FLASHBACK #12: Vappu Eve, another Salmiakki Koskenkorva incident and the police!

Since meeting my 'boyfriend' (we were still in 'were we/weren't we mode' and it felt weird for weeks that I had a boyfriend and not a girlfriend), most weekends were spent in Helsinki. I would either take the train, or drive the 90 minutes straight from the office, heading South on the E3.

'Vappu', Finland's version of May Day, was fast approaching. Always on May 1st (even if it falls on a weekend), Vappu itself is preceded with Vappu Eve, a drinking frenzy. In 2002, Vappu was on a Wednesday so I booked the Thursday and the Friday off work and drove to Helsinki already on the Tuesday night. Bree had already made plans for this year's Vappu Eve, but he had given me a key so I had somewhere to stay.

My friend from Kallio and I met up in town and, even thought it was a Tuesday, we let rip! The city was packed, students in the crowd differentiating themselves by wearing multicoloured jumpsuits representing their field of education. Each jumpsuit had a number of stitched-on badges, indicating that the individual had raised some funds for the department at which they were studying, be it at University or Commercial College. Adults among the crowd who had graduated from some kind of educational facility worse white hats. So, the scene was a mass of students adorning multicoloured jumpsuits and graduates wearing white caps.

The Havis Amanda fountain in Helsinki's Esplandi (which leads to its seaside Market Square) is washed my students as a prelude to the May Day celebrations. Havis Amanda, so-named by Finnish-Swedish newspapers at the time of its erection, was sculpted in Paris in 1906, but wasn't erected in it's current location until 1908. Cast in bronze, the mermaid stands upon a fountain of granite. At 6pm every Vappu Eve, crowds decend upon her to witness her being bathed and crowned with a Student Cap.

We headed to a bar in Eerikinkatu where we stayed most of the evening before heading to a club in Lönrotinkatu. At the first place, however, I was introduced to some of my friend's friends. We had a great time, but then out came the Salmiakki Koskekorva (see my entries 'FLASHBACK #6: Castles, 'support package' and sleeping in the sauna' (1st-Feb-06) and 'OUT OF INTEREST: Salmiakki Koskenkorva' (2nd-Feb-06) .

My friend came up behind me, handing me a shot glass containg the rich black, insidious drink. Several rounds followed and, somehow, we ended up on the dancefloor at the second establishment (the one where I had met my Bree).

The night flew by amid a flow of drink and familiar faces. When I left the darkness of the bar just after 3am, my eyes were stunned by the brightness of the sky - while I had been in the bar, night had set and dawn had broken once more. Wow! Totally pissed out of my head, I stumbled up the street, unfamiliar with my route back to Bree's. After a period of wandering around aimlessly, I noticed two police officers walking towards me. I was saved, I thought, but when I asked them if they could tell me where the street Bree lives was, they just laughed. You see, I was so pissed that I couldn't pronounce the name of the street! They just left me there, vulnerable and lost! To cut a long story short, it took me 4 hours of navigating the city streets to find my way home, a trip that would normally take no longer than 20 minutes! The Salmiakki Koskenkorva had done it again!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havis_Amanda