Sauna and BBQ time!

Today is a big festivity in Finland, known as Juhannus. Yep, that’s right, midsummer is upon us. For the occasion , Mikko and Marianne had kindly invited us as well as the Vuolles for a BBQ at their lovely house in St-Andre-de-la-Roche, overlooking Nice. The sauna, which Mikko has been working on with Marianne’s dad for quite a few months (apparently finding a suitable “kiuas” proved rather challenging), was also ready. So everything was in place for “proper Finnish soiree”.

We showed up a couple of hours before the meal, to have time to properly enjoy the sauna. The sauna is big enough for two persons (which was enough, since we weren’t able to convince the ladies that it’s perfectly normal to go the sauna even during warm summer days) – although there was some doubt about the bench’s ability to hold the weight of two lads of our stature… We needn’t have worried; the bench held, the löyly (hard word to translate properly, the literal translation is vapour, I suppose) was good, and so was the beer that followed (Budweiser, Czech version…).

We finished the sauna just in time for the apero; and the Vuolle family also eventually showed up (rather resembling overcooked crabs, like Finns on beach holiday should…). The BBQ was great, as it always is at Mikko’s at Marianne (apparently Mikko has been watching Gordon Ramsey’s Hell’s Kitchen, and has obviously picked up a trick or two…). The banoffee pie we’d prepared for a desert was quite a success as well (at least with me, I had a couple of extra helpings – I mean somebody had to do it…).

All in all, great sauna, great company, great food (as proven by the stomach cramps that plagued me all night), great fun! Merci Mikko & Marianne!