Finland

Helsinki is just a few hours by ship from Stockholm, but we took two days to get there in order to get in class time. Did you know that Finland used to be a part of Sweden, only made independent in 1809? And, that it has nearly as many saunas as people? The two days were jam packed with activities: pre-port with my cousin and her husband from Helsinki, the shipboard auction (raised over $10,000 for scholarships), a pie-in-the-face contest with the Dean and Assistant Dean of Students (to raise money for Pencils for Promise), the excellent TedX talks, a special dinner with Ghislaine Maxwell of TerraMar (she is the daughter of the late Robert Maxwell), classes, and a presentation on "The Lexicon of Sustainability." Then, time to explore Finland.

Seppo and Barbara whisked us up to their summer cottage, located in Iitti, about two hours north of the capital. We passed through the charming village of Porvoo, then saw a seventeenth-century Luthern church before arriving at their absolutely idyllic two-cabin lakeside residence.

At the lake we relaxed, swam, sweated in the sauna (after whipping ourselves with birch leaves), went out in the boat, ate crawfish and smoked salmon, and slept like logs.

On the way back to Helsinki we toured the 19th-century sawmill at Werla, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, some rock paintings from 5000 years ago, and hiked up to a lookout point that captures some of the natural beauty of this country.

Then, off to Tallin, Estonia, on the morning ferry. Tallin is an unusual place, mostly because it has never been invaded, hence, never destroyed. So it's an intact medieval city surrounded by castle walls, wonderful! The Soviet era let it fall into disrepair, but it is reclaiming its glory as a tourist town, easily accessible by ferry from Helsinki (2 hours).

We leave for Poland this evening.