Yesterday we had the pleasure of touring with the some curlers (or should I say curling players?). The week Vierumäki Sport Academy is hosting the World Championship Curling for Seniors’ and Women. And we had the chance to take some of the Canadian curling players and their families on a tour around Southern Finland.
Vierumäki is pretty much in the middle of nowhere (anyone living in Lahti has to forgive me but Lahti, which is the only city close by is not exactly an exciting metropol. Or exciting anything. Unless you like ski jumping and want to see exactly how high the ski jump towers are, but that’s a different story), so they hadn’t had a chance to experience much of Finland yet. Well, that problem was fixed by us taking them for a tour to see some Finnish towns and countryside as well as to find out a bit about what’s it like to live in this Arctic country.
We started by visiting Porvoo, which at this time of the year is just unbelievably quiet and tranquil. In the height of the summer Porvoo is buzzing with tourists and life, but not so much yesterday. We walked around the Old Town and talked about the old days in this once busy trading town. Some Porvoo specialities were also tasted at the suberb Little Chocolate Factory and I know that some on the tour also tried the authentic Porvoo dessert (or should I say breakfast), the Runeberg tart.
After Porvoo we headed towards the East (not all the way to Russia but) to Elimäki. Where we took them to experience some Finnish country wines made of Finnish berries and fruits. We had a few tastings of the wines as well as some awesome jams and jellies. And I know that a few bottles of wine and jams found their way back to Vierumäki. Who knows they might have gone all the way back to Canada!
Curling teams and Maija at the winery
We at Rudolf home that they’ll have a grand old time in Finland and win many gold metals on the way!
PS. I’ve heard that the Canada brought home all the gold metals from the games. Congratulations!
