Olavinlinna Castle

We awoke to temperatures of -35C but by the time we reached the castle in the afternoon it had climbed to a balmy -27C.

In between times we visited Parkunmäki koulu primary school where we were serenaded by the Finnish school children singing Auld Langs Ayne in Finnish. We had a game of football on the ice which ended in a 1-1 draw between Finland and Scotland thus averting any potential diplomatic crisis and then went to the Oskari seal centre to learn about the Saimaaa ringed seal.

For most of us though the highlight was the evening sauna. I would imagine running out of a sauna which was 90C and diving into snow with an outside temperature of -35C would be fun at the best of times but doing it alongside 11 wee lads all whooping and hollering was truly unforgettable and I'm surprised the shrieks of joy (at least I think they were joy) couldn't be heard back in Scotland.