HELSINKI — Wrapped in a towel and oozing sweat, a steaming man steps outside into sub-zero temperatures enthusing about the sauna which he’s just come out of — right in the middle of Helsinki in the city hall courtyard.
The Finnish hot room plays an integral part in year-end traditions, and Helsinki decision makers have made sure there’s free and easy access to a wood-burning “Christmas sauna” during two weeks of December.
Ville Vehmaa says he’s probably had a sauna “maybe … 3,000 times,” but he’s still attracted to the transportable wooden hut, seating 10 sweating bodies at a time, which opened on Dec.
