First Impressions of Finland: Landscape

A little over two weeks in, and I am still having a good look around at this new country that we will call home for the next 8 months. There is so much to see and experience and do. I feel a bit overwhelmed, but have to keep reminding myself that there will be plenty of time to do it all.

After traveling, unpacking, and traveling and unpacking again, I finally feel somewhat settled. Time for bloggyland and time to write about Finland. So I thought I'd dedicate this week to some of the notable things I noticed about this warm and friendly country. Warm as in the people...not the climate :)

Gotta say that, by far, the first thing I noticed when I flew in was the beautiful landscape that encompasses most of the land area in Finland.

Finland is Europe's most heavily-forested country. 86% of the area is covered in boreal/taiga forests (the percentage wavers from a high 86 to only 70%. Yeah, only. Chump change.)

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Giant trees tower over thick vegetation below. Ferns and broad leaf brushes bed the floor. While summer may be short here, there is an abundance of light during the warmer months. And lots of light equals lots of growth.

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The forests consist primarily of pine, spruce and birch. But the wet climate provides an ample amount of moisture to keep ferns, mosses and peats throughout the summer. So not only is your eye drawn up with the trees, but there is so much at foot level that you feel as if you are totally surrounded in a lush environment.

And that is something that I did not expect from here. You think Finland, you think snow. And with all the snow that's dump during the winter, I expected the landscape to be more barren and tundra-ish (yes, now officially a word). But green and thriving forests are everywhere. I've already discovered a great running path through one right by our place.

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So enough of that nonesense of trying to sound all forestry like. What is it really like??

My first thoughts "Holy cow, this is totally what it must have looked like when dinosaurs roamed the earth." Or at the very least cavemen. Yeah, maybe one too many Jurassic Parks or Land of the Lost episodes.

Show us the way, Chaka! (source)

Forget about spotting reindeer, I should totally be on the look out for Neanderthals!

Step foot into one of these forests, and you immediately feel like you have traveled back to some magical time

Hmm, but now thinking about it, maybe that is only because I have been snacking on these bad boys. Poisonious much??

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No, I'm not kidding, those are real, live vibrant red mushrooms with right white spots. Something I thought only existed in fairy tells or Mario Brothers' games. Ok, maybe everyone else has seen these in person, but I guess I hadn't. I'm amazed that there are mushrooms that actually look like this!

During a run the other day I had to stop and closely examine one. Needless to say, the other people on the path thought that I was a bit off.

In conclusion - sheesh, sounds like I am writing a terrible 101 paper - there is much more green and lush vegetation here than I imagined. Thanks for bursting my bubble Finland. You are not a barren, frozen waste land, but instead a beautiful and diverse forest. Essentially, you really are a giant national park that became a thriving country.