Jane in Finland: Friday September 10 - Barbeque with Finnish/Italian artists

The barbeque that Veli and I were attending today was about 25 km out of town. That distance is a lot for people here but I thought it was the shortest drive I've ever been on. The hosts, Johanna and Bianco, live in an apartment in a huge summer mansion. They have the greatest scenery around them which is perfect for them because they're artists. This barbeque was in the honor of their friends Angela and Emmanuel who were visiting from Italy.

The weather was perfect for a barbeque and we got a fire started right away. The lamb looked amazing on the grill and tasted even better when it was finished. Veli also made these mushrooms stuffed with blue cheese and wrapped in bacon. Sound heavenly? They were. There is one of these mushrooms on my plate on the top right corner.

I also really enjoyed spending time with Johanna's dog, Arre. He was a really independent dog but one that also loves human attention. I played frisbee with him, he's probably better at catching than I am.

Johanna's neighbor Marita came over as well with her brother. She was extremely nice and even gave me a book about Lapland when she found out that I would be traveling there later.

Johanna and Bianco are both artists so we had quite a lot to talk about. Johanna told me about the inspiration for the paintings that I took a picture of. The portrait of Bianco holding a symbol is in memory of the earthquake that happened in his hometown that destroyed his church. The symbol is a symbol of his church. The portrait of Johanna however, she is holding an eagle symbolizing freedom and spiritual balance. They have a huge studio in their apartment with big windows. Just the environment was quite inspiring.