The Drunken Lizard Pub

Today is the independence day of my home country. What country is it? It's Finland! Happy independence day of Finland.

Happy Independence Day to you. I've always wanted to visit Finland.

Tell us three things that make Finland so great.

The biggest thing that brings tourists here is snow. There is a lot of it. And it's here from December to April. Lapland has many ski resorts if you're into that. I don't like snow, because that means shoveling and shoveling means being out in the cold.

If you like visiting cities, I suggest Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Finland doesn't have large cities (for obvious reasons: Finland's population is only ~5 million). Helsinki has many places to see: Helsinki Cathedral near Senate Square and Suomenlinna (a castle) which is located on an island. There's also the Ateneum and Kiasma Art Museums. Ateneum has classical Finnish art and Kiasma has more modern art. Helsinki also has a zoo, Korkeasaari, though it's not much compared to other zoos in Europe. This isn't all, have a look at Wikipedia for more.

Other cities worth visiting (in my opinion) are Turku and Porvoo. Both are very old. Turku has Turku Castle and Porvoo is famous for it's Old Town.

If you like hiking, berry picking or just enjoying nature, Finland truly is the place for you. Finland has forests everywhere, thanks to the sparse population. Finland has good everyman's rights, meaning that you can camp nearly everywhere, as long as you don't harm anyone's lands or leave rubbish around.

That's three things that make Finland great. (Sounds a bit like advertising, doesn't it. )

Note to self:Left new england because of snow, remember to never visit Finland from December to April.

The thing I always remember about Finland was WW2. When Stalin decided to invade the tiny country, anticipating a quick and easy victory, he got a big surprise from the courageous,tough Finnish army. I forget how long the Red army was held up trying to take the country. Shows you what a few good dedicated men can do when they have to.

noname wrote:The thing I always remember about Finland was WW2. When Stalin decided to invade the tiny country, anticipating a quick and easy victory, he got a big surprise from the courageous,tough Finnish army. I forget how long the Red army was held up trying to take the country. Shows you what a few good dedicated men can do when they have to.

Soldiers of the Red army mostly used roads, but the Finnish army used the terrain as their advantage. The Finnish used the "motti" tactic, completely surrounding much larger enemy units and then attacking them from the woods. A good example would be Battle of Raate Road, where the tactic was used to defeat some 7000-9000 soviet soldiers (fyi, the Finns lost only 402 men).

EDIT: OFFICER RANK right here!

Finland has Santa Claus up in the North

ManusDei wrote:Finland has Santa Claus up in the North

True. Everyone knows Santa Claus lives in Korvatunturi (a fell in Lapland).