By Linda Thalman & Pierre Nagel |
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Finland
Wednesday, 1 July 2009 - Pierre writes: We're back in the European Union. Hello Finland.
At 18:30 on the dot the dam opened and waters flowed. Slowly at first, slowly, so slowly. Then the full force of nature covered the rocks; music played. What an amazing experience! Thursday, 2 July 2009 We've reached the heart of the Lake region: Savonlinna. I had booked a charming hotel facing the castle, called Finland's most romantic hotel by the Lonely Planet guide: Lossiranta Lodge. It has only has 5 rooms and was fully booked the following days due to the annual Opera festival. The rooms are not overly large but it was the location that is so perfect. This is not a 5-star hotel in the international sense; it is an authentic, lovely place to be and with a beautiful view on the castle. We took an afternoon cruise on the surrounding lake. Ah, what beautiful scenery. Friday 3 July, Saturday, 4 July and Sunday, 5 July 2009 Onward we went. Friday through Sunday we drove around southern Finland. We visited Hameenlinaa castle and camped with wifi included. Cool. We stopped by Rauma to visit the old town, saw Uusikaupunki and Naantali, as well as the archipelago around Turku and then on to Helsinki. The North of Finland: Helsinki to NordKapp Norway We left Helsinki in a pounding rain storm. Our overnight train was super... very spacious with a sink and bunks. We arrived in Oulu on the Bothnian gulf very early in the morning ready to visit. Unfortunately, nothing opens until ten in the morning. So we spend all morning visiting the nearby Hailuoto Island. One road in and the same road back. Another set of ferry boats, running on "Swiss" timing. When we got back to Oulu the market was open but the rain poured down. Driving all around the gulf we arrive at Gammelstad in Sweden. This is a Unesco preserved ghost town during the week but lived in on the weekend when people come from far to spend the night in their own individual house in preparation for church on Sunday. Resuming the northward trek to Rovaniemi: the official residence of Santa Claus. Yes Finland claims this town to be the official home of Kris Kringle. We gave the Santa stuff a miss... and headed for the excellent, not to be missed Arktikum Museum very at the Arctic circle .
The next day we head east to the Oulanka National Park (recently described in National Geographic - June issue). Here we prepare for the Big Hike. In fact there is a Big Bear trail (many days) and a Little Bear trail (many hours). We meet a Spanish couple setting up their tent who had just come back from the Big Bear hike. They ask if we have space for a hitch to another park north of Finland. This implies serious reorganisation of the car. Somehow we made space for two people and 2 big backpacks - with pleasure. Mario and Keke - if you read this, please email! In the meantime, why hike during the day when the sun shines at night? And more importantly, when it rains during the day and the sky is blue at night!! So we decide to start our Little Bear hike at eight in the evening.
We and our Spanish campers were ready to go at 10:00, so off we went (2 sardines in the back seat and 2 hikers in pain in front). We drove north to Inari and the superb, absolutely outstanding Sami Lapland Museum. The Spaniards went on to their next four-day day nature trail. Heading further north, the warmer it gets. Finally reaching 25C in pure cloudless skies. But the wide national road is often blocked by reindeer. One finally understands why the speed limit is 90 kms and car lights are on 24/24. Linda writes: Wednesday, 1 July 2009 Border crossing: only an hour and a half and most of that was while the final passport control folks looked at our passports upside and down in a special ultaviolet lamp device. We can't even fathom what they thought was wrong with the documents... we've been in dozens and dozens of countries and never have I seen our passports practically ripped apart. We got to the 3rd echelon in the hierarchy and he asked for any other document with our pictures. We showed driver licenses with 20-year-old photos and that finally did the trick. Surrealism strikes again. Into no man's land; duty free and we made it back into the European Community in Finland. Back to euros, yupee! I don't, yet, speak Finnish, but at least we could match the city names with what was on our maps... and the GPS was back on form. We regret not having the CD for Russia and Belarus very much. I'm typing this on our camping table at 23:00 - no light needed. The sun is down, but it is still quite bright. I could read a book too; swatting a few mosquitos and listening to the squaking of birds nearby in our lovely camp site.
We arrived 45 minutes early and had a prime viewing position along the river just below the dam. Our hotel in Savonlinna was perfect, really perfect. With a view to die for of the Savon castle, a wonderful welcome and service, a cozy room with a shower room, breakfast and Internet included for 130 euros. Lunch at the port with an acceptable salad; more computer work and then an hour boat tour around the surrounding islands with a cool breeze blowing. Dinner was delicious at the Lighthouse restaurant on the port. The lightly smoked salmon with lime mayonnaise sauce and vegetables was heaven, accompanied by a glass of dry white Chilean wine. Friday, 3 July 2009 The road took us on towards Tampere, through Lahti for a sausage at the market square, and on to Hannelinna where we visited the Hanne Castle and had a coffee in the Summer Cafe, which was inside an outbuilding of the castle. Too cold and windy to be outside. A bit of motorway, a few kilometers on a more local road and voila Pierre set up our Quechua tent in less than a minute and we unpacked at a nice camping site. I'm typing this from our camp site using the free WiFi connection for surfing.
I need no light or candle to illuminate our camping table... it's bright enough to read a book and do computing. We're just north of Valkeakoshi, the rapids of Valkea, and the tent is practically in the lake we're so close. Cabin number one quieted down but the disco across the lake is still going full blast... so much for Finnish quietness. Next to us is a fellow from Denmark who has cycled from Riga doing 100 kilometers per day and he's headed for Lapland. Amazing. Saturday, 4 July 2009 Drove towards Helsinki. Sunday, 5 July 2009 Arrived at our friend Ruth's flat in Espoo, very near a lake. In the evening we went to a pleasant marina cafe not too far away. We were graciously welcomed and hosted by our friend Ruth for two nights. Thank you Ruth! Monday, 6 July 2009 Visited Helsinki going by bus from Espoo. 8 euros for two one way. We jumped on a tram for a one-hour ride around the city for 5 euros. It was raining and we just didn't see walking around in the downpour. That afternoon we drove to a small town west of Espoo to meet my Postcrossing friend, Riita.
I've been on Postcrossing for several years and have a Finish postcrossing friend, Riita. Via email we had agreed to meet when we got to Helsinki. And meet we did. Ruth came along with us. Now, really, really, I only know a few people in Finland... and yet Ruth and Riita knew each other from a painting course earlier in the year! Very, very small world. Tuesday, 7 July 2009 Had the morning off to do some computer stuff and chat with Ruth and contemplate being above the Arctic Circle in less than a week. We left Ruth's flat and drove to Porvoo, east of Helsinki. The sun was more or less out and we had lunch at a restaurant that had a delicious fish buffet and specialized in snail dishes. Porvoo is a quaint but small old town which we walked around in about 20 minutes before returning to Helskinki for our train north. Having a bit of time before the train we took a 45-minute boat tour... in the rain... around the Unesco site of Suomenlinna. It was pounding down rain and our spirits were wet and low. Wednesday, 8 July 2009
The weather is awful: rain and more rain and the forecast is not good. Cute photo of Pierre and the statue. We toured Hailuoto Island then drove into Sweden and stayed at the East Cape Hotel, the most northeast point of Sweden just across the river from the Finnish town of Tornio. With a kitchen in the room, we're doing pasta and having smoked reindeer meat for dinner. Thursday, 9 July 2009 Evening accommodation was at a frugal guesthouse... well 57 euros ain't that frugal but the small room was very basic. I only grabbed a coffee standing up in the morning as the small breakfast room was overcrowded. Dinner at a Lapp restaurant was heaven. 'Nili' it was called and it refers to a storage place for food. We blew the budget with a 3 course meal and wine. Delightful and a superb change from pizzas and kebabs! Friday, 10 July 2009 The visit to the Arctic Circle Museum was great. Ever so nicely done, with photos, maps, information in Finnish and English, interactive displays, a nice gift shop and cafe. Heading further north on highway 81 toward the Oulanka National Park. Never heard of it? Well, it is in the June 2009 issue of National Geographic, page 60... and wow, we were there and we walked our little tootsies off. We're in a cabin near Juuma at a camp site. A thunderstorm has just been roaring by... wet again. Oh so glad we didn't opt for using the tent tonight. 30 euros for a cabin with a kitchen; no sink; toilets showers and a sink in the central building. Our cottage has a table, one person couch and space to sleep on the floor... more room and much drier than our tent. Dinner was minestroni soup, reindeer smoked meat, wine... what more could you want? Sunshine! We set off on a 12-kilometer hike... it's nearly 20:00 and the sun doesn't go down. We walk through this enchangted forest in the middle of the night -- in daylight. Unique. As expected and forewarned we were joined by lots of mosquitos though we had hats with nets and anti-bug spray, we finished with swollen ankles and blistered toes, and one heck of a hike. Extraordinary. We saw 1 reindeer, 4 frogs, a zillion mosquitos and 5 other hikers during our six-hour trek. Serendipty... we say hello to two campers and they are from Spain... they've walked 80 kilometers on the Big Bear Trail and are on their way north to another national park. We chat, they ask if we've room to give them a lift... long story short, we made room, they joined us and we spend a day and a half together. Sunday, 12 July 2009 8:30 departure from our pleasant camping and on to the small town of Inari with a must, must, must see museum. The Siida (the Sami word for village) Museum in Inari was fabulous. Extraordinary. Do not miss this museum. Information is in Sami, Finnish, English and German and the displays and information are informative, captivating.
There's a 12-minute film showing the northern lights with calming Sami music and do
walk around the open-air museum with homes, storage places and other traditional buildings, too.
We say good-bye to our Spanish friends and head north, way north. On to Norway.
Baltic Trip By Linda Thalman And Pierre Nagel
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Finland's Karelia, Lapeenrata, Imatra and its musical water show.
By the time we got back at two in the morning, our feet were blistered and the mosquitoes were attacking
but the sun was still shining.
We're in Imatra and went to see the local 3 star event: 20 minutes of thousands... neah millions of
cubic meters of water flowing over a dam into the dry river bed accompanied by music. All for free.
It's 22:30 and the sun has set below the
tree line of the lake we're on and it will be up again by about 4 in the morning.
We enjoyed the night train and arrived in Oulu very early in the morning.
Paris