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{finland, day 8, drive to kajaani}

day 8 was the start of our 8 days of traveling in finland.
there were 8 of us so we had to rent a huge van. we all worried about it not having air conditioning. did i mention yet that finland was having record breaking heat + humidity? a real sweat fest, i tell ya.
of course the guys tried to fool us that it didn't have air conditioning but we didn't buy it. :) well, it was like not having air conditioning as it didn't work very well. but i guess little bit of it is better than none at all. all in all i found that finland needs to invest in air conditioning more. only the large stores, for example, had air conditioning. buses and local trains didn't (i guess some new ones do).
our first stop was kajaani where my grandma and two uncles live. i was born in kajaani and spent most of my childhood summers and christmases there.
a fun thing happened on the way there. in a small place called juva, we had stopped at an ABC to get gas and to eat. i was waiting at the entrance for everyone when a beautiful lady stops me and says "you don't know me, but i know you from reading your blog.".

savu, if you're still reading my blog: thank you so much for stopping to chat with me. it made my day! so often i've thought of saying "forget it... no one reads my blog... there's no rhyme or reason for it... i'll just close it". so it meant a lot to me that you would stop to chat with me. thanks again!
what a surreal feeling to be in a place i've never been to before and be recognized by someone. it was great! :)
in kajaani, we stayed in a guest house at heikki parviainen's horse farm. some of my finnish readers may know that heikki has won many horse races with his horses. he's famous for how he treats his horses (he never whips them during the races...). my uncle knows heikki and that's how we happened to find such a special place to stay in.
this was the scene from our bedroom window!!! needless to say it was wonderful to wake up to this each morning.

{finland, day 7, downtown helsinki}

day 7 of our trip was spent shopping in downtown helsinki.

i Y these railway station dudes! every time i see them i can't help but smile.


one of aarikka's display windows. aarikka makes highend design stuff out of wood.
i kept wanting to buy these black candleholders (and white ones) but i just couldn't get myself to pay 120 euros (appr. $160 CAN) for one small one.
so all my richer than rich finnish blog readers/friends: feel free to send me some. :D pink ones for sienna please. :D

love the elves!

www.aarikka.fi

next store was iittala. highend kitchen stuff + glass design.

www.iittala.fi

i just realized i didn't take any picture at marimekko. i guess i was too busy shopping there. :)

i Y marimekko!

www.marimekko.fi

also:

www.pentik.fi

www.artek.fi

www.arabia.fi

www.finlayson.fi

between the two shopping streets is the esplanade park. a popular place to hang out for helsinkiens. i just made that word up in case you didn't notice. :D

my favorites from the ice-cream kiosks were: lipsi popsicles(pear flavored) and vanilla/licorice cones.

didn't take pictures of the market square either. we went there for cloudberry jam + whipping cream crepes. in my opinion it's one of those "gotta do it" things if you're in helsinki in the summer.

jay and sienna surprised me by presenting an aarikka necklace for me which i had admired but had been too cheap to purchase. what a nice surprise!

someone had fun carving out this dude. :D

there you have it. another small glimpse of downtown helsinki. did i mention that...

i Y helsinki!

:)

{finland, day 6, isosaari}

on day 6 of our trip we got to visit isosaari (=big island) where i lived for couple of years as a child (i think i was 8 & 9 years old). not just anyone can visit this island because it's the finnish army's training island. we had to be invited by a couple we knew back then (T & K, my then best friend's parents) and who still live on the island. we had to give our personal information beforehand so that the army was able to do a security clearance on us.

i have so many fond memories of my time on this island.

the many boat rides on various army boats. sometimes in rough weather which meant fun big waves that would sway the boat like crazy. we used to love it.

being close friends with all the students in the school. there were only 11 of us so it wasn't too hard to do. :)

we were always outside playing. i don't remember ever being bored. the island was a beautiful playground for us kids.
needless to say it was great to go back for a visit after all these years. it had been over 25 years since my last visit.

vasen, vasen,
vasen, yks, kaks.
yks, kaks, yks, kaks,
vasen, yks, kaks.
:)
en tule koskaan unohtamaan tuota.
in finland, all the men must serve 6 months in the army to get basic army training. 12 months if you qualify for leadership training.
another friend of mine (M, whom i first met as a teenager) and her husband (E) now live on the island as well. E took us for a tour to see non-operational and operational artillery cannons.

and here is my old school!

no longer a school but some sort of a workshop.

it was cool to see the soldiers walking around. when we were visiting at T & K's, sitting in the backyard, some soldiers quietly walked close by in the forest. it was such a cool feeling. like we were being watched. :)
i remember how our windows used to shake and rattle when the soldiers trained with the cannons.

K is a real sea captain, "merikarhu". he was born in isosaari and has lived there his whole life. he used to drive all the various army boats. this is his own boat now. K took us to mainland with it in the evening.

K & T used to fish for salmon and then smoke it themselves and sell it all the way to france even.

T & K used to have siberian husky dogs and K would take us for dog sled rides.

i love the cliffs! great place to suntan when it got hot in the summer.

one time we saw hundreds of ladybugs in a little puddle like this one. must have been the mating season or something.

T & K still have the same fall trees wallpaper in their bedroom from the 1970's!

i used to love the wallpaper back then and still do.

we got to go eat at the same time as the soldiers in the building where my mom used to work. we had salmon soup and vanilla/licorice ice-cream cones for dessert. :)

we also went for donuts at "sotku" where we used to go buy candy as kids and were the soldiers go to hang out and by treats and smokes.

T had saved three of my childhood drawings and i was so excited to get them.

at the end of the day K drove us to the harbor with his tractor. we all sat on the tractor trailer. no need for seatbelts. :)

who knows if i'll ever be able to go back to isosaari so this day was a real treat to me.
Y

being by the sea soothes my soul like nothing else.
Y