Helsinki: Allas Sea Pool

Today we did the Finnish national past time: sitting in a sauna and sweating. While Helsinki has numerous saunas, we chose Allas Sea Pool for convenience and setting. Allas sits right on the water, in front of the SkyWheel and next to Market Square and the harbour. While sweating, you can observe ginormous cruise ships, and the Soumenlinna ferry chugging past.

At Allas, you reserve a three hour block of sauna and pool time. Cost is 19-24 Euros for the time block. In unisex saunas, bathing suits are mandatory. In sex segregated saunas, you choose. Traditionally for Finns, wearing a bathing suit is considered unhygienic. I went with the unhygienic. Everyone showers first, then it's off for some sweating. No photos, no devices, and, according to my guidebook, no staring.

We started with the "floating saunas" that sit on a deck over the Baltic. At 70 degrees Celsius (158 F), they are the coolest of the saunas. (Yes, really). You grab a blue seat cover from a dispenser, plop it on the wood benches in the sauna and sit down until you get too hot. The lower benches are (slightly) cooler. For good heat, you go to the top.

In the center are a pile of rocks which some heat-tolerant Finn pours water over, resulting in good "loyly" or steam. See picture of this that Allas provides on their website. Between sweating, you take a dip in the Baltic. Yep, they have a pool on the floating dock that filters in water from the Baltic. Yes, it's summer, but the Baltic is either cold or very cold. I only made it as far as my waist before backing out. But the combo of heat and cold is very invigorating, dare I say pleasant. Then it's rinse and repeat. We did this for an hour or so, and then we were ready to graduate to a hotter sauna, the Corner Sauna, at a brisk 90 Celsius (194 F). It was here that some athletic Finnish woman poured not one, not two, not three, but four ladles of water over the rocks. The steam was intense. Too intense for this American. I exited for a cooler shower.

Allas is open year round for those hardier than me. Here you see one of those hardy Finns entering the Baltic pool in winter. Thinking on this further, I may have discovered why Finns are the happiest people on earth. You sweat everything out in the sauna, take a bracing bath in ice water, then do it all over again. If that doesn't clear the mind, nothing will.