Anthony, I am a Finn who currently lives in NJ. I think you should go to Finland. You could go to my grandpa's cabin by the Finnish-Russian border and have some moose my family cooks and yes, grandpa most likely will shoot the moose himself (and he is a 75-year-old man). My grandpa also has the traditional sauna with a real sauna stove and if you are crazy enough you can go in the winter. Why? Because in the winter you run out of the sauna to roll in the snow (or go swim in the icy lake, if you happen to have your sauna by a lake). I would take you to the small town I am from called Hamina so you could try some munkki (it is kind of like a doughnut), rinkeli, lihapiirakka, makkaraperunat, lortsyt... There are plenty of things you could try! Of course there would also be lots of drinking involved, it is Finland after all! And we also have traditional Finnish drinks (besides vodka). One is called Koskenkorva and there is also a version with salmiac in it. I come from the south part of Finland, but you could also visit other areas to try other dishes. In an area called Savo you can find something called kalakukko and in Lapland you can try some Finnish reindeer.
As to other things to do in Finland I could take you to an indoor go-cart track in Kouvola and to Kiasma in Helsinki. You could also try Linnanmaki in Helsinki, which is an old amusement park. The wooden rollercoaster there is great! The brakes are manually controlled by a man behind each train... Not kidding! In the summer Finland has plenty of rock festivals to choose from and in the winter you could go to the ice hotel in Kemi, Lapland. Spring or fall are not good times to go, summer may be the best. Think about it! If you're interested, let me know!


P.S. Guess what my user name means in Finnish! You should be able to google that word...

Hi, Tony! Will you marry me? I´ll just have to get rid of my husband...
We´ve got some delicious berries that you should have a taste. Cloudberries...
AND, we have lots of Koskenkorva and vodka, and have you ever heard abour SAHTI? You drink it, you keep sitting down, and then you don´t walk anymore!
Please welcome to Finland and I will cook you some fine moose, or as you call it, an elk! I cook it with some fine herbs...
SO PLEASE PLEASE TONY COME TO FINLAND!

Perkele.. After reading your post it makes me want to go visit Finnland.. It sounds like a great place to try

I agree. Finland! As U.S. expat/refugee, former cook, current bartender who has lived in central Finland for 5 years now, I think everyone should visit Finland and enjoy the food. Kalakukko (tiny smelt-like fish and salt pork baked in a rye crust) is a must. Karjalan paisti (a pork, beef and lamb hot-pot), mustamakkara (blood sausage served with lingonberry jam on the side), the list goes on on and. Wild mushrooms-chanterelles, black trumpets, false morels (poisonous unless prepared correctly),berries, excellent potatoes in the summer. Wild game (moose, bear, assorted birds) and fish (I've got boat access, and fishing with nets and basket traps minimizes the risk of going home empty handed.
Sauna, fresh air. I suggest a summer visit.