Week 1, Day 5

We were up early and off to Tampere for the day. My Finnish had improved to 'remedial' - in fact, so poor was my spoken Finnish that my relatives often stared at me in sympathy.....probably wondering if I'd been mentally handicaped all my life.

Laila fed us a smorgasboard, including the traditional Finnish dish of Potatoes in beige sauce. Then we drove to Rauha's for coffee and ice cream - all that training during the football season in Australia was slowly swelling and bloating into a distant memory.

It's also strawberry season in Finland. I imagine that the national surplus of this tiny fruit has reached epidemic proportions. The markets in all the little villages and towns overflow with strawberry stands.....and even when you do apply the conversion rate against the Australian dollar they are still very cheap!