When I dipped into the cold sea at Uunisaari island I surprised myself with how long I was willing to tread the frigid waters. I expected to freeze at any moment and loose some toes in the process but I did not. Instead I was screaming and having lots of fun alongside the other participants of the summer school. A cold sea is for me weird and therefore worth enjoying. The Indian ocean on the coast of Kenya where I come from is always pleasantly warm.
But I am so close to the North pole (in relative terms) and I am willing to forget Southern warmth and summers. By the way, the summer in Helsinki is not that hot and here I am with only shorts in my suitcase because I applied to a summer school! It all works out well though because I am so determined to have a ball that my body soon adjusts to the not so warm summer while still looking fabulous in my minis and shorts.
In a while, it is now advisable for us to go back into the sauna where we steam ourselves hot again. This is a Finnish or rather Nordic tradition, where you run between the cold sea and hot spa in an effort to confuse your senses. We did this a couple of times but I had to call it off slightly earlier and dress up because my dark skin was now rebelling by producing a fair amount of goose bumps.
We went on to have some food, drinks and very expensive wine, accompanied with the sausages* that we barbecued in front of the sauna. The boat ride back was a chance to plan how we would go dancing and for that we needed to jump into a tram back into the center of Helsinki.
As for the bra in the title, I used the word to spice things up. Of course you can imagine that being in the spa and swimming means taking the mentioned garment off.
*(Except for these sausages which were anything but delicious, I would highly recommend Uunisaari as a must visit place in Helsinki. The view is to die for and it's serene ambiance is good for the soul).
Labels: Doclinks 2013 Summer School, Helsinki, spa, Uunisaari island