ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Christopher and Julie Rice sat naked in the sauna, sweating in its 180-degree heat. In the crisp air outside, they then played a few hands of cribbage and noshed on pickles and ...

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... “The Opposite of Cold: The Northwoods Finnish Sauna Tradition” ($34.95, University of Minnesota Press) At first blush, the act of jumping into a lake after ...

HANCOCK, Mich. (WJMN) – The upper Midwest is considered the Sauna Belt of the United States, and this Finnish tradition will be celebrated for a whole week this month. February 18-24 is National Sauna ...

As the cab slows to a stop, I scrape some of Jack Frost’s handiwork from the window and peer into the depths of the polar night. We’re only 15 minutes from the center of Helsinki, yet dense forest ...

DULUTH — By the time talk turned to the legend of the sauna elf, nothing could have surprised me. Frank Eld, dressed in the traditional dress of Finland's Pohjanmaa region, speaks at the FinnFest ...

It's a sticky, steamy business. Two or more do it naked in a small, dimly lit room. Suomi (Finland) as it is referred to in Finnish, I got a rare opportunity in April this year to visit this Nordic ...

Steaming in a sauna is an essential part of Finnish culture, but the number of public saunas is said to be in decline. A new sauna in Helsinki has been built to help combat this. Designed to attract ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. – Christopher and Julie Rice sat naked in the sauna, sweating in its 180-degree heat. In the crisp air outside, they then played a few hands of cribbage and noshed on pickles and ...

Christopher and Julie Rice sat naked in the sauna, sweating in its 180-degree heat. In the crisp air outside, they then played a few hands of cribbage and noshed on pickles and smoked fish. Steam rose ...