SATURDAY 18th DAY 15 FINLAND – KUOPIO
Awoke to sunshine and a fresh breeze. Anne-Marie, Danielle and Annie were all set to rush into the centre of Kuopio to see what contacts they could make with their Finnish ‘twin’. I decided to stay put to enjoy the peace, the greenery, and to relax, possibly the last chance on this journey. No writing.
Enjoyed my stroll by the lake. Found a little beach with sauna alongside but no fire inside and no-one using it, nearby attractive houses with gardens stretched to the water, small boats moored next to each, the occasional boat motoring by. I guess neighbours may be more accessible by boat rather than by car in these parts.
I returned to relax on our balcony. So peaceful amidst the trees, viewing forests of fir trees stretching into the far distance.
The others returned, disappointed by the lack of contact with anyone who knew about the Kuopio - Besancon ‘twin link’, but bearing smoked reindeer tongue for lunch. Very tasty, less so another local delicacy, a sort of bun stuffed with fish.
We all then took a digestive stroll in the woods, it’s impossible to take a lengthy walk around the lakeside. The Finns don’t have our concept of a picturesque path alongside the water ending in a small cafe.
We soon ended up in a housing estate, small brick houses with pretty gardens dotted amidst the ubiquitous silver birch trees, with cycle and pedestrian paths alongside the road.
Surprisingly few people around for a Saturday afternoon, no children playing. The school holidays are now over, maybe they have homework to do.
The road from these houses led back down to the lake where small motor boats were neatly lined up alongside a series of pontoons, maybe the property of the house tenants. No way of knowing whether Finns own or rent their property and, if rented, are they from private landlords or local government?
‘Alongside’, I can almost write this word with my eyes closed it’s such a feature of life here. We know a great deal about the landscape of Finland, and something about the food but next to nothing about the people.
At which point the rains came. Apparently there’s been a lot of rain this summer, we’ve been lucky so far to hit a warm spell. We drove into Kuopio to eat at a restaurant recommended by one of the guidebooks.
In the doorway of the ‘Ravintola’/ ‘restaurant’ (one of our soon-learned Finnish words, ‘Kiitos’/ ‘thank you’, being the other), stood a huge pot–bellied man. Many ‘Ravintolas have them, though it’s not immediately apparent why they’re necessary. Maybe we haven’t been around long enough or out late enough to see people getting really drunk. With beer at £3.00 a pint their salaries must be higher than ours, and maybe they drink a great deal during the long, dark winter nights.
This ‘Ravintola’ is quite a scruffy place. It houses the alternative to a fruit machine, a machine filled with coins standing enticingly in rows awaiting the entry of the very one which will tip the balance and send them all rushing out. Think it would drive my old friend Alice crazier than her habitual fruit machines in London.
We couldn’t make sense of the menu so followed the advice of the waiter, with broken English he had the same assertive qualities as that chalet owner. The fish, caught in the lake, marinated in something, then grilled and served with mashed potato and salad, was delicious. Equally tasty was dessert, a hot pastry stuffed with cloudberries.
Decided to drink coffee somewhere else. Not a good decision, the streets, neatly laid out in rows around a huge market place, were almost deserted on a wet Saturday night. Finally found a bar tucked away in a quiet back street, again with a large grim-faced man guarding the door.
We found ourselves in something which was possibly typically Finnish, a bar filled with smokers, and comfortable chairs around tables filled with groups of young people, possibly the equivalent of London Sloane Rangers, who were talking quietly.
One group seemed to be caught up in some kind of ritual. A girl, dressed in a blue housecoat with bits of paper pinned over it, was giggling with some embarrassment as different men friends came, each unpinning a paper then hugging her. Dressed in red stockings and matching shoes it seemed that she was celebrating her forthcoming marriage.
It was decidedly chilly outside. We were glad to get back to our cabin, very cosy, someone had switched on the central heating!
SUNDAY 19th DAY 16 FINLAND – KUOPIO
The rain was still pouring down so decided to have a day of museums but first we drove to the hotel at Kuopio’s highest point for breakfast. A choice of cereals, sausages, fish, boiled eggs, a great variety of breads but never anything sweet. Five men at the next table were already knocking back the beer with their breakfast. We didn’t investigate but no doubt the hotel was well-supplied with ‘vomitoires’.
Beyond the hotel we found the tallest tower in the area and took a lift to the top for a wonderful view over the surrounding countryside. The pine forest immediately below was divided by tracks for skiers, and surprise, skiers were already in view practising ski jumping. Beyond the trees lay the town itself on the edge of the lake and all around, its suburbs built on creeks half-hidden by trees and gardens, whilst on the lake (kallavesi) there were dozens of small islands, quite spectacular.
We returned to the town to find the Open Air Museum, a collection of old wooden houses, painted in the now familiar pastel shades, located around a garden. All were similar on the outside but inside each showed a different interior from the 19th to the early 20th century. Very spacious, light and airy inside even when the family lived in just one room.
Each had a fire with an oven attached, a little stand bearing a large water jug and a soap rack. At floor level there was a basin and a bucket. There was a bench which became a bed, as we’d seen in Turku museum. A corner alongside the stove was walled off from floor to ceiling with tiles, behind the tiles, somehow, was central heating. We saw this same heating system in all the houses even some modern ones.
A Weaver’s House had all the necessary materials laid out, the same in a Cobbler’s house. Another was filled with ‘modern 40’s’ furniture with a radio. Made us wonder what the lives of Finnish people were like before this modern invention. There must have been a lot more conversation in the home and in the church.
A pity we didn’t have the opportunity to go into one of the new houses which fill the streets of Kuopio, or visit a modern blocks of flats.
We moved on to the Modern Art Museum. It contained a small collection of local artists, rather Western European style portraits and landscapes, not very memorable, but some lovely little sculptures of children.
Took a short drive around the lake. There were pleasure boats to take tourists sightseeing, not for us today, the weather still too damp and chilly, and a few small motor boats. A small island just off shore was dominated by a little windmill with fin-like sails balanced on a pedestal.
Quite by chance, we discovered the Main Museum. By now we were feeling tired but decided to look through it rapidly. First found an interesting travelling exhibition by Rodchenko, a Russian artist of the early 20th century. Lots of unusually shaped wooden structures including a rather special chess players’ table with matching reds and black chairs attached to a red and black board. Also very avant garde costumes for a play.
Upstairs was quite different, stuffed animals including, at last, a reindeer. A huge animal with an arrogant muzzle rather like a camel. Suspect all those road signs were for the protection of cars rather than huge reindeers like this. There were also many animals and birds never seen before, obviously, the environment of Finland is so different.
On the next floor was a trapper’s cottage containing a vast table, about 10 feet long, carved from the wide trunk of a tree, with wooden benches. There were a surprising range of household implements made from the bark of the silver birch tree, often plaited like South East Asians used to plait banana palm leaves, also many carved wood household objects. VERY lengthy wooden skis for cross-country trekking.
It would have been worth spending more time looking at these objects in greater detail but too tired. Drove home.
The others decided to take a sauna at the hostel. I was tempted but didn’t want to risk triggering my winter cough with the hot-cold combination so took a walk instead.
That evening we decided it wasn’t worth hunting for a new restaurant in Kuopio so returned to our ‘curry’ house. Charming man who immediately switched the TV to the European Channel so that we could watch a programme in French, and then later switched it back to local news and the weather forecast. It looks as though it’s much warmer up here than down in London!
Then came an Italian film dubbed in Finnish which gave us a chance to try and understand a little more of the language but virtually impossible to guess what any words meant. The meal was unexciting, veal with mushroom sauce, greasy little chips and frozen peas. Came out to a beautiful sky reminiscent of a Landseer painting and, though it was 10.00pm, it still wasn’t really dark.
MONDAY 20th DAY 17 FINLAND – KUOPIO TO HELSINKI
Left after breakfast and just stopped for a break in a small town with a large market square. Only a few stalls, no shouting what’s for sale, odd, so quiet. Not much choice of fruit, just grapes, plums and gooseberries (red and green), black and red currants plus a few vegetables.
The bank, surprisingly large given the apparently small size of the town, contained a cafeteria and a toilet. Most unusual.
Now en route again. Excuse the scrawl, catching up on writing as we leave Kuopio and drive south towards Helsinki. At the moment the road is straight Roman style stretching into the distance with silver birch trees reaching up to a cloudless blue sky on either side.
Get the feeling my English is becoming rather stilted as I’m surrounded by foreigners trying to speak it to each other. Very basic. I’ve no problem understanding the French all around me but hardly a chance to get a word in with three others chattering away nonstop.
It looks as though I’ll be home on Saturday , 1st September. Hope to visit the home of a friend of Anne-Marie in Germany on Friday, so I’ll probably fly back from Dusseldorf.
As we speed south there’s no sign of any road police. No need for them I guess as the Finns seem very disciplined, all travelling at the regulation speed of 100kms per hour.
Finally arrived in the capital city, Helsinki, much smaller and slower moving than Stockholm. The city only became the capital about one hundred years ago, something about Kuopio being too close to Russian culture.
It’s built in Neo-Classical style, a large Cathedral looking onto a square, beautiful buildings on either side. The University Library, the most exquisite ever seen, with painted ceilings, archways, pillars, carved wood, a circular area of spiral stairs and radiating bookcases. There are wide boulevards, three to four forming the main shopping area, lots of little parks and frequent views of the harbour.
Stayed in another University Residence, a ‘Summer Hotel’. Again, a typical double room, not much space for books or clothes, with a tiny kitchen and bathroom attached, much more like a block of flats than a communal residence. Breakfast was included, dinner also provided by Hotel School students. Very conveniently located close to the Centre.
TUESDAY 21st DAY 18 FINLAND – HELSINKI
Explored Helsinki on foot discovering an esplanade of shops with beautiful designer fashions and household goods. Continued to wander to get a feel of the city, much, much smaller than Stockholm. Very little advertising, no street telephones, no litter bins yet everywhere is very, very clean. People seem stockier than the tall Swedes.
WEDNESDAY 22nd DAY 19 FINLAND – HELSINKI
Visited the Sibelius monument, a structure of silver metal with the texture of silver birch tree trunks, balanced on a rock in a park by the sea, a mask of Sibelius’ face alongside. Not far away, Finlandia Hall, a beautiful concert hall part conference centre designed by Alvar Alto.
Moved on to an exhibition of paintings by the Finnish Artist of the Year, Caroline Hubkell, lots of small landscapes, firstly the same location in different lights, then secondly the same transformed into abstract patterns in a beautiful range of colours and shapes.
Wandered around Stockman, the ‘Selfridges’ of Helsinki, quite a wide range of many familiar goods mostly at much higher prices than in London.
On to the Museum of Modern Design from the last century, a range of ideas copied from the rest of Europe in their own particular Finnish styles. Or, could some be vice versa?
Found some little boutiques in a ‘Covent Garden’ style layout. Some beautiful knitwear but very expensive. Lots of tourist shops selling reindeer skins and dolls in Lapland costumes.
Then on to the Central Station, supposedly of architectural renown, which I didn’t find particularly memorable.
THURSDAY 23rd DAY 20 FINLAND – HELSINKI TO TURKU TO SWEDEN
It rained so we took the car, no problem finding parking. Visited the market. Found a wider choice of fruit and veg than elsewhere plus tourist goods. Lots of wooden kitchen ware, fur hats, knitted hats and socks. Lapland dolls in bright red, blue and white costumes, pretty to look at but expensive to purchase.
At the Museum of Modern Art we found a comprehensive view of the development of art in Finland from the mid 1880s to 1900s. There were a lot of family and individual portraits, country landscapes including a series of well-known birds. A copy of one of these had proudly been shown to us in Denmark by a father who collected the paintings of his artist son.
The bird wasn’t familiar to me but saw it again, stuffed in a museum, looking rather like a turkey. The French word, ‘le coq de bruyere’ also meant nothing but now, beneath this painting, found a translation in English, ‘grouse’. In fact I’ve never actually seen one.
(My English is becoming more and more distorted as I listen to the others asking for information with direct translation for French words, or reading English tourist guide books with French accents. From time to time I correct their pronunciation , they do the same with me, but it gets too exhausting after a while.)
It was possible to see the style of the paintings gradually become more abstract as artists travelled south and had more contact with the artists of Europe. But all of it focussed on ordinary people, none of the portraits of royalty, nobility found in other countries at the same time.
On to a department store for lunch. We’d very conveniently made sandwiches with excess ham, sausage, cheese, tomato, gherkin, bread and butter from breakfast, wrapped in serviettes, pinned together with toothpicks. These sandwiches we now ate followed by coffee and cake.
The others decided to buy some Finnish glassware as souvenirs. I opted out, too heavy and fragile to carry by hand once I left the car.
We finally left Helsinki with some regret, still a lot we hadn’t seen. Certainly an attractive city in which to live though I’m not sure that I could take the long, bitterly cold winters.
Drove west along the coast via the pretty new town of Tapiola, modern white buildings in forest surroundings on the edge of a lake, lots of spacious courtyards with fountains, flowers, open air cafes and a new Arts Centre. Found its interior decor in beige rather monotonous particularly since the people tend to dress a lot in beiges, pale greens and browns.
Drove on to find our final building by the renowned Finnish architect Alvor Alto. Actually had some difficulty locating it since fewer people speak English outside the main towns. Eventually tracked it down, a vast sanatorium tucked away in a pine forest. Built in a ‘Y’ shape with rounded ends, balcony bars painted salmon pink and pale turquoise at one end, at another end were a series of huge window shades in vivid orange or green, and at the rear was a vast high white wall, seven storeys high. It gave the same feeling of being overwhelmed as standing on the top deck of the Viking Line ferry looking up at its huge funnel.
Our journey continued past fields where harvesting was being carried out with new tractors. A last view of the little dark red houses with their white-painted trim and flower-filled window boxes. Petunias, lobelia, busy lizzies and geraniums grow equally well here as in Dinas Powys.
Finally arrived back in Turku in the evening, past the now familiar wooden houses, the Youth Hostel, the river lined with cargo boats, and back to the port to take the Viking Line ferry back to Stockholm. Viking Line and Silya Line compete on this route so it will be interesting to compare the two.
The huge Viking Line ship, Calypso, red and white, windows from top to water level, was already beset by queues of cars and huge lorries towing loads larger than themselves. Amazing how easily the drivers manoeuvre them into confined spaces on the ship. Anne-Marie now driving with the skill of a rally driver.
On board found magnificent white decks with green areas marked out in games for children, giant hopscotch and chess board, whilst majestic funnels soared backwards towards the sky.
Inside, each deck was painted a different pastel shade with shining metallic trims, lots of mirrors, wide staircases and lifts leading from the layered car decks to the upper decks. No ‘sleep in’ on this ship, just cabins, delightful, decorated in shades of cream and pale blue, matching the corridor. Each had four bunks, a table, a stool, a ‘port hole’ shaped mirror with curtains, a dressing table with stool, an open wardrobe and a small bathroom with a shower.
Upstairs we found a nightclub, an under-eighteens disco, shops, a large cafeteria plus a restaurant and a pool with sauna. We watched the sun set over the islands as we left Turku. The skies here somehow seem lower, the clouds form unusual patterns and move much more quickly over a pale turquoise sky. The evening was beautiful, pale orange sky fading to pale blue behind charcoal grey cloud clusters hung over a silver sea ‘road’ fringed by layer after layer of small black islands. A rather unique memory marking ‘La Fin de la Finlande.’
We adjourned to the restaurant and a sight not seen before. Comfortable chairs were laid out next to tables, with views from huge windows onto the rapidly disappearing landscape, and smorgasbord, delicious-looking food buffet style, was placed on tables centrally and around the edge of the room. Queues of people were already lining up to serve themselves so we quickly joined them.
Fish course first, shrimps, cold salmon, smoked salmon, small herrings in different sauces, other unknown fish and a variety of salads.
Next, cold meats and pates plus different salads.
Followed by hot dishes, several types of large fish, roast beef, roast pork, meat balls with gratin of cauliflower, potatoes, parsnips, mixed green vegetables. Help yourself to as much as you want as often as you want.
Cheese followed, five to choose from, French I think, with a range of biscuits.
And finally desserts, a gateaux, a yellow cream creation, unusual fruit salad including the now familiar cloud berries and lingam berries, with a huge bowl of strawberry-flavoured fromage frais rather like cheesecake topping.
Altogether quite delicious but enough to feed one for a week! Certainly enjoyed this smorgasbord experience, open door to gluttony, but would prefer a two or three course meal given the choice.
Took a digestive walk around the ship before retiring to our cosy cabin to sleep our way to Sweden.
HELSINKI - Monument to Elias Lonnrot, best known for creating the Finnish National Epic, KALEVALA, 1835-1839, formed of short ballads and lyric poems gathered from the Finnish oral tradition during several expeditions in Finland, Russian Karelia, the Kola Peninsula and Baltic countries.
'The Languages of the World' by Kenneth Katzner
Next Week - Finally Finland Part 5
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