So the viking longship sailed full steam into Jyväskylä late last friday night. Amazing how you can fit a ship on a train, but that's the wonders of modern science for you, or at least Finnish railways. Things are going to get a little confused in about 4 lines time or thereabouts, so hereafter I will be S for Senior, he will be J for Junior, my dear wife will be D for Dear, the 4 year old F for four (alliteratively), and the almost 2 year old T for (almost) Two. Got that? try it a few more times, just for fun...

So S and J arrived home, J a little hungry and tired after the journey. Dinner over, we cycled back into town for a couple of beers with S's South African mate, who happened to also share an interest in all things Landrover and Mini, being the proud ex-owner of a 68 Landy, in a version only available in SA. J seemed a little concerned as to the temperature level and the wind chill, but S said not to worry, it's only 16 below, wait 'til you have to cycle around in -33 to experience cold. BTW D has had frostbite on her cheeks and nose from this type of experience. Emboldened by a few quaffs of Koff, we returned to our vehicles, slightly better covered up (and in J's case, looking rather like the wicked old witch, with his scarf wrapped around his head), cycled home, and waited 30 mins. or so for the feeling to return to faces, fingers, toes and other unmentionables...

The alarm clock (otherwise known as F and T) rang, reliably as always, at 6.30. S, being a dutiful father, gave up feigning sleep to prepare breakfast, allowing D and J a much needed lie-in. BTW the outside temp. was a much more respectable -25. ONYERBIKE!

And so to the first event of the day. Living within shouting distance of a small ski resort boasting approx. 30k of crosscountry tracks, 4 downhill slopes, a ski jump or three (home of the famous Matti Nykänen, the George Best of Finnish Ski Jumping, but still just about alive!), 2 saunas and an icehole for swimming (!!!), guess what we were off to do. Cross-country skiing it was. S and D's skis impressed the jury with two extremely important qualities: grip and slip. Unfortunately the grip was only when the ski was going forwards, and slip when going backwards. I just realised, it was so early and so cold WE PUT THEM ON THE WRONG WAY ROUND! After 6 km, and much huffing and puffing, it was back to the pad for a much needed coffee and pulla (finnish doughnut). (S and D have since bought end of season skis at half price to remedy the situation!)

Next stop was the skating rink, within a stones throw this time, and F showing off her skills with and without an ice hockey stick. J seemed a little apprehensive re the prospect of skates, remembering a previous visit chez S and D, so phoned up she who must be obeyed for guidance. Having been given the nod, it was off for a few wobbly circuits.

And all this before lunch! Nothing like a relaxing weekend. Back to skis after lunch. F got her much anticipated first go on downhill skis and proved to have a) good balance and b) not much fear. Oh dear. S and J walked there this time, pushing T in the buggy, who dutifully fell asleep for her afternoon nap upon arrival at the slopes. Fully kitted out off they set. J's previous experience on skis has been documented in a previous post, but S's was over 5 years ago. He gingerly slipped and slid down the childrens slope in the wake of F, while J disappeared up the chair lift. Upon his reappearance (at a considerable speed) S and J set off up the chair lift together. On the way up, S was concerned about the steepness of the upper slope, a situation soon resolved by J getting distracted by a snowboarder flying past, knocking into S and leaving both in a heap halfway up the slope. Some quick shufties sideways out of the way of the next passengers and off we went. After two hours of exhileration (J) and fear(S) that was that. The centre of the slope was icy under a couple of centimetres of fresh snow. The two solutions were a) go straight down, hence avoiding the need to turn on slippery ice, as demonstrated by J, and b) zig zag across, pray in the middle, and turn in the deep snow at the sides, as attempted by S. Fun was had by all, and we capped it off with a few runs on the stiga and the Pylkka, down the sledding hill. Most improvement F, least falls S, most speed (and best moves on the chair lift) J, best sleeper T, and most dutiful and patient spouse, D!!!

So to the sauna. J declined the Finnish practice of preceding it with an icehole swim. The air temp was by now at about -6 and the water temp at +2, so quite nice really. Shame. Having been royally entertained by S's Finnish kavereita (mates) whilst attempting to take a nice quiet sauna, it was time for a nicely cooked meal prepared by the guest, topped off with a nice bottle of red: apparently the same as was had at J's wedding 2 years ago!

Sunday morning: S managed a little better at feigning sleep, so D got up with the alarmclocks. Payback time will ensue at some stage, I am sure.... Down to the centre of town to see what was going on at the (frozen) lake. Kiddies entertainments and suchlike. BUT S and J discovered a stand renting retkiluistemet for only 3 euro a half hour: For those not in the know these are free heel skates, using a crosscountry ski boot and binding, about 30 cm long, and designed to go rather fast on rough surface. With a 4 km circuit cleared around the lake what did you expect? Again the problem was almost the same as the famous ad: speed is nothing without control. Once S and J got half a hang of what to do, they were travelling faster than was really advisable. BUT no falls, and a fantastic way to exercise - 6 km covered in 35 mins... At 150 a pair just for the blades, not sure a bout the investment though.

Lunch and then two abortive attempts to play football. First of all the gym usually used by S and friends was in repairs, and then an attempt to try to weedle a space on an outdoor allweather (!) heated pitch ended up in some misunderstood Finnish shouted by a large, erm, well, Finn, and a reasonably hasty exit. A quick cuppa back at home, and the Junior was on the train to Turku, where, if he was anything like the rest of us, he must have slept like a very tired person.

Fun, games, and thanks very much for coming! (sorry about the lack of pics, technology has yet to catch up).