Joyeux Nöel , tout le monde! For this special holiday season (Nordic edition), Beci and I ended our Finland trip by spending Christmas in Vaasa, a bilingual city along the west coast of the country. Most importantly, it is the home to my considered-but-technically-unrelated sister Veera and her family, who happily opened their doors to us for joulupäivä! With seven whole days to spend, Beci and I got the chance to unwind, relax, eat chocolate (and then some), watch movies, and have an authentic Finnish Christmas! Firstly, Finns (and most Scandinavians) celebrate Christmas on the 24th. At this point of the year, the sun rises around 10AM and sets at 3PM. It is, as Beci adores, an eternal "golden hour" with the sun just coming over the horizon before going back down again. Finns traditionally celebrate with a Christmas ham, cooked the entire night before, and in our estimation it greatly resembles a Canadian turkey rather than a Canadian ham (not quite as sweet). We were lucky enough to spend the day with Veera and her family. Thank you once again, Björlin's! Our Joulupöytä, or traditional assortments of dishes, included:
Our other activities for the day include a nature walk through a small path behind Veera's parents home (where we walked on ice streams and through a snow-filled forest) with Hugo (the fluffiest dog on the planet) and Matti (Veera's younger brother). We also got an after-dinner lesson in Finnish when we all sat down to a Bjorlin family tradition: Trivial Pursuit (in Finnish - but with translations afterwards). While playing (and royally losing on our end) we drank wine and ate a traditional squeaky cheese, Leipäjuusto (bread cheese), and grapes! All in all, the day was a tremendous success and we left with wider waists than when we arrived (which is definitely the point on Christmas).
Note from Beci: There is a serious lack of pictures from Christmas because I was too busy eating food. . . Lots and lots of food. Check in later for our entire Vaasa adventure! Merry Christmas, everyone! - Jen Quote of the post: "Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!” - Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
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