14. Moi moi, Finland 💔

My last night in Finland was also the best!

Heli, Noa, Ada and Matti prepared a bed for me, gave me dinner, let me use their shower, cleaned all my clothes (including my chemical weapon shoes), gave me breakfast, and sent me off to a last epic day in Helsinki.

Noa and Ada are not even 3 years old yet, but already incredibly funny, energetic and smart. I am totally convinced that they will be a big problem in the future for Sweden in whichever sport they decide to compete in. These kids are future athletic stars!

I found a chess book by american grandmaster Larry Christiansen in their book shelf! Turns out that Matti is a chess player, so I had to challenge him.

I played a Kings Indian defense against his d4 opening, and got steam rolled on the c-file. He won an exchange, I tried to complicate things, and then he gave the exchange back for a mating attack. It wasn't even close. I got checkmated in less than 25 moves. Incredible. I am now 0-1 on this european chess tour. 😵

Then I left to Helsinki, where the Finnish War museum on the island of Sveaborg was a big highlight.

I have always been very interested in the finnish wars, and this museum visit filled in some blanks: The war between the whites and the reds, the two wars against the Soviet Union, and the gaps in between.

The more I learn about this period, the more I understand how complicated it is. There are no heroes, no glory, no winners. Just a ton of "realpolitik", physical and political survival, and a whole lot of governmental psycopathy. That being said - I am constantly a little bit more impressed by Finland and their geopolitical plight every day.

Whew. Anyway. I'm on the ferry to Estonia, and very excited for the next leg of this trip. 😄

Update:

Had one radio and two newspaper interviews last week. Here are the links, text me if you don't have the logins and want to read. 😀

P4.

Vasabladet.

Hallandsposten.