Finnish cabin, Estonian beer and Holland

25/7 - I'm getting a real Finnish experience. There's lots of drinking, drinking games, even drinking while nude in the sauna. Most houses in Finland have a sauna in them, and a tradition here is to sit in the sauna for a while and then run into the nearest lake, preferably during the winter. But during the winter there is usually snow on the ground; you just jump in the snow then. I prefer the pond in summertime.

Anna and I hung out Friday night at her house with Jonas, another of her friends. Her parents left for the weekend, so we played heavy metal (because of course Scandinavians love their metal) and sat outside drinking and talking until the light completely faded. Later, we played a drinking game where it was revealed I have a third nipple; it's simple times like this that make me really appreciate taking the plunge to actually go to Finland.

26/7 – I leave Finland with excellent memories. A couple of Anna’s friends invited us to their cabin north of Helsinki in Räskälä, which is the middle of nowhere. Of course, since there are more than 200,000 lakes in Finland, the cabin had a pond. And since we were in Finland, there was also a sauna.

That meant being nude in the sauna and then walking past the girls (who shrieked in mock disgust), down the steps and skinny-dipping into the pond that also has lilypads, which only goes up to the waist. Essentially, I got the true Finnish experience. This was a beautiful spot for a cabin as it’s in the some pine tree and birch tree woods. There is a stream that flows into the pond, and it goes from there to a lake nearby. And around the property there are deck chairs and anything else that makes you super relaxed.

Perhaps my favorite area was the fire pit; It has its own small structure to provide shelter from the rain. When we created a fire last night, the combination of flowing water into the pond, some light still in the sky at 11:30 p.m., the fire whipping like the sound a flag in a strong wind makes and its crackling made a nice moment that left me feeling lucky by the fact I was in this spot at that exact moment.  The dinner was also excellent, as we barbecued beef steaks and paired it with strong cheeses, potatoes, guacamole, salad and wine.

The combination of mosquito bites, alcohol, being nude in the sauna, skinny-dipping, a delicious meal and a bed so cozy I’ll compare it to my own in California left me feeling like I’m doing things right. This was the kind of place Henry David Thoreau would go to think. I feel proud of the fact I took this trip and became the first American to visit that cabin. Goodbye, Finland!

On to Tallinn, Estonia.

27/7 - Like Madrid, my time in Tallinn, Estonia was less than a day. Unlike Madrid, my Couchsurfing host was not odd. Margus is 21 and lives with his parents. He's a chubby kid who loves quality craft beers and good food. In fact he carried around a list of the top 40 Estonian beers, a couple of which we tried. He met me at the ferry station in Tallinn, which made my time there very easy.

I literally slept on a couch in and old, cluttered, Soviet-era apartment building, and Margus gave me his room for the night. There were a pile of clothes in the corner, boxes on top of the cabinet, dusty books and glassware on a shelf, faded and peeling Egyptian-themed wallpaper and a chipped and damaged door. His apartmenr had so much character; it felt lived-in. 

Margus is a kid that comes off as aloof sometimes. He was awesome, as he was basically my personal tour guide. But he tends not to tell you what he's thinking in terms of which direction we're going or what stop we need. There were times when he'd just start walking through grass as a shortcut or take a turn without telling  me. 

I had a positive experience in Tallinn, and it always helps to drink with interesting people. We spent the evening tasting beers with a beer-appreciating German couple. My favorite part of the visit was when I found Trapistes No. 10, the beer that blew my mind in Wales. I bought two bottles and refused to throw them away at the airport, so I checked my bag; this beer is too good to be discarded so easily. It's worth the €40 fee (in my eyes). I even showed it to the woman at the check-in counter at the Tallinn airport, and she was surprised to see the nearly 12% alcohol content. 

After flying for several hours with a layover in Latvia (another country, like Sweden, I have now technically been to) Viral and I are in Amsterdam. This is a city I've wanted to visit for a while, snd I've already set a new milestone for myself, something I've never done before. For the first time in my life, I paid money for a joint. We smoked for a bit and then ate Mexican food. I want to be careful though, as I don't want to be stoned for the whole time i'm here. If I smoke too much I'll start feeling stupid and slow. There's a limit, and I haven't crossed it yet. 

But between how easy it is to buy weed and the how the prostitutes sell themselves in red-lighted brothel windows by smiling and winking at you in en exaggerated way, Amsterdam already has a much different feel to any other city. It's very relaxed, and it feels like you can do anything as long as you're not hurting anyone else. It's like the anti-society that celebrates everything taboo in the communities in which we grew up. 

Here's to going to the Van Gogh Museum after I finish my joint (I've only smoked a third of it) in the morning. I look forward to looking at art at a much deeper level, and possibly forgetting I'm looking at art when I inevitably zone out and lose focus.