Somewhere I read that there are 3 million saunas in Finland and that 2 million of these are used during the summer holidays in July. I guess the one million saunas left cold are city saunas staying behind when the whole city population immigrates to their summer cottages in the countryside for the lightest and warmest days of the year.

It's a shame there is no sauna in my home, if there was one I would use it during July. I'm one of those odd individuals who refuse to leave the city, even for the summer vacation. I love having Helsinki for myself. I like walking through the abandoned city, during the holiday weeks the streets are empty like the whole population was evacuated somewhere safe and left me behind.

Sometimes when I'm biking through the city centre I might stop to explain the biz arre situation for a couple of confused tourists. It's not always easy, how do you put the concept kesämökki in to plain words? "The people of Finland choose to celebrate the lightest and warmest weeks of the year in small cottages close to water" doesn't feel adequate. Kesämökki is so much more, it's a celebration of light,a way to spend time with family and relatives, to eat fresh potatoes and to read all those books there wasn't enough time for.

So why do I decline myself this Finnish tradition? I don't know, I just love my alone time with the city. Soon enough, in a few weeks, Helsinki will be crowded again and by that time I'm already bored of the silence and happy to welcome the people of Helsinki back to their city.

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