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Hei!  I just got back from Finland last night, and man, am I wiped out.  The flight from Frankfurt to Chicago stretched out to eternity, not made any easier by one baby who (understandably) started screaming five hours into the flight, and two older kids who (less understandably) spent the entire flight screaming and shrieking.  We had been in Tallin (Estonia) the day before, and the only ferry we could get back left at ten o’clock, which meant we got back to the Eurohostel just after midnight, then had to get up at six to get to the airport.  Helsinki to Frankfurt was pretty smooth.  Chicago to Indianapolis was incredibly quick, about thirty minutes.  Frankfurt to Chicago – it was a nice airplane, and they gave us a lot to eat, even if I was so sore at that point that food looked disgusting.  The mother with the little baby was very sweet and very attentive to her baby.  The mother with the screaming children just sat there reading her book as the kids pounded on the seats of the people in front of them, shrieked at each other, whined constantly and argued.   And then United left our luggage in Chicago.  We had to recheck them after customs, the place was insanely crowded because of the holiday, and their conveyor belt broke, so there were mounds of luggage everywhere.  Oh, well.  They said they’d bring it today, I just hope all the goodies survive intact.

Finland was wonderful.  People didn’t seem to mind having to use English with us (it’s one of three languages they have to have in school – Finnish, Swedish and English).  They were friendly and helpful as a whole, although more reserved than Americans.  The Finnish language has very little in common with any languages other than Estonian and Hungarian, and so it was kind of tough reading signs.  As a candy nerd, I already knew salmiakki (salted licorice).  I still don’t like it, but I can tolerate it.  It’s everywhere, in pastilles, gummies, ice cream, alcohol, even soda pop.  I actually kind of liked this chocolate bar with salmiakki creme center, but I forgot to take a picture.  It’s by Fazer – everything is by Fazer.  I don’t think I saw anything by Hershey, little from M&M/Mars, and a just a teeny-tiny bit from Nestle.  It’s all Fazer, with other contributions by Marabou.  I have a ton and a half of candy with me – or, rather, with my bags.  I just hope they don’t get too warm, because I don’t cotton to the idea of scraping melted chocolate out of my luggage.

The one thing I haven’t had is convenient access to the internet.  The dorms (which were way nicer than I expected) don’t have wireless, and I wasn’t going to lug this heavy laptop to the campus, which is miles away.  The computer lab was okay, but slow, and it had no USB port on the computers, so I couldn’t have posted pictures anyway.  It was an English language-using computer room, which had much more antiquated machines than the Finnish language ones.  I’ve suffered some from internet withdrawal, but they kept us pretty busy, so it wasn’t bad.  Hameenlinna is a pretty town, surrounded by lakes, with a Medieval red-brick castle in what’s called an urban natural park (see pictures).

You didn’t come here for a travelogue, you came for the candy, right?  I found the Amerikan Pastilleja package irresistible.  It’s red, white and blue, striped and starred with an American flag.  I especially like it because the candy isn’t particularly American at all.  If anything, it’s more like Galaxy Minstrels from England. 

The discs are about the size of a nickel in circumference, and two nickels in depth, and are shaded in pastel colors.  The shells are fairly thick, requiring a little bit of chewing, but the milk chocolate centers are creamy and melt easily, without excessive waxiness.  The shell makes it easier to carry them around.  Some fell out of my purse into my backpack, and none of them were melted or messy by the time I realized what had happened and that I should probably do something about it.  The Finnish students were unanimous that these were better than either M&Ms or Smarties.  I would agree.  In fact, I kind of wish I had bought another package to go.

SCORE: 8 out of 10

Purchased at: Kioski

Price: Euros 1.59