Finland, surprise me!

I am about to tell you why I am eager to take off to Finland. But first, let me start with a little story of the most pessimistic country in the world – France. I promise there will be a connection in the end.

You may have heard that if you come to France, you might get stuck in public transportation because of a strike. Or you will probably meet a nasty taxi driver who will take the wrong route just to make you pay more. You might have been told that the French people are so proud of being French that they can’t even talk about anything else but France. Those chauvinist French people!

Okay, it would be a really bad visit if all that happened to you.

Nevertheless, in France you also have the chance to see amazing landscapes – and I don’t mean just Paris, there are also other great cities. You will find out that the guys you thought were selfish are also ready to take the streets to fight for freedom when a tragedy happens. You will discover that in France you don’t have only the amazing Edith Piaf but also artists known worldwide like Daft Punk or David Guetta – and others who are not known abroad but who are pretty good too. Absolutely!

Enough with France. I wanted to tell this story in order to ask you, Finland, one thing: surprise me!

Prove me that you are not only the Santa Claus’ country where people spend their free time naked in saunas. Show me and all the people I’ve told I’m going to visit you, that you are not only the-country-after-Norway-and-Sweden-that-they-confuse-with-Iceland. Break the stereotypes – the positive ones as well the negative ones – and show me who you really are.

I’m not pretending to know everything about you, Finland. But I am really keen to discover your famous cliches as much as the unknown parts that make you authentic.