Finland Day 11

Day 11...began with rain.  There have been a lot of rainy days on this trip, but we really haven't let them slow us down.  We did delay our morning start, but around noon we met Marika again in downtown Helsinki and went to the open air market.  The market was right where the ferry docks for Suomenlinna, and we had seen it the day before, but really didn't have time to shop.  Today we had plenty of time.  We just wandered around and picked out a few souvenirs here and there.  For a snack we had giant pancakes that were rolled into a waffle cone shape and then filled with strawberries, chocolate and whipped cream.  They were sooo good!   We then walked around downtown and saw the Presidential Palace and some huge and beautiful churches.  The Evangelical Lutheran Church had 53 steps to the top, and everyone except Grandma and Aden made the climb.  Aili and Alex even ran up them a couple times for the fun of it!

The Presidential Palace

Uspenskin Cathedral

St. Nicholas' Lutheran Cathedral

Next came the malls.  Marika took us shopping, and we walked, and talked, and ate, and shopped for several hours.  We mostly spent time and money in shops that are uniquely Finnish (although Alex and I indulged in some Ben & Jerry's), and we had a really good time.  By the end, our feet were exhausted, and we were ready for a quick sandwich before heading away from the city.

We then drove to Matti and Leena's house where our trip had begun to have some dessert and say our goodbyes.  Matti's sister Maija had been on her own trip to Estonia when we first arrived, but she was there tonight to visit with us.  Maija and Leena had made some wonderful desserts for us, and it was a very nice visit.  My mom continued to surprise me with the amount of Finnish she can speak.  Marika was surprised too, she had been working so hard at keeping up with her English, and didn't realize that my mom does know some conversational Finnish.

Aden got out his ball and bat, and then told Matti that he needed to practice golf immediately.  :)  Matti was very sweet, and he and Tero got out practice balls and some clubs and helped Aden and Alex take some swings.  Aili and I even got a few swings in.  Aden has also decided he enjoys frisbee golf, and needed to play that in Matti and Leena's yard as well.  We finally convinced Aden to come in for some snacks and Leena even cooked up some chicken nuggets that the kids said were the best they'd ever had.  Aden rolled around on the floor with a giant stuffed red Angry Bird that was Marika's and she and Tero sent him home with a Mickey Mouse book that has words in both English and Finnish.  Bet you didn't know that Angry Birds comes from Finland.  Rovio is a Finnish company!  :)

While I'm ready to get back home, the kids and I (and Grandma too) have had a fabulous vacation.  There is no way we could have done it all, or as well, without all the family that has joined us on every step of the trip.  We are going to miss you all, and hope to see everyone again before too much time passes.

Matti helping Alex and Aden with golf.

Aden playing Frisbee golf.

Aden playing with Marika's giant Angry Bird.

Marika and Maija helping Aden learn some new Finnish words.

Finland Day 10

Day 10...began with a drive into downtown Helsinki where we met up with Marika.  We decided that since it was supposed to be a beautiful, sunny day that we would visit Suomenlinna.  Suomenlinna is a fortress built on a group of islands just off the coast of Helsinki.  The fort was built in 1748 to protect the southern coast of Finland...or Sweden as it was back then.  In 1808 the fortress surrendered to Russia and wasn't annexed back into Finland until 1918.  Suomenlinna was used as a military base through WWII, and wasn't vacated by the Finnish military until 1973.  It is now a World Heritage Site and home to about 800 residents.  End of the history lesson!  :)

Since Suomenlinna is a group of islands, you have to travel there by ferry.  It really was a beautiful day, and we sat on the outside upper deck of the ferry.  The ferry was packed, and we needed to stand, but Grandma being older, and using a cane, was granted a seat by a nice man.  Aden then sat on her lap, and the rest of us stood in the aisle.  The trip only took about 20 minutes.  We got off the ferry, and began to explore the fort.  The roads were either 200 year old bricks, or a sandy gravel.  The bricks were very hard to push the stroller along, but we managed (I wouldn't have complained if I knew what was coming!).  Most of the crowd moved in one direction, so we went in the other.  There are small museums, art galleries, cafes, and shops scattered all over Suominlinna.  We headed toward an art gallery and the kids found a trail through some tall grass.  Basically from this moment on, we only saw Aili and Alex occasionally.  They had too much fun exploring on their own.

On the other side of the art gallery, and at the end of the path the kids took, we found the Gulf of Finland branch of the Baltic Sea.  From there, we followed paths and the kids climbed the rocky shore along the edge of the fortress.  Now, these paths were sometimes gravel, but much of the time, rock "steps".  This is where we had the most excitement of the day.  Aili and Alex had basically disappeared, so Marika and Aden held hands and she helped him along the trail.  I pushed/carried the stroller, while helping Grandma climb over rocks, and along cliffs, and up and down rugged staircases.  Let's just say we all got a great workout.  At one point, the bottom step of one section was too large for Grandma.  Aden was asleep in the stroller by this point, so a couple nice young ladies were helping Grandma down the steps.  At the bottom, they were trying to figure out how to help her down when a young man just reached around Grandma, picked her up, and set her down on the ground.  She was laughing hysterically, and everyone was so nice.

Aili and Alex's adventure also included climbing along the rocky edge of the island, but they also found underground walkways and tunnels to explore.  At one point Aili just found a large rock at the water's edge, took off her shoes and socks, and enjoyed the views.  Aili said that exploring Suomenlinna was her favorite part of the trip.

We finally all caught up with each other, and Marika treated us to a snack.  We then worked our way back to the ferry dock and spent some time in the gift shop.  The ferry back was much less crowded, and we had two rows of benches on the top of the ferry.  Aden practically hung over the edge looking at the water, and waving at the people on all the passing boats.

When we got back to shore, Marika took us to this great Italian restaurant for dinner.  We then decided to squeeze in a couple more quick sites before ending our day.  Granted, it was about 8 pm at this point, but we couldn't miss out on anything.  :)  First, we went to find the Rock Church or Temppeliaukio Kirkko.  This is a church built on a rocky hill right in the middle of town.  Unfortunately, it was completely under renovation, so we could barely see anything other than parts of the rock walls.  But at least we can say we have been there.  Next, we went to the Sibelius Monument in Sibelius Memorial Park.  Jean Sibelius was a composer who wrote the Finnish National Anthem.  The monument is a collection of metal pipes suspended in the air, and when the wind blows, the monument whistles.  It's like blowing across the open top of a bottle.  The monument was actually very pretty.

By this point it was around 11 pm, so we drove Marika across town to her apartment and then back to our hotel.  It was after midnight, and after such a busy day, everyone was tired and went straight to bed.  :)

Part of the rocky shore of Suomenlinna.

An entrance to one of the many tunnels Aili and Alex were able to explore in the fortress.

Rock Church

The Sibelius Monument

Finland Day 9

Day 9...started with packing up from our hotel and heading out of Jyvaskyla.  Rauno and Arto decided to join us on one last leg of our journey as we drove to Tampere.  There is an old warehouse there that has been converted to shops and restaurants.  We spent some time walking around downtown looking at the old buildings and visiting the dam.  Then we had lunch at a very American style restaurant called the Speak Easy.  It had a train running around the ceiling, and Aden loved it.  It was the best burger I've had since we came to Finland.

Then it was time to say goodbye to Arto and Rauno.  We were very sad to leave them, and thanked them profusely for showing us around Finland for the past week.  They helped plan our activities, waited patiently when we spent more time than expected at certain locations, kept us from getting lost (mostly!), fed us, interpreted for us, and were fabulous companions.  We will miss them, and hope they find their way to the United States for a visit before too many years pass.

We completed our day with a drive back to Helsinki.  We are now hanging our in our hotel, watching some Disney Channel and hoping to go to bed early.  Can't wait to get some sightseeing done in Helsinki over the next couple days.

Finlayson & Co. Warehouse

An Art Exhibit on the side of the warehouse.  Interesting, but a little creepy.

Making a wish at the dam.

The Speak Easy Restaurant inside the warehouse.

The Train.

Finland Day 8

Day 8...started with a shopping trip in downtown Jyvaskyla.  Arto and Rauno met us at our hotel around 11 am, and we walked to the shopping area at the center of town.  There were small malls, and shops, and the main street is for pedestrians only.  Everyone bikes in Finland.  There were bikes parked everywhere.  And nobody locks them.  I've seen small children, maybe 7 or 8 out on their own, riding their bikes to the store.  Finns are also very quiet.  They don't feel the need to talk just to talk.  We were in the middle of this large, open air shopping center, and I felt like everyone could point out the American boys in the crowd!  They just seemed so loud in the middle of all the Finnish quiet.  Once the boys were "done" shopping, I brought the kids back to the hotel for a nap.

At 5:00 we had reservations for dinner at Restaurant Vesilinna.  It was at the top of a clock tower on the top of a hill.  The dining room had panoramic windows that looked out over the city of Jyvaskyla.  We could see the lake in the center of town, and the mountains along one side.  It really was beautiful.  After dinner, we went to watch the second half of the local pesapallo (baseball) game.  It was drizzling and cold, but Alex was in heaven.  Every time I thought I had figured out the rules of the game, they did something different.  But the crowd was really into it, and the players were loud and yelled a lot, I think to try to throw off the pitcher.  Alex bought a hat for the local team, Kiri, although they did end up losing.  :(

We then went down to the harbor just to look at the views, and to let Aden run off some steam.  It was pretty chilly, so we went back to Arto and Rauno's apartment for coffee and dessert.  Tonight is our last night in Jyvaskyla, and I'm glad we were able to spend the day exploring the city.

Bicycles parked along a side street.

Pesapallo. The home team is in blue.

The lake in the middle of Jyvaskyla.

Finland Day 7

Day 7...was mostly just driving.  It's about an 8 hour drive from the Arctic Circle back to Jyvaskyla.  We stopped in Ranua at the zoo.  It wasn't a very large zoo, but the animals had large enclosures and were very active.  Except the otters, they were sound asleep with their feet up in the air.  The highlights were the owls...they had about 10 different species of owls, and some of them were just huge...and the polar bears.  A common misconception is that polar bears are native to Finland.  They are not.  The only way to see polar bears in Finland is to visit the Ranua Zoo.  :)  It rained while we were there, but that kept the mosquitoes at bay.  It took less than two hours to see all of the exhibits, but it was a nice visit.

The rest of the day was spent driving, and driving, and more driving.  Most of Finland, at least the northern half, is forests and lakes, so the scenery didn't change much.  It was beautiful though.  We saw lots of wild reindeer.  Back home we need to worry about deer in the road, well, they have to do that here too, only it's reindeer in the road.  They are actually very cool to see, and there were many young ones too.

Short and sweet tonight.  Now that we're back to civilization, let's see what tomorrow brings.

Finland Days 5 & 6

Day 5...we packed up from our hotel in Jyvaskyla, and headed north.  Arto, Rauno, and Marika decided to brave the trip with us.  On the way we stopped in Viitasaari at this gas station/rest stop that had a collection of church bells.  Some of the bells were large enough to stand in.  Aili and Alex loved ringing the bells, but Aden thought they were too scary and loud.  He wouldn't even ring a little one.  :(

Then we continued north, stopped for lunch, and drove to...Sweden!  The boarder is open between Finland and Sweden, so we didn't get a stamp in our passports, but we were there.  We even stopped to visit and have a snack at the local IKEA!  Real IKEA in actual Sweden.  Sorry, for us Americans that is kinda cool.  It was actually my first time ever in an IKEA.  Aili redesigned her entire bedroom while we were there.

Then we continued to Rovaniemi, and checked into our cabin.  It's very nice, three bedrooms, living, dining, kitchen, two bathrooms, and a sauna.  By this time it was after 10:00, but we are so far north on the globe, that the sun doesn't go down this time of year.  I had to keep reminding myself how late it was.  It was 11:00 before we went to find dinner, but in Finland everything is closed after 9:00 pm, so we finally found an open gas station, and brought back sandwiches, milk, and yogurt for dinner.

It was after midnight...still light out...when we finally got everyone to bed.

Day 6...we had breakfast in the cabin, and then headed to Santa's Village and Office.  We got to meet Santa and his Reindeer and a very nice elf.  :)  Then we did some shopping, and because it was raining, decided to drive around the area to see some of the sights.  We tried to find some reindeer at The Reindeer Station (we followed the signs), but there weren't any reindeer.  We did find a beautiful lake, and the boys threw some rocks, while the rest of us tried to swat away all the mosquitoes.  Then we returned to Santa's Village, and had lunch.  Springfield people will appreciate that I had what looked like a Finnish Horseshoe, minus the bread.  It was a pile of reindeer meat, fries, and a spicy, cheesy sauce.  It was really good.  Then we went to find Santa's Reindeer.  The kids were able to pet and feed them, and there was a new baby reindeer that someday hopes to join Santa's Team.  :)  Next, we saw Santa again, this time in his office.  We then went to the post office and mailed a couple post cards, and ended our visit at the "North Pole".  Mind you, we spent the day walking back and forth across the Arctic Circle, so I figure its close enough to be the North Pole.

Then we drove a little bit to a German War Memorial from WWII.  During the war the Germans were helping Finland fight against Russia.  However, during 1943-44, Finland and Russia made a treaty that required all German troops leave Finland.  The German troops didn't want to leave and fought to stay.  Over 12,000 Germans died in the immediate area that we are visiting today.  Approximately 2,500 of them were buried at the memorial we visited.  While there, we found another beautiful lake, the boys again threw rocks, and we took a picture or two.

We then came back to our cabin and decided to try a rope climbing confidence course that is on the property.  Aili, Alex, Marika and I all decided to try it.  It was very fun, and I'm sure my body is going to be very sore in the morning.  There were 6 different courses you could try.  Aili is the only person who completed all 6.  Alex would totally have done it, but he wasn't tall enough (poor Alex!!).  I was too exhausted to climb the wooden rope ladder to the top of the 5th course, so Alex and I went back to do course number 4 again.  Poor Aden wasn't tall enough even for the little kid course, so he made Grandma chase him around the paved part of the lot on a pedal car.  It kind of looked like a small person dune buggy, but you pedaled it.

Then we picked up McDonald's for dinner, and headed back to the cabin.  I think we will all sleep very well tonight!

P.S.  I was going to upload a bunch of photos, but the internet connection is just too slow.  :(  I will attempt to add them in the comment section of Facebook.

Finland Day 4

Day 4...began with breakfast in the hotel.  Then Rauno came to meet us and we drove about 50 minutes north to Konginkangas.  We drove to my Great Grandmother's church, and met up with Kaarina and her daughter Paivi.  Paivi is a little bit younger than me, and speaks some English, enough that we were able to communicate pretty well.  Kaarina doesn't speak any English, but she was able to keep up with Rauno and Paivi translating for her.  Anyway, we arrived about an hour before church services began, and wandered this lovely little cemetery and visited relatives that had passed.  Aili walked around looking for headstones that said "Aili" on them.  Slightly morbid, but she doesn't see her name very often back home.  (On a side note, earlier when we were at a gas station they had these little flags with names on them, and she was upset to find "Alex" but not "Aili".)  We then went inside the church and enjoyed the service.  It was all in Finnish, but we were able to follow along with the hymnal, and recognize the Lord's Prayer and Apostle's Creed.  We then went to a buffet lunch at this cute little cafe, where Aden proceeded to eat only watermelon.  Kaarina and Paivi had prepared a beautiful strawberry cake for us that was really delicious.

After lunch we went back to Kaarina's house and visited for several hours.  The adults sat inside and looked through antique photos to see if they could identify any of the people in them.  Other than a baby picture of Rauno, they were not able to identify any of the photos my mom brought, but my mom helped them with a couple of their photos.  Out in the yard there is a fabulous play house that Paivi's father built for her when she was younger.  The kids spent the hours playing soccer, baseball, and hiding in the playhouse from the rain.  We then ate fresh strawberries from the garden, and said our goodbyes.  Before we left Rauno taught Alex how they play Finnish Baseball or Pesapallo.  The pitcher stands on the other side of the plate from the batter and throws the ball straight up in the air.  When the batter hits it, he runs the bases.  1st is where 3rd base should be, 2nd is where 1st usually is, and 3rd is sort of in left field.  So basically they zig zag across the playing field.  I watched a short YouTube video, and it was very interesting.  Alex, of course, has decided he could totally rock at Pesapallo.  It took a few pitches from Rauno, but then he hit one all the way across Kaarina's yard (with a nerf ball).  We then drove back to Jyvaskyla, and have been hanging in the hotel.

Tomorrow we'll pick up Marikka, and head 8 hours north to Rovaniemi where we'll do some sightseeing and visit Santa and his Reindeer!!  Tonight was the first night Aden asked to go home.  When I reminded him we haven't visited Santa yet, he decided we could stay longer.  :)

Church in Konginkangas

Inside of Church

My mom, Kaarina & Paivi sorting through old photos

Paivi's Playhouse

Inside the Playhouse