Anthony S.
Yelp
This way by far my favorite experience during my stay in Helsinki. So, in doing research for my trip I saw a bunch of info on the popularity of saunas in Finland. (There are more saunas than people in the country. Also, residences are built with saunas in them. Amazing concept). From my understanding, using the sauna is half of what's called "ice swimming." Which is when you hop in a sauna for a period of time, warm your body/muscles and then go jump immediately into an ice cold bath or, as was the case at Löyly, go jump straight into the Baltic Sea! Apparently, this is part of the daily routine in Finland. Folks wake up, go ice swimming, and then head to work. Pretty much as exercise. There is a deeper meaning behind this exercise( overcoming your fears, fighting through the cold that hits your body and the euphoria your body feels once the muscles relax after completing the exercise) called Sisu. An essence, instead of spending time searching for happiness, you find happiness in every day things; such as this. I probably did not do a great job of explaining this concept but it's quite fascinating and being as thought Finland is annually considered one of, if not the happiest country in the world, I wouldn't mind adopting some of their practices!
But back to Löyly. So this place is a sauna/restaurant combination, and it's right on the harbor, bordering the Baltic Sea/Gulf of Finland. If you do the Sauna, you will need your bathing suit. But they have showers if you plan to go to dinner right after. So, we booked the sauna part first. The sauna area contains separate locker and shower areas for men and women; a lounge area to hang in between dips in the sauna/sea, a bar that serves wine, 4 saunas(two of which you have to walk outside to access), and being as though it was on the harbor, contained an outside deck area with a small step ladder that lowers into the Baltic Sea. The idea is to hit the sauna, immediately walk outside to access the ladder, and lower yourself in the Baltic Sea for the "ice" portion of the dip. Do this repeatedly and you will get the same amazing experience every time. So, I went in December. The outside temp was about 25-30 degrees Fahrenheit. I am not sure what the Sea temp was but it hold to be below 10 degrees at most. To start, i hit a few of the saunas first, to WARM up. Then...it was time to take THE dip. I hit the sauna again for about 10mins. Then walked immediately outside, it was freezing but bearable (especially since I was just in the sauna) and toward the ladder that led down to the sea. Naturally, I had the thought to say f**k this, I'm already cold, I'm not about to lower myself into the freezing sea! But nah, we're doing this! So here we go. Walk to the ladder...begin to step down toward the Sea...as my first foot hits the water you FEEL the shock of pins and needless start to overcome your body. But hey we're doing this. So I continue to go lower until i'm neck deep in the Baltic Sea! At first, the pins and needles of the freezing sea water are almost too much to bear against my body but i remembered advice I received to focus on breathing. And no lie, as I begin to focus on my breaths the shock of the water became "bearable." The first dip I stayed in for about 5 secs. Once I got out and walked around in the "warm" 25-30 degree weather, your body relaxes and this feeling of accomplishment and euphoria overcomes you as your entire state just completely relaxes. My muscles and energy have never felt so relaxed! (I see why people do this before work and more than once a day!) the experience was amazing. I ended up doing another dip, lasting about 11 seconds and the second experience was just as great as the first one! Seriously, one of the best experiences and we still had to eat dinner!
After showering, we headed toward the restaurant part, which had a nice ambiance. I ordered the Glogi (Glögg) drink which is mulled wine containing different spices(cinnamon, ginger), fruit and nuts and served warm. The one I had contained raspberries and shaved almonds and was VERY GOOD! For dinner I had the reindeer and lappish potato's. First time having reindeer. It was well seasoned. Definitely gamey but good. The potatoes and gravy were a nice topping.
Overall. I highly recommend this place for the sauna and the food!