Saunas

Saunas (sow-nas) are a big deal here in Finland. Ryan and Heidi's apartment, a small one-bedroom affair, devoted about the same amount of space to the bathroom/sauna as to the kitchen! According to them, most apartments of that size would have a sauna, depending on when they were built.

Here at the farm, saunas occur on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, which is also the only time there is hot water. The hot water and radiator system is wood fired, but can also run on woodchips, which are automatically fed in from a hopper outside. A long screw pulls the chips into the fire. The hopper which is about 3x6x5ft needs to be refilled twice a day in the depths of winter!

The sauna is also wood-fired, with a big stove of the traditional design. Flue gasses are pulled through baffles in the wall of the stove before being released into the chimney, extracting heat very efficiently. A basin on the top of the stove contains stones, preferably smooth ones found underwater.

Though most modern saunas are now electric, everyone here scoffs at such a poor imitiation. Only a true wood-burning stove creates a legitimate sauna for them! Having now tried them both, we can say that the wood fire does make quite a difference - the smoky aroma of the wood and crackling of the fire are integral elements of the experience here.

There are a lot of traditions regarding the sauna. For example, one never swears in the sauna, nor has sex in it. However, saunas were the traditional location for giving birth; warm, easy to clean, and easy to sanitize (just crank the heat up to 100 C!). Opinion is divided on whether you should shower before the sauna or not.

In the sauna is a multi-tiered bench. Only the people sitting on the top level of the bench are allowed to throw water on the rocks over the stove, because they are the ones who feel the full heat.

Water is thrown from the bench using a ladle. Each splash of water is called löyly, pronounced loy-lu. 

Another tradition is the vihta, a leafy whip made from the branches of a particular birch, called raudukoivu (koivu is birch). Here is one that Adie and Jere made. It looks a bit sorry because several people had already whipped themselves with it by the time the photo was taken! Leafy branches are selected, and laid up against each other so that the leaves are uniformly distributed. 

 The vihta is held together by rings woven from twigs of the same birch. Long thin twigs are manipulated (bent, twisted etc) to soften them up. These are called näre, and in the old days, they would braid them to make rope. The rings are made to just the right size before being slid on over the ends of the twigs forming the vihta.

After the sauna gets so hot that your nose starts to run, its time for a break, either sitting outside, swimming in the lake, or rolling in the snow. Then, repeat until satisfied, shower, and drink lots of water!