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On June 15th, Finland took part in the celebration of the “World Tapas Day”. This International Day is an occasion to celebrate the Spanish culture and gastronomy in the whole world, through one of its more emblematic dishes; the tapas. More than 600 restaurants from over 30 countries offered Spanish tapas to their customers around the world.

For the celebration of this International Day, The Spanish Tourist Office in Finland has counted on the assistance of Mikko Takala, one of the most relevant influencers on the international gastronomic scene. His assistance has been a guaranty of the quality and high level of the restaurants participating in this International Day.

On this year’s “Tapaspäivä” in Finland, 36 outstanding restaurants of Helsinki, Tampere, Turku, Rovaniemi and Oulu offered tapas and other dishes of the Spanish cuisine and, in many cases, offered special dishes of fusion cuisine.

On June 14, as a special event, a contest took place among 19 of the restaurants participating in the Tapas Day, in order to choose “The Best Tapas of Helsinki”. The contest was organized in the venue of the cooking school, Kokkikoulu Espa, and it counted on the sponsorship of the awarded wines of the Catalonian region of Empordà.

The jury was presided by Mikko Takala and also formed by Sauli Kemppainen, a renamed chef and author of gastronomic books, who is working in one of the most exclusive Restaurants of the city of Berlin, and Susanna Vuori, the head of a new bakery brand in Punavuori. She is a highly skilled baker and patissier, and has worked in various Michelin-starred restaurants in London and Paris.

The competition in this contest was very hard, and so was the work of the jury. Finally, the results were:

Second Honorary Award: BasBas & Staff wine bar (Tehtaankatu 27-29)

WINNER OF THE CONTEST: JORD (Kortteli, Urho Kekkosen Katu, 1)

Bus operator Savonlinja celebrates the 100th birthday of Finland with a stunt of its own. On June 7 2017, a specially equipped sauna bus will start off on its journey to drive across country. During the long weekend, the sauna will be hot and steamy from beginning to end. The entire endeavor will take 100 hours.

During the 1000+ kilometer trip – from the South Coast all the to the Norwegian border up in Lapland – the occupancy rate of the sauna will be very high indeed. As the bus makes stops in key Finnish cities along the way, sauna-lovers from all walks of life will board the bus: performers, city representatives, business people, students, journalists… And also regular citizens who won their sauna slot via a Savonlinja competition.

All participants have ID cards that they use when entering and exiting sauna. The idea is to maximize the minutes spent in the sauna during the trip. The custom-made “sauna-on-wheels” can comfortably fit four people at a time.

The host during the entire weekend will be Finnish superstar Ville Haapasalo.

The Long Hot Sauna is guaranteed to add some serious heat into the centennial festivities in a very patriotic way. After all, ‘sauna’ is the only Finnish word that has spread around the world and become a part of our common, global vocabulary.

For more information visit: www.pitkäkuumasauna.fi (in Finnish)

YLE will deliver live coverage of X Games Norway 2017 on YLE2 and will stream all event coverage live on Yle.fi., as well as live and on demand coverage on ESPNPlayer.com across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Fans can watch the action live on YLE2 from Wednesday March 8. Check local listings for more information. All the action will also be available on ESPN Select – the new channel from ESPN Player which features live events from a wide range of sports. Events will be available live and on demand, allowing fans to watch the action at a time that suits them.

As the world’s premier action sports competition returns to Norway on March 8-11, the event features top athletes competing in eight different disciplines over four days for the second time. Taking place at the Hafjell ski resort, the winter games includes snowboard, ski and snowmobile events, with more than 70 competitors, among them several Olympians.

After successful competitions at X Games Oslo 2016, X Games will host Women’s Ski and Snowboard Big Air finals for the second time in Norway. The Norway X Games will also feature Snowboard and Ski Big Air (Men and Women) and – new to the event – Snowboard and Ski Slopestyle (Men and Women).

TOP WINTER SPORTS ATHLETES SET TO FEATURE

The biggest names in winter sports are set to take part in the games – including Norwegian X Games medalists Stale Sandbech, Markus Kleveland, Silje Norendal, Johanne Killi and Øystein Braaten. The world’s top ski and snowboard athletes will compete, including six-time X Games gold medalist Mark McMorris, 12-time X Games medalist Jamie Anderson, two-time defending Ski Slopestyle gold medalist and Big Air silver medalist Kelly Sildaru and X Games Oslo 2016 Ski Big Air gold medalist Henrik Harlaut. For the full list of invited athletes, please visit www.xgames.com.

Two Finnish riders received invites to compete at X Games Norway 2017 – Snowboarders Enni Rukajarvi and Roope Tonteri. A two-time medalist, Rukajarvi holds the distinction of being the first rookie to win Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle and the first female Finnish athlete to medal at an X Games event. Tonteri competed in the Big Air event in Oslo 2016 with a 13th place finish. He competes on the Air + Style tour and earned a big win at the FIS World Cup Big Air event in November.

Over 30 saunas throughout Helsinki have signed up for the event, including saunas in private homes, residential saunas in apartment buildings, rooftop saunas at hotels, and even tent and portable saunas. Helsinki’s new sauna culture will also be represented by Löyly and Allas Sea Pool.

“Locals have been very enthusiastic about opening up their saunas for others to enjoy. The first Helsinki Sauna Day proved the popularity of sauna gatherings, especially during the cold time of the year,” says Jaakko Blomberg of the social innovations group Yhteismaa ry, the organiser of the event.

In March the event attracted large numbers of locals and visitors who were keen to try different saunas. Some of the sauna sessions for the forthcoming event in October are already fully booked, but there are also several saunas participating that do not require bookings in advance.

“Helsinki Sauna Day has attracted a lot of attention outside Finland, so we expect many sauna fans to visit Helsinki especially for this event,” Blomberg says.

“Sauna marathons are also popular during Helsinki Sauna Day, when you can hop from one sauna to the next from morning till night,” Blomberg adds.

The sauna has traditionally been a social gathering place among Finns, yet most of the saunas in Helsinki these days are in private use only. Many people would also like to enjoy a sauna more often if they had the chance.

Helsinki Sauna Day is representative of Helsinki’s communal urban culture. It also offers visitors the chance to try a truly local experience – a combination of excitement and peace that is unique to Helsinki

“Our city is made up of shared experiences. It’s been great to see how enthusiastic locals have been about taking part in this new event – not just as sauna-goers but also by offering their own saunas for others to enjoy. Local residents deserve a big thank you for this!” says Tia Hallanoro, Marketing Communications Director at Visit Helsinki.

Stepping in a casino is always an amazing experience. You can pass in a few seconds from suffering heavy rain over your head to a world of glamour with smart adventurous people, beautiful women and the excitement to gamble for a big win. In the end, is not life just a continuous gamble?

The most clear example is a poker table, where everybody famous or not are equal against each others, just having their chips, cards and wits to compete among each other. You may find yourself surprised to find that for example the World Champion of Football Table, Billy Pappas, made the final table in the World Series of Poker main event in 2014, ending 5th. Who could imagine that the same guy that could put you into shame playing foosball at a bar at night can be also one of the best poker players in the world? Pappas has been considered for the past decade one of the best football table players all over the world, being his favourite table to compete the American Tornado, and partnering often in doubles competition with another legend of this funny sport: Tony Spredeman.

And that is the beauty of the casinos, you can be a hardworking person during the day but when you come in, it is about your attitude and your smartness when playing the game what makes the difference. In the end gambling is just the ultimate challenge for a person that tries to improve every day. There are no bosses breathing on your neck and telling you what to do, you are responsible of your actions and decisions. And if you do not feel like playing, well, you can just always chill out, observe the interesting atmosphere and array of characters around you and wait until you feel the luck gathering again around you.

However, not everybody has the free time or the opportunity to go to a real casino or visit Vegas for a weekend escape. Thanks to the new online era, this is not a problem anymore if you want to test your luck, your ability and your skills against both software controlled games or other real opponents that play online all over the world. You just need a computer or a smart phone or tablet and Internet connection, and a world of entertainment, challenge and potential victory opens in front of your eyes. One of the best sites if you want to give a try to online gaming is Online Casino Ireland that provides a very nice and comprehensive guide into the world of online casino sites.

Enjoy the fun, play smart and decide what are your limits in the amount of time and money you want to dedicate to gaming. What other hobbies can provide you both entertainment and the opportunity to leave with your pockets more full of profits?