Travelog for: Poppy McVee

This is the Baltic Sea! Yes, well, at least the archipelago that leads to the Baltic Sea  I don't wonder why Finns like boating so much. Oh, and the creator of Moomin used to spend her summers on an island nearby! wait a minute, I've told you that allready haven't I... These beautifull views make my head spin 

It's been quite a nice weather here and we've been to playgrounds and stuff. Here are some pics of me in the newest one we found. Can you believe that my host has lived here for over 2 years and only now she found this playground - and it's not even far away (they've ben using the ones closest to them)  But at least we can go there now! It's cleaner than the other big one as the teenagers haven't yet found this one...

After the park we got back home and drew on the front yard with chalks. It's really fun! The girls drew "houses" for themselves  They weren't finished yet, that's why it looks so empty. Usually the pavement (and the girls) is full with colors!

Today I got to walk in the Old Town of Porvoo and not just look at the shore houses 

There are many many small shops that sell all kinds of quality stuff, mostly handmade. My host's favorite shop is a toy shop called Riimikko. It sells good toys made of wood or tin or such - basically anything but plastic. This store has a Moomin house on its window all year round - they just change the decoration by the season.

The painted boxes are "electricity boxes" painted by local art school students a few years back. They painted all boxes in the old town and they look a lot nicer than the un-painted dull greyish-brownish-greenish boxes. It says 'Sekatavarakauppa' which means 'general store'.

We had hot chocolate and a "doughnut" in one of the cafés before walking back to our car - which is not the long white limousine... 

From Limo to Library... 

Today we visited the main library in Porvoo. The childrens section was quite interesting with fish and all sorts of decorations! I read some Mauri Kunnas' doghill books and different versions of Moomin. Today they also had a small exhibition of socktoys! We all agreed they would make wonderfull toyvoyagers 

From Limo to Library to... ummm... I can't think of anything suitable beginning with L in this update!

I'm standing on the river (quite exactly on the spot where the Lat. & Long. take you), looking around. The riverside is a popular place for bar&restaurant visits in the summer. On the other side of the river they're building a campus area with a movie theatre and art exhibitions. The houses on the shore are modern versions of the old shore warehouses. People have paid good money to get to live in those

As you can see the river is full of boats! All newer but there are some old ones - mostly for cruising purposes. one of them is the old wooden schooner is called Marita, built in 1947.

That orange'ish wooden thing before the schooner photos is an old well  It's been moved from the original spot when the new bridge was built (a few years back - after 30 years of bebate) so no water runs in it anymore.

We went to the city to play in a park that is bigger than the ones near my host. At first we were allmost the only people there but then suddenly more and more people came there. They came to celebrate Midsummer! The park personnel had organized a small festival  mu host grinned to me and I just know she knew that this was going to happen 

We got to put flowers on a "pole" (this has something to do with the swedish speaking Finns, they call it a "maypole"). There were different games to play - oh, and the fire trucks came and an ambulance and we got to see inside them! Then there was a chance to barbecue and all sorts of food (my host had brought our own  sausages to barbeque so she definitely knew abou the festives)! It was really fun 


Wikipedia says this about the Finnish Midsummer:
Before 1316, the summer solstice was called Ukon juhla, after the Finnish god Ukko. In Karelian  tradition, many bonfires were burned side by side, the biggest of which was called Ukko-kokko (the "bonfire of Ukko"). After the celebrations were Christianized, the holiday is known as juhannus  after John the Baptist (Finnish: Johannes Kastaja).

Since 1955, the holiday is always on a Saturday (between June 20 and June 26). Earlier it was always on June 24. A lot of the celebration of midsummer takes place on midsummer eve, when many workplaces are closed and shops have to close their doors at noon.

In the Finnish midsummer celebration, bonfires (Finnish kokko) are very common and are burnt at lakesides and by the sea. Often two young birch trees (koivu) are placed on either side of the front door to welcome visitors. Swedish-speaking Finns often celebrate by erecting a midsummer or maypole (Swedish midsommarstång, majstång).

In folk magic, midsummer was a very potent night and the time for many small rituals, mostly for young maidens seeking suitors and fertility. Will o wisps were believed to be seen at midsummer night, particularly to finders of the mythical "fern in bloom" and possessors of the "fern seed", marking a treasure. An important feature of the midsummer in Finland is the white night and the midnight sun. Because of Finland's location spanning around the Arctic Circle the nights near the midsummer day are short or non-existent. This gives a great contrast to the darkness of the winter time.

Many Finns leave the cities for Midsummer and spend their holiday in the countryside. Rituals include bonfires, sauna and spending time together. Heavy drinking is also associated with the Finnish midsummer.

Many music festivals of all sizes are organized on the Midsummer weekend. It's also common to start summer holidays on Midsummer day. For many families the Midsummer is the time when they move to the countryside to their summer cottage by the lake. Midsummerday is also the Day of the Finnish Flag. The flag is hoisted at 6 pm on Midsummer eve and flown all night till 9 pm the following evening.

It's hot in here! 

It's +28'C (which is 82F)! After taking the photo it rose above +30'C (86F) - in the shadow!  It's summer allright 

Then it finally started to rain - for about 20 minutes... The raindrops were huge! Kids ran outside with their clothes on  And like that wouldn't have been enough, they filled buckets with water and threw at each other  When the rain stopped they danced hand in hand in a circle signing "more rain, more rain, more rain" 

My host took me with her to the annual visit to Tampere, a city about 2h drive north/nothwest from Porvoo. First we attended a Postcrossing meetup in the city center. It was a mini meetup as there were only my host, her daughter and one other postcrosser... hey! Wait a minute! What about all us toyvoyagers and the Moomin characters of the other 'crosser?!? It was no mini meetup but a mega meetup! 

After the meetup we went for a refreshing swim in one of the lakes 

We started our tour at the other end of the main street Hämeenkatu. There's Alexander Church and next to it the main library. We were there so early that nothing was open so we just hang out, waiting for  Tampere to wake up.

There are over 200 000 inhabitants (second biggest after Helsinki) in this city that lies between two lakes but you couldn't guess it on a Saturday morning 

Finally we got to see a Moomin exhibition! There's one constant display of the original Moomin artwork - and even the original Moomin house! We weren't allowed to take photos inside the exhibition but we took some outside and by the door... You can see some photos from the inside here.

After the Moomins we walked back the main street, to the city center. I'm standing on the Häme bridge, looking around with the stone statues. The yellow stone building is a theatre and the tall building behind the water is a hotel.

Did you know that the very first McDonald's in Finland is in Tampere (since 1984) Nowadays there are 82 McDonald's restaurants in Finland, one of them in Porvoo 

We found a pink candy buss  Bought some sweets and continued our walk down to the harbour/market place called Laukontori, the place where several lake cruises start.

The real reason we came to Laukontori was Ankkaralli, a duck rally 

4000 numbered rubber ducks were dropped in the lake and 60 fastest swimmers got prizes. People were able to "buy" certain ducks for 5 euros each. Our number didn't win anything but the money went to a good cause: the internationalization of students at Proakatemia.

If you have Flash Player 8 and JavaScript, then you should be able to watch this video of the event 

After a hot, long day of sightseeing, duck rallying and Moomins... we went for a swim in the lake Näsinjärvi. You can see the needletop tower in the background, right? That's Näsi Tower in Särkänniemi adventurepark. That's our destination tomorrow 

This is Särkänniemi Adventure Park! It's more than just an amusement park as it has a dolphinarium, a planetarium, an aquarium, art museum, children's zoo and the observation tower Näsinneula. 

We started with the dolphin show and continued to the rides. We also saw the planetarium show and zoo.

It was hot and sunny but not too crowded 

Finally we went to the tower...

Last but not least we went to the Näsinneula observation tower. With the top at 168m it's the highest observation tower in the Nordic Countries. The views are seen at 124m. The lift goes 6m/second so your ears might "get locked".  

The views are quite amazing up there! You get a really good look over the city and the lakes. It was a perfect way to end my trip in Tampere.