Ice bears from the streets of Helsinki rescue my ski trip!

Ski trip in the surroundings of Kista is going badly. Can’t find open skating rinks or their excess snow piles. And I dragged my mini-skis all the way to Sweden for this! Sigh. But, as you know we have ice bears walking on the streets of Helsinki... and they bring the cold, good stuff.

There was even a slope next to the snow.

Surroundings of Kista were at the Solna, at the Ulriksdal Idrottsplats (sports place). And Ritorps Ishall (link). But it wasn't a totally wasted trip, I did find a very nice new swimming hall. A place to come again. The Medley Solna Simhall (link).

These streets of "Helsinki" are in Vantaa, in Myyrmäki. Specifically, the Myyrmäki ice skating hall #2 (link). The snow is at the back of the hall.

Medley Solna simhall:

Ritorps ishall:

Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot, TGR. For more sauna and swimming stories, check out planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool websites. Photos and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko.

Green weekend at the cottage

Early June is a perfect time to enjoy the Finnish summer. The nature is so nicely light green at this time of the year. We visited our summer cottage in Teisko, including of course plenty of stops at the sauna and the lake. Summer 💚

For more sauna and swimming stories, check out planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool websites! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot and TGR! The photos and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.

Pearl Lounge at Arlanda T2

Visited my long-time lounge in Arlanda's T2 (where Finnair flies from). They've changed name though, and the entrance is no longer at the back of the restaurant... which is an improvement. The lounge itself is still very similar to how it was before. Basic foods, decent breakfast though with eggs, pancakes, etc.

For more flying stories, check out the planetflier.com website! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot and TGR! The photos and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. 

Sausage sauce at the Platinum lounge?

Visited the Finnair Platinum lounge at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport again. This time they were going for some traditional Finnish delicacies, and it was my turn to taste the "sausage sauce", i.e., cut pieces of sausage in sauce, served with potato mash. It was good, even if not traditionally considered much of a gourmet meal...

Here's the meal as served:

Otherwise, at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport there's some renovation going on, and this means that the usual cargo terminal isn't apparently accessible, so the cargo aircraft are parked on the being-renovated runway instead. Interesting. 

Saw some rare planes, too, like Sichuan Airlines:

I was on my way to Sweden, here we are at Terminal 2 in Arlanda:

For more flying stories, check out the planetflier.com website! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot and TGR! The photos and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. 

Hamburger Börs sauna - the experience in the classic hotel in Turku

Hamburger Börs is a classic hotel in Turku, dating back to 1894. Rebuilt and mostly a new building around the old one nowadays though. Visited the hotel while I was in Turku for the caving association meetup and scanning the Luolavuori cave. Of course I had to try the sauna in the hotel, as well. Very nice. 

Medium sized, but a nice lounge area and a fashionable, darker wood in the sauna. Well done.

The sauna is only for about two hours for either men or women, at separate times. But it can be booked for private events.

Hotel homepage is here.

The lounge:

For more sauna and swimming stories, check out planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool websites! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot and TGR! The photos and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. I never take photos of saunagoers or swimmers, all photos are taken when the facility is closed or empty. 

Luolavuori cave scan

I went with Ralf's organized caving trip to Turku's Luolavuori (cave mountain) cave. Been there many times, it is a wonderful cave! Also fun to meet new people, perhaps there's some cave trips we can do together at some point! Also, I did a quick 3D scan of the cave with my iPhone. 

Here's a link to the 3D model: GLB or Blender. You can also rotate it on your own screen by pressing this link. And below is the cave map (a higher resolution version is available in PDF.

Here are some pictures from the cave. First, we found some fauna in the cave:

And here's the exit from inside:

This is what the caving inside looks like:

And of course, we also had to have a small break and eat something:

Here's the full team:

The rest of the team tried some chimney techniques in a nearby rock crack, as well as climbed up a cliff:

I chose to take a train this time, instead of driving. Was quite nice, much more relaxing than being the driver yourself. Here are some pictures from the train ride. I took first a local train from Kauniainen to Leppävaara, and then a long distance train to Turku. I stayed on the upper floor above the restaurant, so I was able to order porridge for breakfast:

Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot, TGR. Photos and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko, except where otherwise indicated. All rights reserved. 

Fuel hatch is back in business!

In April, my fuel hatch came off. Fortunately, I didn't lose it, I was refueling at the time. But the connecting mechanism had come apart, plastic giving up after 33 years. Oh well. Even more fortunately, spare parts were available. Now they finally arrived and my royal repair shop fixed it in place. Nice!

More car stories in the Planetskier blog series at Blogspot. The photos and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko.