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.