Super weekend

Happy Monday!

I´ve spent an excellent out-of-ordinary weekend in "the Manchester of Finland", Tampere. Themes turned out to be downshifting and good food... all the way till this Monday. First stop was a CS sauna evening in the oldest sauna in the country. Benefits of going to sauna are well-known but this time my main interest was to see a sauna that is more than 100 years old. Also, the consept of public sauna is excellent!

Ladies to the left, gentlemen to the right.

Rajaportin sauna is really nostalgic, picturesque and well-preserved. Inside the sauna there was a weird earthy smell but the proportion of heat and humidity was just perfect! You could also go sit outside, drink and sit by the fire.

Glass bottles in the sauna prohibited.

The next most important thing to do in Tampere was to visit Jaakko Halmetoja´s Smoothie Studio. Unfortunately it was closed; it looked like being under renovation. Jaakko is one of the best-known superfood experts in this country. I´m dying to meet him! I also had discussion on the food topic with my host in Tampere. Many people seem to live under the false impression that "superfoodists" eat superfoods only. They´re merely a supplement and the meaning is not to take the pleasure of eating away. Eating superfoods is often about replacing stuff with better quality. Again, chocolate is a perfect exemple...

Chocolate can consist e.g. these ingredients. On the board there´s cacao mass, maca powder, hemp seeds and peanuts.

As for downshifting, I visited my aunt who lives simple life in the outskirts of Tampere. I´ve forgotten how much you can enjoy just listening to the radio and filling in cross-words. There´s a very special atmosphere in that cottage, like going back in time! There can be the most fascinating programmes on the radio: like the one where people call and tell their memories, stories from their childhood and such things. I don´t know many things more interesting than real people telling true stories.

Back to superfoods... Today I had the joy of meeting representative Heikki Harju from Cocovi superfood company. He had a demonstration at Ekosoppi on how to prepare raw chocolate. Heikki seemed to have a vast knowledge on the subject and we got to taste some heavenly cacao goodies. What an energy boost for the start of the week! We tasted coconut oil-cacao mousse, rice milk based cacao shots, mint chocolate with goji berries and another sort with mulberries and vanilla. Mind-blowing! I also got answers to my superfood questions and even more inspiration to keep experimenting. I felt rather hyper afterwards. Unfortunately my oral English class was cancelled!

That´s all folks. Last thing I want to share is a little miracle. Yesterday I tasted ordinary milk chocolate after months of eating mostly raw stuff. So came a day when Fazer´s milk chocolate tasted disgusting!

Treat yourselves!
xxx