I was in Finland during Midsummer. In Finland, Midsummer is the third most celebrated holiday, after Christmans and New Years. The celebration follows the actual solstice or take place on a day between June 21 and June 25. The city is closed, transport does not run and all workers have holiday vacation during the midsummer. Most people retreat to their summer cottage, usually next to a lake or in the forest. An important feature of the midsummer in Finland is the white night and the midnight sun. Because of Finland's location spanning around the Arctic Circle the nights near the midsummer day are short or non-existent. This gives a great contrast to the darkness of the winter time. Effectively, the sunset and the sunrise happen simultaneously giving the appearance of an infinite glowing horizon for about three hours around 1am.
Empty roads during Midsummer. Reminds me of the rural Midwest.
The sauna in Finland was traditionally used as the primary way to clean oneself. Today, a Finnish sauna is either electric, gas or wood fire heated. However, the original concept of the sauna was derived from it's territory, the forest, and therefore most rituals were designed with the use of trees, dried wood, bark, leaves and fresh lake water. The red building in this photo is both a traditional wood fire heated sauna and a woodshed.
