Tue 02/24/09 (Day 24) - Matti Day

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Today was Matti Day in Finland (technically Mattias). In English we call it Name Day, but it's not commonly practiced. According to Wikipedia: A name day is a tradition in many countries in Europe and Latin America of celebrating on a particular day of the year associated with the one's given name. The custom originated with the Catholic and Orthodox calendar of saints, where believers, named after a particular saint, would celebrate that saint's feast day. In many countries, however, there is no longer any explicit connection to Christianity… Today Finns celebrate their name days (or nimipäivä) according to their given name on the date given by the calendar published by the University of Helsinki Almanac Office (Almanakkatoimisto). Every day except New Year's Day, Christmas Day, and February 29 is a name day. For each day there are names in both Finnish and Swedish. Short story is: Free cake and coffee from Matti, thanks!

FYI - My day in Finland is July 25th, either Jaako or Jimi. Remind me sometime in July and I might give you cake 😉

Both Dave and I were slackers tonite and just ate at the hotel, but as usual the Holiday Inn doesn't disappoint. I think Sanna Rae, nicknamed Red by us for her red hair and Jenni, nicknamed Bubbles by us for her chipper attitude are taking over as the best (and most attractive) wait staff in Tampere. Red kept us company tonite and I ate way too much. No more skipping lunch at work for me, I don't have enough portion control willpower to do that. So here's the sickly amount that I ate: For starter, both Dave and I had the snails. This place takes the prize for the best snails I've ever had. They do them in a pesto sauce and then top them with toasted blue cheese, it's amazing! I then had a grilled goat cheese salad; I just can't say no to that since it's so good. My main course was the wild mushroom and bacon pasta that I'd had before. Finally, for dessert I had a very rich, very good chocolate cake served with an orange sauce. I washed the whole lot down with a South African red wine; I don't recall the varietal, but it was spicy to the nose and mouth, but rather short.

G'nite.

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Photos

Home, Sweet Home
Since I just stayed in tonite I figured I'd show you a picture of the Holiday Inn.