Time for a trip to Finland again; this time for a happy occasion - the wedding of my cousin Maikki and Jarkko was taking place in Joensuu. I was a bit nervous about my stopover in Amsterdam, due to my experiences two weekends ago (when I spent a night over there due to missing my connecting flight). Having said that, Amsterdam is not the worst place in the world to spend a night ;-) My worries were for naught, though, as both flights even landed ahead of schedule.
We were planning to drive up to Joensuu Friday afternoon, so I had a few hours to kill in Helsinki. I decided to go on a bit of a walk to re-discover one of my favourite cities. My walk took me through the beautiful Art Nouveau streets of Eira, down to Kaivopuisto (memories of wild Wappu celebrations flooded me). I walked past the legendary Kaivohuone restaurant, past the observatory in Ullanlinnanmäki, and down to the southern tip of Helsinki, from where I was treated to some great views over the surrounding islands, including Suomenlinna. The weather was great, for once, just the way I remember the Finnish summers (my last few visits to Finland have made me consider the possibility that perhaps the Finnish summers aren’t as sunny as my childhood memories would have me believe…). From “kaivare” I walked back to the hustle and bustle of Kauppatori (the main market place). After a quick walk around Wanha Kauppahalli, I walked up Esplanaadi to catch the metro to Ruoholahti, where I had a lunch scheduled with Jani.
I met up with Jani at the Ruoholahti shopping centre, from where we headed to a lunch restaurant by a canal. A nice enough place, where we could enjoy a bit of sunshine while catching up on the latest (which didn’t take long, since I spent most of my last visit with Jani – due to the “unplanned night in Amsterdam”). After the meal, I took the metro back to Kamppi, where I did a bit of last-minute shopping for the wedding (shirt & tie – always useful for occasions like that…) with my parents.
We then left Helsinki, driving north up to Tervakoski, located near Hyvinkää, where we were picking up Tutta. Finding the place turned out to be a bit of a challenge, since we couldn’t find the address neither in our Tom-Tom nor in my dad’s Nokia 5800 phone (which we bravely attempted to use for navigation). Eventually, we managed to find the place by installing Google Maps on the 5800 (surely it can’t be better than Nokia Maps??)… Anyway, having collected Tutta, we drove eastwards, towards Joensuu. Utilising the amazing internet browsing capability of my dad’s 5800, we managed to locate a great restaurant in Mikkeli to have dinner – the place even had its own micro-brewery. A great meal (and great beer) later, we were ready to continue our long journey (it was already past 9 o’clock...). We eventually arrived in Joensuu, where we dropped of Tutta at her hotel. Then, more navigation trouble… We were supposed to spend the night at Eeva’s and Henkka’s place in Niittylahti. Niittylahti is quite a small commune population-wise, but rather spread out area-wise … And of course our Tom-Tom had no streets for Niittylahti. We did eventually find the correct street on the 5800; sighed with relief, and followed our trusty Nokia. Only, the street numbering in the Maps were obviously wrong; we arrived at the wrong end of the road. A couple of phone calls & U-turns later, we eventually found Eeva’s and Henkka’s place – arriving at about 1 o’clock in the morning…
A good night’s sleep later (I initially had some slight issues getting sleep – I’m not used to the Finnish mosquitoes and midnight sun anymore, obviously…), we woke up to another glorious Finnish summer day. After a relaxed breakfast, and a few moments to admire Eeva’s and Henkka’s great house (modern, yet with a rustic touch. Cozy. Great sauna. Huge garden), we headed out to the local lake for a swim. Another mandatory Finnish summer activity ticked off the list. Felt great – in the south of France we’re blessed with the Med and our swimming pool, but I often miss the sense of peace you get swimming in Finnish lakes, in the middle of the great outdoors, with hardly a soul in sight…
Then it was time to get changed for the big occasion; Maikki’s and Jarkko’s big day. The ceremony was taking place in a very pretty little wooden church in Uta, Joensuu. It’s apparently the oldest church in Finland built using vertically mounted logs (now that’s a fact that might actually be too obscure for a pub quiz, even…). In spite of the priest struggling with his lines a bit (Maikki later told us the guy is a bit senile), the ceremony went well. From the church, we moved on to a nice old wooden manor located by a lake (of course, this being Finland…), where the celebrations were taking place. I would say that all the ingredients for a great Finnish wedding celebration were there: a great venue, beautiful summer weather, good food, drinks, Finnish music from the 80’s (some songs even I recognised, for a change …), wedding games and dancing (I made a fool of myself, of course, dancing with my niece Julia; she seemed rather embarrassed).
What can I say, other than that it was just great? Hats off to the bridesmaids (Maarit & Kipa), the best man, and all the other organisers; for a very well organised and memorable evening. And of course the biggest thanks goes to the lovely newly-weds - Maikki and Jarkko ;-) After our time was up at the venue, the hardy ones were whisked by taxis into Joensuu town centre, where we continued partying at the Kimmel hotel nightclub. Nostalgia trip again – more music from my days of youth, black jack, Finnish beer… Ah, I got this “those were the days” feeling again. And of course, when we got out of the nightclub, we were greeted by daylight even thought it was 4 o’clock in the morning (that’s the famous midnight sun for ya). After a couple of beers and chatting away at Eeva’s and Henkka’s, it was time to collapse in bed, after a great day…
On Sunday it was time to head back to Helsinki. After a relaxing sauna bath (great hangover cure), we set off early afternoon (members of my family are not known for making early starts...). The journey back was uneventful, apart from some rather heavy rainfall in Lappeenranta, where we stopped for lunch at a very nice Greek restaurant. In the evening, I met up with Jocke, Jonas (back in Helsinki all the way from Norway) and Frank for some beers at Vltava near the train station. Good to meet up with the lads again… We finished off with a final drink in good ol’ Bakers with Jonas, after Jocke & Frank had left us.
Monday “morning” (I got up at about 10) started with some manual labour at my parents flat, as my parents wanted a fridge and a freezer, as well as a rather large sofa moved out of their flat. I did have time to sneak out for a lunch with Aki & Jani in Ruoholahti (same place as Friday). In the afternoon, reinforcements (my brothers Janne & Tomi) arrived, and we finished the operation by taking the redundant household appliances to a recycling centre, which was conveniently located near the airport, which was my next stop as it was time to catch my flight back to sunny Nice. And that brought and end to a great weekend in Finland; a weekend which restored my faith in the Finnish summer (having said that, the rain started coming down just as I arrived at the airport). And no problems with the transfer at Amsterdam this time either ;-).
More photos here.
We were planning to drive up to Joensuu Friday afternoon, so I had a few hours to kill in Helsinki. I decided to go on a bit of a walk to re-discover one of my favourite cities. My walk took me through the beautiful Art Nouveau streets of Eira, down to Kaivopuisto (memories of wild Wappu celebrations flooded me). I walked past the legendary Kaivohuone restaurant, past the observatory in Ullanlinnanmäki, and down to the southern tip of Helsinki, from where I was treated to some great views over the surrounding islands, including Suomenlinna. The weather was great, for once, just the way I remember the Finnish summers (my last few visits to Finland have made me consider the possibility that perhaps the Finnish summers aren’t as sunny as my childhood memories would have me believe…). From “kaivare” I walked back to the hustle and bustle of Kauppatori (the main market place). After a quick walk around Wanha Kauppahalli, I walked up Esplanaadi to catch the metro to Ruoholahti, where I had a lunch scheduled with Jani. I met up with Jani at the Ruoholahti shopping centre, from where we headed to a lunch restaurant by a canal. A nice enough place, where we could enjoy a bit of sunshine while catching up on the latest (which didn’t take long, since I spent most of my last visit with Jani – due to the “unplanned night in Amsterdam”). After the meal, I took the metro back to Kamppi, where I did a bit of last-minute shopping for the wedding (shirt & tie – always useful for occasions like that…) with my parents.
We then left Helsinki, driving north up to Tervakoski, located near Hyvinkää, where we were picking up Tutta. Finding the place turned out to be a bit of a challenge, since we couldn’t find the address neither in our Tom-Tom nor in my dad’s Nokia 5800 phone (which we bravely attempted to use for navigation). Eventually, we managed to find the place by installing Google Maps on the 5800 (surely it can’t be better than Nokia Maps??)… Anyway, having collected Tutta, we drove eastwards, towards Joensuu. Utilising the amazing internet browsing capability of my dad’s 5800, we managed to locate a great restaurant in Mikkeli to have dinner – the place even had its own micro-brewery. A great meal (and great beer) later, we were ready to continue our long journey (it was already past 9 o’clock...). We eventually arrived in Joensuu, where we dropped of Tutta at her hotel. Then, more navigation trouble… We were supposed to spend the night at Eeva’s and Henkka’s place in Niittylahti. Niittylahti is quite a small commune population-wise, but rather spread out area-wise … And of course our Tom-Tom had no streets for Niittylahti. We did eventually find the correct street on the 5800; sighed with relief, and followed our trusty Nokia. Only, the street numbering in the Maps were obviously wrong; we arrived at the wrong end of the road. A couple of phone calls & U-turns later, we eventually found Eeva’s and Henkka’s place – arriving at about 1 o’clock in the morning…
A good night’s sleep later (I initially had some slight issues getting sleep – I’m not used to the Finnish mosquitoes and midnight sun anymore, obviously…), we woke up to another glorious Finnish summer day. After a relaxed breakfast, and a few moments to admire Eeva’s and Henkka’s great house (modern, yet with a rustic touch. Cozy. Great sauna. Huge garden), we headed out to the local lake for a swim. Another mandatory Finnish summer activity ticked off the list. Felt great – in the south of France we’re blessed with the Med and our swimming pool, but I often miss the sense of peace you get swimming in Finnish lakes, in the middle of the great outdoors, with hardly a soul in sight…
Then it was time to get changed for the big occasion; Maikki’s and Jarkko’s big day. The ceremony was taking place in a very pretty little wooden church in Uta, Joensuu. It’s apparently the oldest church in Finland built using vertically mounted logs (now that’s a fact that might actually be too obscure for a pub quiz, even…). In spite of the priest struggling with his lines a bit (Maikki later told us the guy is a bit senile), the ceremony went well. From the church, we moved on to a nice old wooden manor located by a lake (of course, this being Finland…), where the celebrations were taking place. I would say that all the ingredients for a great Finnish wedding celebration were there: a great venue, beautiful summer weather, good food, drinks, Finnish music from the 80’s (some songs even I recognised, for a change …), wedding games and dancing (I made a fool of myself, of course, dancing with my niece Julia; she seemed rather embarrassed). 
What can I say, other than that it was just great? Hats off to the bridesmaids (Maarit & Kipa), the best man, and all the other organisers; for a very well organised and memorable evening. And of course the biggest thanks goes to the lovely newly-weds - Maikki and Jarkko ;-) After our time was up at the venue, the hardy ones were whisked by taxis into Joensuu town centre, where we continued partying at the Kimmel hotel nightclub. Nostalgia trip again – more music from my days of youth, black jack, Finnish beer… Ah, I got this “those were the days” feeling again. And of course, when we got out of the nightclub, we were greeted by daylight even thought it was 4 o’clock in the morning (that’s the famous midnight sun for ya). After a couple of beers and chatting away at Eeva’s and Henkka’s, it was time to collapse in bed, after a great day…
On Sunday it was time to head back to Helsinki. After a relaxing sauna bath (great hangover cure), we set off early afternoon (members of my family are not known for making early starts...). The journey back was uneventful, apart from some rather heavy rainfall in Lappeenranta, where we stopped for lunch at a very nice Greek restaurant. In the evening, I met up with Jocke, Jonas (back in Helsinki all the way from Norway) and Frank for some beers at Vltava near the train station. Good to meet up with the lads again… We finished off with a final drink in good ol’ Bakers with Jonas, after Jocke & Frank had left us.
Monday “morning” (I got up at about 10) started with some manual labour at my parents flat, as my parents wanted a fridge and a freezer, as well as a rather large sofa moved out of their flat. I did have time to sneak out for a lunch with Aki & Jani in Ruoholahti (same place as Friday). In the afternoon, reinforcements (my brothers Janne & Tomi) arrived, and we finished the operation by taking the redundant household appliances to a recycling centre, which was conveniently located near the airport, which was my next stop as it was time to catch my flight back to sunny Nice. And that brought and end to a great weekend in Finland; a weekend which restored my faith in the Finnish summer (having said that, the rain started coming down just as I arrived at the airport). And no problems with the transfer at Amsterdam this time either ;-).More photos here.
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2 comments:
Thanks for wonderful pastime for a couple of involved persons & a lovely lady. We actually entertained ourselves for 3 h with the wedding etc. photographs and the great prosa of your comments. Midnight greetings from Nilsby!
Kivoja kuvia ja tunnelmia :)
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