June to early July the sun does not set and midnight sun can be experienced.
• The Finnish national bird is the whooper swan which is also featured on the Finnish 1 euro coin.
• The national animal is the brown bear.
• In Finland you can also see caribou and reindeer which roam freely in the countryside.
• Kalakukko is considered the national dish of Finland. It consists of fish, pork and bacon baked inside a bread dough.

I chose to visit Finland via The Kalevala an epic poem by Elias Lonnrot. The poem tells the story of the formation of Finland as well as some key myths and legends about the creator and various heroes.

While this is an epic Finnish poem what it showed me was that myths and legends throughout Europe all seem to follow a similar vein. We have the hero sent on impossible quests, the hero beating other knights, villains and beasts, women are either beautiful wife material or old hags and witches and of course the animals will help those who have considered them.

Other readers chose to visit in the following ways:

Currey from Litsy – The Manila Rope rated so-so

Did you join us on this leg of our journey? Share what you read!

Next up Libya and for once I am ahead of the game and have the book already in the house waiting.

As an aside my Ukraine book Death and the Penguin has finally arrived from the library so expect an update about that one soon.