Last night Daniel, Pekka and Salil jumped into the freezing cold lake after the sauna. After one dip Pekka, cringing and huttering, was asked how cold it was. He said: "It is so cold that I have to do this", and with that he hurled himself back into the water, and immediately started swimming with super-quick strokes back to the ladder. Daniel followed suite by doing the same. Then the two of them, looking like cramped lake monsters, hobbled, twisted and stiff, back to the sauna, all the while exclaiming "It hurts! It hurts!" Daniel and Pekka went on to do this 3 times...
Departing from our beautiful accommodation amidst pure Finnish nature...
Running to the first school...
Arrival in Lahnaniemen koulu...
The school reciprocated our Peace Run song with a beautiful song about friendship. The children sang like angels...
After passing the torch we got to visit their small and sweet, and also incredibly high tech-equipped school...
Thank you to the principal Sirkku Penttinen and teachers!
Running towards the 2nd school...
...were 500 kids and youth were waiting for our arrival...
...in Ristiinan yhtenäiskoulu...
The girls team was still on the way from the first school, so we got help from two kind and willing students...
Hmm... What country could this person be from...
I know, I know!
Children always love the skits! Some of the international boys have learned some lines in finnish...
Bravo!
In this school one of the teachers marvelled at the boys efforts in learning Finnish...
Feeling peace, and joy, and love in your heart. And then imagining it shining from there to the rest of the world...
Gratitude to prinicipal Matti Hämäläinen for organizing the event!
3 torches circulated for the passing of the torch...
We ran around around the large sportsfield...
This reporter recenently graduated from the school and is seen here interviewing Iiris..
Next stop Repovesi National Park...
We hiked to Olhava...
These lichens growing on the trunks of the trees are a sign of a healty and old forest...
Roots lie criss-cross along the footpaths...
Biologist examining the local flora...
The lichen is actually a symbiosis of two organisms from different biological kingdoms living together in one form. Inside the structural fungal network live algae carrying out photosynthesis...
Together with moss they create magical kingdoms, like here on this stump..
On top of the cliff Olhavanvuori...
Finnish coordinator Anne's mother with Kristiina...
The team climbed down the 60 meter high cliff...
Pekka was carefully belaying us down...
The presence of this snake helped us to climb down much faster than we had planned. Actually it was much more afraid of us than we were of it...
Josef in the boat...
Salil braves the precipice...
This is Andreas first climb...
What's going on?
At the cliff base,
Lies this Ent-like tree,
Solid and stiff,
Could it be, maybe,
Creature of legend,
Now here resting lazily,
A real live tree-folk,
From an age of mystery...
After the team has been lowered down, Daniel leads the climb going back up the rock face...
Anne and a few other intrepid girls from our team bravely climbed quite a difficult route...
Zuzana manages well through the technical part of this route's climb...
These girls are not afraid of heights...
On the fire we cooked,
Corn, potatoes, mushrooms and,
cherry tomatoes...
(a barbecue haiku)
Towards the end of the climbing it got sunny...
This friendly amphibian greeted us on the way back...
The municipality of Mäntsälä kindly accommodated the Peace runners this evening in their Town Hall's Reception facilities. Gratitude to Harri Bister, Mäntsälä's secretary of fitness for taking care of us!
