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Finland – Land Of A Thousand Lakes – Part II

This is the second part of our travels through Finland. After a few amazing days at the Arctic, we made our way down to the more historic Finland. Castles provide a good anchor point for learning the past history of a country and they have always been a huge point of interest for both of us. Over the next few days, we would be visiting cities with castles and travel between them by road to see the country a bit closer.

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We reached Olavinlinna (St. Olaf’s Castle) next morning right on time for a castle tour in English. We had a fabulous guide. A guided tour is the only way to see the upper parts of this restored castle. Afterwards, we had a few questions on two occasions, and both guides there answered all of them fully and patiently.

Two of the five original towers of this castle are missing; you can see the base of one of them in the photo. The last photo is of the topmost level.

We went back to the castle in the late afternoon and watched the setting sun color the castle walls with its last set of rays.

I took this picture as the lights started coming on around the towers.

After dinner, we went for a walk around the harbour talking about our journey so far. ( My husband took this photo as I had very deliberately left the camera behind. )

Next morning, we walked around the lake to the old town, snacked on an apple Lörtsy (a pastry of local specialty) sitting by the shore before starting our drive toward Hämeenlinna.

The scenic road we took was beautifully dotted with lakes. We stopped by a few to break up the journey.

We reached Hämeenlinna right around sunset time. Here, my husband went to experience his first Finish sauna, which he enjoyed very much.

Although Hämeenlinna (Häme Castle) is very old, it looked very modern to both of us.

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Missing walls and flooring have exposed previously obscured structures. We found windows that had been blocked off later on by interior walls. We had fun spotting them. We have not seen another castle like that in our multitude of castle visits.

Outside, we walked around the castle and the park that surrounds the area. It was a very windy day which kept us cool despite the warm temperature. It was wonderful to listen to the rustling of the trees, one of my favourite sounds.

For lunch, we visited small bakeries which also had sandwiches. I had a slice of cake everyday for lunch, that’s it! They were soooo good. By the time I got home, I found out that I had actually lost weight from all the walking.

Post lunch, we went to Aulanko Tower, which is set in a beautiful park.

We climbed up the 322 stone steps to the top.

Pictures do not do the 360-degree view justice. A conglomeration of lakes and forests as far as the eye can see; a perfect representation of the Finish landscape.

Originally we were going to stop by Tampere on our way to Turku. However, we were having such a lovely time at Hämeenlinna, we ended up extending our time there and drove directly to Turku.

Next day Turun Linna was awaiting us. It is so HUGE that there was a point where we thought we would never find the exit!!

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As that was the only thing we were doing that day, we took our time with all the rooms. One of the rooms was filled with unbelievably detailed models of this castle from different eras.

Post dinner, we went for a walk around the Aurajoki (Aura river). It was raining hard that night. We stood on one of the bridges that crosses Aurajoki to take in the view.

We had a little errand to run in Turku, which took up most of the morning. We headed toward Helsinki after lunch with a short stop at Raseborg castle.

The castle was nowhere near where the GPS said it was. Instead, there was a permanent sign with these words: “Google maps is wrong” along with the correct address to use to find the castle. We found it readily enough after that. Honestly! This is why I don’t rely on GPS 100%! Ever!!

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There are ships that travel daily across the Baltic Sea between Helsinki and Tallinn in Estonia. From Helsinki, we took a tram to the ferry building and boarded our ship toward Tallinn. Our destination was the old town which is only a few minutes’ walk from the harbor. The old town is small, so we pretty much walked the whole place within a few hours. There also happened to be a street festival that day. We spent the rest of the time people watching and sipping on local mead before our return journey.

We felt the area was more like a tourist trap, and there was not enough time to really experience the proper city itself. We have never done this kind of country hopping before, and we decided we won’t be doing this kind of trip in the future.

We had a really lovely view of the central station from our Helsinki hotel room. It was raining so hard that I had to take an umbrella with me to the balcony to take this photo. I loved every moment of being outside in the rain.

Remember that special errand I talked about in Turku?! While reading about Finland, I fell in love with the sound of the Kantele. I found a music shop in Turku that happened to carry a eleven-string Kantele.

Unfortunately, it happened to be just a couple of inches too large for our suitcase. That morning in Helsinki, we found a luggage wrapping service at the airport. The two agents at the shop packaged it securely in a box for us. Its safe journey the next day from Finland to Northern California was now assured!

I am happy to say that it is safe at home, wrapped in a blanket until I sew a case for it. Now I of course need to learn how to tune and play it.

With that out of the way, we took a boat across the sea to Soumenlinna in the afternoon. The ships on each side are from the Viking and Tallink Silja shipping lines that sail between different countries across the Baltic Sea.

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We had a beautiful time walking around this sea fortress. Nature is slowly taking over the old artillery. As we reached the edge of the island, the rain came. The fierce wind made the rain drops feel like ice shards. I tried using my umbrella, but gave up. My husband decided to sacrifice his.

The storm cleared and gave us this gorgeous sunset during our dinner in Helsinki. That wrapped up our 14-day roadtrip through Finland.

I hope you enjoyed this photo journaling of our travels.

Here is the first part of the trip

I did my best to create an itinerary of venues that fit our interests and helped us get to know the country within that time. We started with exploring around the Arctic Circle which included experiencing a Northern Lights display of a lifetime. Then we made our way back south for historic Finland. It is not only a beautiful country, my husband and I fell in love with the wonderful attitude of its people. It is not hard to see that it truly is the happiest country in the world.

Until next time,
-Soma

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Finland – Land Of A Thousand Lakes – Part I

If there is one thing that defines me, it is the word traveller. My husband and I are thick as thieves. He gets equally excited when it comes to travelling. If the sense of Fernweh is strong in me, the call of the north is even stronger. So, after Svalbard, Norway, and Sweden, this girl made her way to Finland for a couple of weeks with her husband.

After a 17-hour journey to Helsinki, we found out that one of our suitcases didn’t make it there. This is also when we found out how wonderful Finns are. The gentleman from Finavia checked that our suitcase was en route and would be at Helsinki airport the next day. Except, we were scheduled to leave Helsinki the next morning and would be on the road for two weeks. Together, we decided that it would best if he could arrange for the suitcase to be forwarded to Rovaniemi airport. We would pick it up from there within a couple of days.

Next morning, we got up at 4 AM for an early flight to Rovaniemi on a cool and foggy morning.

After collecting our car at Rovaniemi airport, we drove to the city center and, completely by happenstance, came upon this international street fair.

We desperately needed coffee by then. We got a Rulla Pulla to share and two cups of coffee. Rovaniemi is right at the Arctic Circle. The chill in the air thrilled me immensely. Despite the tiredness from ten hours of jet lag and the insanely early morning start, I found myself smiling ear to ear. We walked around a bit more and then headed further north toward Inari.

Rovaniemi to Inari by car is four hours and the road is dotted with lakes and forests. We stopped by a few lakes to break up the journey a little.

Our hotel was right by InariJärvi (Lake Inari). I got us a room with a covered balcony so we could enjoy the view. There was another not so obvious reason. If there was any possibility of northern lights, I wanted to be able to spot it.

Before we left, I found out that a solar storm was heading our way. There could be possible aurora sighting. I had been watching the weather radar, and as forecast, the cloud suddenly cleared up and it became bright outside.

I headed out to walk around the lake while my husband went to check out the town and the market. We often explore on our own and then meet up and share our findings. We did another round of walking together before dinner.

After dinner, I was watching the aurora forecast on my iPad. I poked my head out the balcony and there it was, the telltale shimmer. We promptly headed out toward a dark and safe area.

So here was the problem. My camera and lenses were with me, but everything else camera-related was in the missing suitcase. That meant I wouldn’t be able to use the stand and would have to take the photos handheld. Thankfully, I know my camera and my own limitations fairly well. So I adjusted the necessary settings on the camera and hoped for the best.

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The promised solar storm brought bright and bold auroras that night. As we were far up north, the aurora was up in the sky like fireworks. We were surrounded by dancing lights, luminescent and shimmering. Bright one moment, dimming away the next, only to come back twice as strong. Pictures can’t really represent what we experienced that night.

The overcast sky was back the next morning. We drove further northward to explore the landscape with no idea what to expect. We were outside the scope of information available about this area. We found distant hills and meadows that had already turned autumn gold.

After about 1.5 hours of driving, we stopped at the K-Market at Karigasniemi. I found the most amazing chocolate covered grapefruit jam biscuits (cookies) to tide us over until we found a place to eat lunch. We would have loved to go on, but we needed to drive back to Inari and then make the four-hour drive back to Rovaniemi after that.

Once we got back to Inari, we got lunch, did a bit of souvenir shopping and made our way to Rovaniemi.

By now, the rain was back in full force, which made this lake and tree-studded landscape even more atmospheric. The road here cuts through the lake, so there’s water on both sides.

We called from Inari about our lost suitcase and were assured that the suitcase was en route to Rovaniemi that morning. So after dinner, we drove to the airport and found our naughty suitcase sitting there. We gave it a mock scolding about going off on its own and getting lost. It vehemently denied everything and said it found itself standing there all alone and confused. Smiling about having all of our luggage together with us, we were all set for the rest of the journey.

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After a good night’s sleep and breakfast, we were on our way. I love flat rye bread. Over the course of our stay in the northern part of Finland, I had rye bread with cranberry, rye tar bread, and a sweet flavored rye bread. We also had cloudberry jam with squeaky cheese. I don’t take food photos, but now I wish I had.

From Rovaniemi, instead of going directly to Kajaani, we decided to first go east to Oulu. Once there, we meandered through the streets toward the market square. We came across these red wooden storehouses dotting the area. Some had been converted to restaurants, while others looked like offices.

We walked back toward our car though this lovely city park set by the water and started on our way to Kajaani. It is a long way from the north of Finland to the southern part and Kajaani was a good midpoint.

Next morning, before we left Kajaani, we visited the castle ruin. Instead of taking the direct path, we decided to take the wooded path. Then came the rain. Thundering, blustering rain, and we had left our umbrellas in the car. We stood under a tree for a while then decided to run back to the hotel. At the car, after drying ourselves, we headed back out toward the castle once again, this time with umbrellas. You should know that rain hasn’t EVER stopped us.

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The castle ruin is certainly not a grand one. However, set by the Kajaaninjoki River, we found it fascinating and evocative. I read somewhere that it is the world’s northernmost castle ruin. That wet day it was easy to imagine how harsh life must have been there. We walked all around it, carefully climbing the wet and slippery stone stairs to see the upstairs. No castle exploration is complete until we have also walked the outer perimeter.

As we were walking toward the car, the rain came down even harder than before, this time with a strong wind in tow. Elated and smiling, we changed our rain-soaked clothes for dry ones and departed Kajaani toward Savonlinna.

With that, we left the north behind. Our travel from here on will change from excursion to historical.

Until next time,
-Soma