Last week Christof traveld to Finland for PING Festival in Helsinki which is the leading influencer marketing event in the Nordics and already took place for the fourth time. It's been organized at the Clarion Hotel Helsinki located by the sea.
After the event we've continued the week in Finland on a post-tour in a group of 5 people to Lahti region. The journey just takes app. 60 min. In English, the Finnish word Lahti literally means bay. The region is growing and is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. It's all about large pine forest and field areas. The local tap water has excellent quality pure groundwater which is unusual in the world.
We started our tour with a visit in the nature resort Kiikunlähde. This pond really has some of the most crystal clear and turquoise waters ever.
After that we had a short stop at a kiosk close to a lake for some coffee (which is always a good idea, who doesn't love a good coffee?) and refreshments. I had a small chat with the owner who even lived in Germany for quite some time to shovel shit on the countryside. Man these Finns really love their country a lot.
At 14 o'clock wee took part at a workshop in a local printmaking studio Painovoima hosted by a professional printmaker Pekka Litmanen.
Our stay for that night was Töyrylä Manor. And oh boi, this place had the charm of all of the romantics and elegance of the golden era! This Manor has six bedrooms upstrairs and all of them are decorated in different colour schemes and packed with antiques. If you're ever around that area go and check it out.
The very delicious dinner and all the sotries Jyrki Salolahti, the owner told us about the house and it's interior filled the perfect evening for the day until we all couldn't stop looking out of those windows where the sunset started to begin. Briana, Will and I headed down to the lake Pukettisaari, which is just 3 walking minutes from the house and enjoyed the long lasting sunset while Chris and Michael enjoyed the views from the balcony of the house with their drones.
The next day has been packed with activities. Lahti has a rich sporting tradition, especially in various wintersports. It's the leading sport event city in Finland. The city and surroundings are ideal for cycling, running and open water swimming and majority of locals enjoy sporty activities regularly which we really saw a lot throughout the day.
We did a Fat-biking Tour along the route of Midnight Ironman Finland with our guide Pekka Tirkkonen from Kitetirri which providesquality nature activities all year around. Followed by the most amazing Salmon Soup i ever had in my life at Myllysaaren Kommodori which is a Beach Restarant situated in Lake Vesijärvi, 3 km from the city center.
The day ended with an awesome evening at the Farm Restaurant Hollolan Hirvi. It's only a 10 min. drive from the city. First we’ll enjoyed the landscapes and fresh air by rock climbing. Followed by relaxation in the Smoke sauna and hot tub. This hand-made smoke sauna has been awarded by Finnish Sauna Society as an authentic Finnish Quality Sauna.
After a long active day we'll enjoyed a tasty Barbeque Dinner full of local fresh ingredients and tastes and went back to our Hotel in Lahti.
But before that we had to enjoy our last sunset in Lahti at the harbour!
The next day we visited the Sports Centre we're we checked out the RedBull 400 extreme run. Running 400m doesn't sound like much of a challenge, does it? But what if you were to run those 400m at a height gain close to 140m and as a pure uphill sprint? That's a race guaranteed to put your calves, quads and endurance to the ultimate test.
And sadly after a short lunch in Lahti harbour I had to leave this lovely area and went back to the airport in Helsiniki. It's been an awesome trip and i can't wait to get back to Finland asap!
And thanks a lot for organising everything so wee PING & @VisitLahti