LOHJA APPLE CARNIVAL

Day 1

• Transportation from Helsinki to Lohja in the morning, 9:30 am. The bus ride will take 1 hour.
• Tytyri Mine Experience. The tour goes 100 m below ground where the history of miners is strongly present. Guided tour 1.5 hours. Limestone mining history and mining are still a very important part of rural living as limestone is still regularly used to maintain soil fertility. The highlight of the tour will be the light and music artwork show based on Finlandia by Jean Sibelius in a massive underground cavern.
• Light lunch at Tytyri –hall, a 110 meters deep restaurant.
• Kettukallio Experience farm. Transportation from Tytyri to Kettukallio Experience farm. There is a traditional Finnish smoke sauna, where guests can take time enjoying the refreshing atmosphere. Smoke sauna is the origin of the Finnish everyday sauna. Right beside the smoke sauna there is a hot tub where bathers can sit and relax listening to nature. The hot tub has room for 8 persons.
• The dinner is cooked on an open fire and served in an idyllic Lapp hut. The dinner includes starter salad based on Finnish vegetables and main course: glazed salmon, baked potatoes, grilled vegetables and sauce. After dinner there is coffee or tea cooked by fire.
• Overnight accommodation. Gasthaus Lohja is a cosy family owned small hotel close to the Lohja city centre.

Day 2

• Local and tasty breakfast in the morning.
• Guided visit at Lohja Apple Carnival. The carnival area hosts more than a hundred harvest-inspired stalls where one can find baked goods, handicrafts and of course, all kinds of apples.
• Lunch at the Apple Carnival.
• Free time to enjoy the programme. In addition to the stalls there is also a huge and varied programme to enjoy at the festival, including theatre, music and performances by “The happy blacksmith”. Displayed in the field are scarecrows participating in the Finnish scarecrow championships. The museum offers free admission during the carnival day and there are Islandic horses for the children to ride on. In the street by the museum, you can admire alpacas, classic cars and motorbikes.
• The contest “Miss Apple”. The programme culminates with the vote for this year’s “Miss Apple”.
• Home visit to Laine family. The Laine family home is located by the lake Lohja. It’s time to relax and enjoy the view and the atmosphere:
  • Lakeside walk. Guests can hear stories about the beautiful Finnish nature during a short walk alongside lake Lohja where there are a lot of hazelnut trees and wildflowers by the path. Local apple juice will be offered in the forest or by the lake.
  • In the Laine family garden, there are many useful plants such as apple trees, berry bushes, salads, tomatoes, strawberries as well as plants that attract butterflies.
  • Preparing food together. The hostess and guests will prepare mushroom soup and blueberry pie together in her kitchen. Picking mushrooms and berries has been an important way of spending time in the forest for generations.
  • Writing postcards. Guests can enjoy and sit by the fireplace and write postcards back home to their loved ones. The hosts will take them to the local post office to be sent.
  • During the day there is an option to have a sauna in the Laine family’s home and swim in Lake Lohja. Almost every Finnish home has a sauna and Finnish sauna is also on the Unesco “Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity”.
  • Meal at Laine family. In the evening it is time to enjoy a traditional Finnish meal and taste the food that was prepared together earlier. Dinner includes salad, different sorts of fish, potatoes, and sauce. For dessert blueberry pie with whipped cream and coffee or tea.
  • Return to Helsinki. Transportation back to Helsinki leaves at 19pm.