Forrest Finnery

So far we've had some great opportunities to meet some interesting Vikings. Our stay in Finland has been no different. Although, the only stories we hear from Vikings about other Vikings are usually a tad overexagerated, the Finns lived up to most of their hype.


After arriving a bit late due to Tyler and I's desire to stay in Copenhagen a little longer, we were happy to hear the airlines had lost Tyler's luggage. We made it into town and were put up in a Viking's new apartment (Sten), which he had not moved into yet. The place was completely empty, but we were supplied with sleeping pads. Throughout the week we had the chance to meet numerous Vikings, and even the two Finnish scholars coming to Madison this spring, Otto and Mattias. Both of these guys were quite the characters. Otto made sure to show us a good time all of the nights we hung out with him and even gave us a private tennis lesson (he used to be on the Finnish national team). Mattias invited us out to his family's farm on the coast for a night. This was an amazing experience. We were able to tear up his land in his ATVs and then took a boat ride out to one of his family's cottages that they rent out to tourists, mainly Russians. It even came with a private sauna, which we put to good use.