To the River

So today, after staying up quite late I found the morning to get here a bit too soon! But I had bread and coffee for breakfast so I survived... though I must say, I'm growing increasingly tired of coffee!

After breakfast we played outside and I took a ton of pictures... everything here is so beautiful and vibrant.

We rode through the countryside and every single second of it was right out of a picture! Things that in the states would be run down and messy are somehow here quaint, effortless, and swimming in color and life!

After a little while we all got in cars and drove to Sweden (the specific place we went to in Sweden was about 30 minutes away) and it was amazingly beautiful! there was a huge river filled with rapids that is the boarder between Finland and Sweden for miles.

And the river is so filled with fish, people use hand held nets to fish! They drag the nets through the water with the current and catch the fish... And the fish are BIG!

This is one of the biggest fish I have ever seen in person not in an aquarium... 5 kilos and it was a pretty average sized fish!

Kimmo (the brother Frantti) and his friend caught a 24 kilo fish just a little wile ago... 130cm tall and 30 across... basically 50 pounds 4.3 feet... taller and heavier than my 6 year old nephew!

 unfortunately that is not all the area is full of!

I have never in my life seen so many mosquitos in one place... I'm told they are drawn to the rapids (and oh wow were there rapids! the kayakers were brave) but the interesting thing is that none of them bite people... ever! they have absolutely no interest... you just wave your hands to get them out of your face!

We ate lunch there  and I was quite amused to see Coca Cola... light!

I had some chicken and a LOT of salad! The dressing was a vinaigrette, and even though it wasn't the same as in the states, I liked how much the leafy greens reminded me of home!  Finland is beautiful, and this family is so nice but it is nice to have a little taste of home!  It was really pleasant to find out that Cucumbers taste the same in every country!