Roller coaster, lupines and moose

If you ask me what I expected from Finland, I can't really answer that. Sure, we're in Scandinavia, the days are long, the mosquitoes are active, there are few people but lots of forests and water.

We weren't really prepared for how hilly Finland is. The roads are very good, but there are few evenly flat stretches - it feels more like a roller coaster. Still, we're maintaining a good pace: if you struggle up the hill at 15km/h, you go back down at 35km/h :) the CUBE bikes, however, are living up to their promise, the 60 kilometers from Saukkola to Salo, for example, are quickly covered.

In terms of landscape, after the Baltic States, we thought it was so beautiful there and 'we have to come back soon!'. Honestly, Finland is even more exciting to us: the landscape is somehow more diverse due to the gigantic rock formations, numerous lakes, and flower-filled meadows alternating with dense forests and lupine-covered paths. Overall, there is also less traffic on the roads.... well, we're not traveling on the 'highway' like on the Latvian or Estonian side, but still, you get the impression that there are even fewer cars here.

And we were able to spot our first (and probably only) moose here: another big plus for Finland: two young ones stood not far from the country road between a few felled firs yesterday and looked as surprised as we did. A brief pause and the mighty and elegant animals disappear back into the forest. A great moment of happiness!

The accommodations have been amazingly beautiful since Helsinki: we feel comfortable and are almost a little sad that we'll be heading over to Sweden on Saturday - our last country on the journey.