  At last,  I've finally booked my holidays for the Finland trip in August.  Unfortunately I need to work at the company's Helsinki office for nearly two weeks out of the month that we're gone,  which is a bit pants really,  but my boss is going to be on holiday during that time,  and she needs me to cover for her.
 I'm hoping that we can do the Helsinki- Stockholm two- day round trip at some point during the holiday,  but I still have to convince my better half that it's worth the extra cost.  Stockholm is a great city,  but I've only visited it twice,
 and I'd like to spend some more time there -  sampling the local food and seeing the sights.  I really am looking forward to the trip this year.  In the past I guess I've been a little apprehensive about going up north,  but now,  on top of the other reasons,
 it'll be great to escape the heat of the south of France for nearly a month.  One of the things I'm most looking forward to is the sauna.  Now,  the saunas in Finland ( mostly)  aren't like the skanky jobs you get in your local gym,
 real Finnish saunas are little huts out in the middle of the forest,  by a lake,  and made of wood.  They take over an hour to heat up,  powered by wood from the surrounding forest of course,  and once they're hot,
 the temperature is around 70 degrees Celsius -  not exactly the ideal temperature to preserve ice- cream in,  to put it lightly.  Once you've stipped down to your birthday suit,  either with your better half,
 or your fellow same- sex family members,  you sit in that scorching humid heat,  occasionaly beating yourself with eucalyptus leaves,  and chucking water onto the hot coals above the fire,  for about five minutes.
 After that time,  when you can practically feel your skin starting to turn pink,  you open the sauna door,  leg it down to the nearby lake,  and quickly wade into the cool,  refreshing (
read:  bloody freezing)  water,  before heading back,  shaking with the cold,  to the welcoming warmth of the sauna.
 Repeat this until you can't take it any more,  or until the sauna gets too cold,  and then wash,  dry off,  and head inside for some freshly open- fire-
grilled sausages and cider.  One fantasic thing about the sauna is how fast you get pissed afterwards (  You can just imagine how de- hydrated your body is after all that heat,  so gulping down a bottle of cool cider is practically like downing a couple of shots of straight vodka on your average evening out.  Quite funny really,
 and definitely a " feel good"  time,  especially with some decent sausages to accompany it.
