Okay, ya’ll. Let’s get into Helsinki Day 2.

Or okay - let’s start with Day 1.5. I woke up at 2:45 AM Finland time and could not, for the life of me, seem to fall back asleep. Finally, a couple of hours later, I dozed off. So, the morning was slightly lazy as I slowly woke up, waited for my dad to make me coffee (because what would traveling with your parents be like without perks like these?), and then took my time cutting up a banana to enjoy with peanut butter.

After my coffee and oat milk in the little breakfast nook, it was already time to get going and head out to start our day.

First on our agenda? Kiasma: the museum of contemporary art.

There, we explored five stories of unique art installations, videos, paintings, self portraits and more. Of course my dad didn’t really “get that modern art stuff,” but it was still a great experience that I think we all enjoyed.

After that, it was time to head to the designmuseo—which I was really excited to see. It was pretty fascinating to see everything that’s come from Finland and the high regard in which they hold innovation and design.

It was amazing to see real examples of some of the furnishings that I’ve become so familiar with since my days working at Dot & Bo, then with interior designers, and now in the Home department of Walmart.com.

The second floor was an entire exhibit around Josef Frank. This Austrian-born architect and designer is responsible for so many designs that we recognize today. It was especially fun to look at his “Fantasy Homes” (no, these are nothing like The Bachelor’s Fantasy Suites). Instead, these were homes that he designed for made up people. They’re modern, creative, surreal, and meld the interiors with nature.

Somehow timing worked out perfectly and as soon as we’d finished at the designmuseo, it was time to head to Löyly sauna, where we would attempt to not only sweat ourselves to death (not too difficult a task for myself…) but also jump into the icy ocean outside.

Entering the sauna, I have to say that I was a bit overwhelmed by the process of hanging up our coats in the closets in the long hallway. Everyone was crammed inside and there was no getting around until the people ahead had moved inside.

When we reached the reception counter, we gave our name for the reservation and, in exchange, were given locker keys, a large shower towel and a small sitting towel. From there, my mom and I parted ways with my dad and went inside the locker rooms.

Again, the locker rooms were extremely crowded and I was seriously doubting my enjoyment of the next three hours.

Boy, was I wrong.

Changing into our swimsuits then rinsing off, we stepped outside and wandered until we found the smoke room sauna where my dad was already inside.

The heat was palpable and for a moment my heart was racing from the environment in which I’d placed myself. Still, I knew that it would get easier if I just struggled through that initial burn. So, closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. And it did become easier.

However, it wasn’t until a true Finnish couple came in and threw water on the stones located above in a hidden box that the true heat wave filled the wooden structure.

Oh, boooyyyyy. This heat was intense. Surrounding us. Cloaking us. Taking over our every thought, breath, movement. And the sweat was pouring down.

Well, I thought, now must be the time to dive into the Baltic sea.

My dad went to grab his phone from the locker rooms and then handed it off to my mom as I made my way toward the stairs at the edge of the modern structure’s balcony. It was comforting that the icy wind felt normal against my burning skin.

Placing my little towel down, I walked down the steps and stood on the first rung of the ladder. As soon as my foot hit the water, I could feel the burn. But I wanted to make it all of the way in. So, lowering myself down, I let the waves crash around me and my heart rate accelerate. Grasping the bars of the steps, I pushed my own head under and came up gasping.

Did I mention that not a mile away, we’d walked along the beach where ice still floated in the water. I was swimming in literal ice water.

Are the Finnish people insane? Was I insane for trying to emulate them in this situation?

Okay, don’t answer the second question.

I can answer the first: no. After I walked back into sheltered area between saunas, a sort of euphoria came over me. I’ve honestly never felt better in my entire life. It was almost as though I was glowing from the inside out (or had just had a big ole bottle of CBD juice).

After that, my mom said she wanted to try it. But first, we had to get warmed in the sauna. So, back in we went. After some burning heat for at least twenty more minutes, it was her turn.

She wasn’t quite as calm as she rushed towards the steps and down the ladder. In fact, when she let go of the railing, I immediately thought she was having a panic attack or a heart attack and that she’d drown. I almost threw the phone down to dive in to help, but she then grasped the railing and started to pull herself back up. She was fine. Well, not fine. Freezing to the bone, but at least not dying in off the coast of Helsinki.

Once we’d warmed up a bit, she described having the same sort of euphoric feeling. After that, it was a continuous back and forth between both saunas, the lounges in between, and cold ice baths. At the end, we enjoyed beers by a fire, lounging on a sofa and just chatting as the sea outside moved slowly. Dreamy AF, folks.

And, it would have truly been the perfect day, had I not pulled the most Kellen move ever…

After showering and changing in the locker rooms, I wrapped my bathing suit—mind you a super nice bathing suit that I had just received as a gift from a friend and had only ever worn once before—in my towel because there weren’t any bags to hold it in on the way home. Then, I went to the reception counter and signed for our beers before heading back into the intimidating hallway to try to finagle my coat out of the rack while the next group of sauna-goers were coming in. Sometime between closing my tab and walking to get my coat, I lost my bathing suit.

As soon as I reached my parents who were sitting putting on their shoes in the outside dining area, my dad asked where my suit was.

Omg, I thought, I must have tossed it in the towel bin with my towels.

So, I then walked back down the hall, and began rummaging through a closed bin of dirty towels while new guests were checking into this high-end sauna experience.

After a while, I felt I’d lost my chance and walked back over to my parents, but my mom decided to return to try to help look. So, there we were, two women in sweaters, digging through sweaty towels as new guests continued to arrive.

At some point, I went back into the locker room to look around. After that, I went back outside where my mom was still shoulder deep in towels.

At this point, one of the workers comes out, sees her, and is immediately confused (and probably very disturbed by the sight). He mumbles something like…

“Uhhhhhhhhhh……..”

At which point I turn bright red and explain that I think I threw my bathing suit in there and that she’s looking for it for me.

He then opens the bottom doors for us to go through the sweaty towels with even more precision.

But still, the suit is nowhere to be found. Can I blame Mercury for this???

After checking the locker room again, it’s time for us to leave. So, we head outside and I try desperately not to think about the lost bathing suit. I have to move on. I’d given the receptionist my info and let her know that it was missing. She said she would contact me if it came about, so fingers crossed…

Despite this bathing suit fiasco, once we reached our Airbnb, I don’t think any of us have ever been more relaxed. It was everything we could do to keep our eyes open.

But, sooner than we thought, it was time to head out to the Sea Horse restaurant for traditional Finnish cuisine.

Did I mention that “heading out” meant trekking through a snowstorm? Because it did. We navigated our way to the restaurant where we enjoyed a huge bowl of wild mushroom soup, Vorschmach and Scandinavian hash for my parents, and a beetroot paddy with goat cheese for myself. We were stuffed after the wild mushroom soup but continued to eat until we were so full that we knew we could survive the frigid walk back.

I will say, we had to pay two euro for the coat service which felt a bit excessive to me, but other than that, the meal was super enjoyable and made the snowstorm back not as terrible as one might think.

All in all: Day = a huge success.

Time to transform this sofa into a bed now. Night all!

Post. Script.

We have not gone to bed yet. Instead, for the last hour, we have struggled to figure out how to get the mini washer/dryer to simply dry the clothes we put through the wash. Cue parents arguing about whether or not the machine is actually going, whether we should keep trying it or dry everything in the sauna, whether we turned the sauna on in the right way or potentially broke it, and whether or not my dad’s going to have to wear ski pants around the city tomorrow. Happy travel times, indeed!