Our plan was to push on to Tornio (or more accurately, Karunki) next, to meet up with Sami, our Lappish friend from Nice. Since it was kind of on the way, we decided to drive via Rovaniemi. So off we headed, escaping the rainy eastern Finland, towards the Lappish wilderness.
Rovaniemi is the biggest city of Lapland (which isn’t saying much, really…), located just south of the Arctic Circle. It’s another typical example of Finnish post-World War II town planning – (unlike the towns in the east which had been destroyed by the Russians, Rovaniemi was destroyed by the Germans when they retreated from Finland at the end of World War II) – which is to say it’s rather ugly. There is a bit of an odd curiosity of a sight, though – the Lordi square. Yes, that’s right, a square dedicated to the 2006 Eurovision song contest winners (these guys) – who hail from Rovaniemi… We obviously also HAD to have lunch at the Lordi “Rockintola” – a “cosy” little eatery; with its cavern-like interior and charming decoration consisting of skulls and axes. Well, with a price of 10 euros for a monster burger, it was well worth the visit (even better than Hesburger). Obviously we couldn’t leave Rovaniemi without visiting Arktikum; which is probably the top tourist attraction of Rovaniemi. It’s a very interesting museum dedicated to Lapland and the arctic, where we spent a couple of hours learning all about the Sami way of life, ice bears and the arctic nature. One of the best museums in Finland, definitely.
Before heading towards Tornio, we decided a detour to the Arctic Circle was called for (since we were only a few km away…). The “Arctic Circle” is a bit of a bizarre place. I guess it started off as a pretty normal highway services, but has over the years been transformed into a bit of a tourist trap (yihaa, mass tourism has arrived in Finland). There is Santa Claus’ post office (which is a pretty neat idea, actually, “you know, for kids”), SantaPark, Santa’s work shop, the “famous” Arctic Circle line (a bit like the Greenwich mean time line in London), not to mention a massive shopping centre full of tourist trinket shops. Never thought I’d see the like of it in Finland. Anyway, it was all very amusing in a very tacky & wacky sort of way, but we nonetheless pushed on (having sent our Santa post cards).
A couple of hours later, we arrived in Karunki – a place we have heard so much about (mostly – no, actually only – from our friend Sami). Turns out it’s not a very big place (blink and you’ll miss it) – in fact all the houses in Karunki seem to be lined up along the main road going through town. We joined Sami at his parents’ house, who warmly welcomed us with coffee and cake (as the custom is in Finland). During a very entertaining hour or so, Sami and his parents told us about what makes Karunki such a fascinating place (basically it’s all about fishing – I never realised all the politics involved…). From there we headed down to Kukkolankoski, to watch the local fishermen in action. The idea was to be there for the “fish distribution”, which is still done the “traditional way” (the rules for which are to complex to explain here – suffice to say that the rules were devised during a time when fishermen were illiterate) – unfortunately it didn’t take place when we were there... We then headed down to Sami’s parents’ cottage, very nicely located on the shores of the Tornio River. And this was a proper traditional Finnish cottage – which meant dry toilet and no electricity (and naturally a wood-fired sauna). After a very nice sauna bath, and swim in the river, Sami took us out on a boat ride along the moonlit Tornio river. It was a very pleasant experience indeed – especially since we were treated to the rather special sight of two elks walking along the mist-covered shoreline. And to top off a great evening, we had some tasty fish Sami’s mum had smoked for us –what a culinary delight!
After a peaceful night’s sleep, it was time to carry on. Before bidding our farewells to Sami’s parents, and leaving beautiful Karunki, we did scale the local mountain though, from where we were greeted with some great views over the surrounding landscapes and the Tornio River. Our next stop was at Tornio, right on the Swedish border. We visited the church, with its pretty interior, after which we decided to go for lunch. After considering our options, we opted for a very “original” choice – crossing the border to Haparanda in Sweden, and having meatballs and mashed potatoes at Ikea!
After this culinary experience, we carried on to Oulu, where Sami lives at the moment (now there’s a bit of a change of environment – from Nice to Oulu…). After dropping off our things at his place, we headed into town for dinner. We had about an hour to kill before dinner, so had plenty of time to walk around Oulu. It’s quite a nice town actually, with quite a lot of well-preserved, old, wooden buildings. Oulu is also a pretty lively place, with a large student population and a big concentration of high-tech companies (including a rather big Nokia site…) – it’s sort of like the silicon valley of Northern Finland. We had dinner at a Greek restaurant, where Lauri and his lovely wife joined us. Good to meet Lauri again – he’s an old colleague of mine from Southwood, who decided to relocate to Oulu a year ago or so (from what he told me, he also suffered from some mild reverse cultural shock ;-). After the meal we headed to the local Irish pub (surely proof that Oulu is a cosmopolitan place in spite of its remote location – dinner in a Greek restaurant and drinks in an Irish pub!!), where we were joined by Jari, an old friend of ours from Nice. After a couple of pints of Guinness, and a ridiculously overpriced shot of Lagavulin (welcome to Finland…), it was time to make our way back to Sami’s place for some well-needed sleep…
The next day, we headed off relatively bright ‘n early, having said our emotional good byes to Sami, as we had a long drive ahead of us the next day. The road took us into the flat landscapes of Ostrobotnia, which is also peculiar in that large parts have a Swedish-speaking majority. Landscape-wise Ostrobotnia is sort of boring; this part of Finland is largely devoid of lakes or any height variance (hence some call this part of Finland “Pampas”). Our first stop in Pampas was Kalajoki, where we visited the famous “Hiekkasärkät”.- basically a long dune-covered beach – one of the most famous beaches in Finland, in fact. And quite justly so, it would’ve been a very nice place for a swim – a pity about the cold winds. Still, the place was well worth a stop.
From Kalajoki we carried on to Kokkola, where the plan was to meet another ex-colleague from Southwood – Markus. We were once again kindly treated to coffee and cakes at Markus’ and his missus’ house, located just outside Kokkola (or Karleby, as it’s known in Swedish). Great to catch up with him– it’s been about 4 years since we last met, I reckon… After finishing our coffee, they took us for a short walk around the nice old town of Kokkola, amusingly named “Neristan” (means “Down in the town” in Swedish), with its typical wooden houses and cobble-stone streets. Neristan also had a rather peculiar artefact – a boat captured by the locals from the Brits during the Crimean war (yes, the Brits made it all the way to Finland…).
The next destination on our journey was Jakobstad, where the plan was to meet up with yet another old mate from Southwood, Niclas, and his wife Portuguese wife Andreia. The drive up there took us through the “7-bridges archipelago”, which made a nice change from the otherwise rather flat landscapes of Pampas. After our rendezvous in the centre of “Jeppis” (as the Swedish-speaking locals affectionately call it), Niclas took us to a nice seaside restaurant for dinner. A great place to enjoy the late-summer Finnish sunshine, along with some nice food… Andreia’s parents were also visiting, actually, no doubt to dote over their young daughter… Our stomachs full, we carried on back to Niclas’ parents place, located at next-door Pedersöre (thankfully, I passed the breathalyzer test I had to take after leaving the restaurant). The Knuts clan live a at a typical Ostrobotnian farm, very rustic and cosy indeed. Niclas & Andreia are actually building their own house next to the main farm (they’ve done very well so far I think, considering the recently-arrived baby, Niclas’ company etc. – although a fair bit of work remains). We spent a very pleasant evening, watching Ocean’s 13 on their great home cinema system (like during the good old days at their place in Fleet)…
The destination for the next day was Tampere. But before then we obviously paid a visit to Jeppis town centre, with its typically Finnish wooden houses and cobble-stoned streets (most Finnish towns used to be built mostly out of wood, which is why a lot of them no longer exist – they’ve burnt down). Having strolled around there for an hour or so, we set the course for Tampere. There isn’t that much to see between Jakobstad and Tampere, so we decided upon a rather unusual stop – at Tuuri. The main (only?) attraction of Tuuri is the biggest village shop in Finland. Basically, it’s a massive shopping centre in the middle of nowhere, with the associated restaurants, a hotel, casino, spa, etc. The only lasting memory of the place was that I had the worst fajitas of my life there – it’s one of those dishes I thought you couldn’t go wrong with (obviously I was wrong…). As far as the “village shop” itself is concerned, I don’t really understand what the fuss is about… (I’d rather go to Stockman in the centre of Helsinki).
We arrived in Tampere late afternoon, and were happy to see that the sun was shining (it had been pi**ing down all the way from Jeppis). The plan was to spend the night at a colleague of mine, Pentti’s, but we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and walk around Tampere for a bit first. Tampere is what one could maybe call the Manchester or Birmingham of Finland – this is where the industrial revolution of Finland kicked off in many ways. As a result of this, it’s also a city with strong working-class roots – during the Finnish civil war in 1918, it was the focal point of the reds’ resistance. Anyway, the industrial past of Tampere is very noticeable as you walk through the city, with its red-brick buildings and large factory buildings (many of which house museums, bars and cultural centres these days).
After our wander around, we headed back to Pentti's and his girlfriend's place, located in a very nice and leafy suburb of Tampere. Pentti is another friend from our days in the UK, who moved back to Finland a couple of years ago. Into a very nice house, it must be said! (the place is quite a maze, I got lost there more than once). The evening kicked off with a delicious dinner. Proceedings started with a delicious mushroom soup (which Pentti’s better half had picked, naturally), followed by some equally delicious barbequeued elk meat (which Pentti had acquired during a hunting trip), accompanied by some very nice Chilean red wine. After a very nice sauna session (in a rather high-tech sauna), and some (too much…) 15-year old whisky, we hit the bed for some well-needed sleep…
The next day was dedicated to visiting Tampere. We started the day with a visit to Pyynikki, a big park located on the outskirts of Tampere, with its panoramic tower. The views from up there were rather nice, with a great view towards Tampere town centre and also one of the two lakes between which Tampere is located – Pyhäjärvi (the other lake is Näsijärvi). A pity about the grey sky, though… We then headed back to the town centre, and started exploring Tampere seriously. The positive impression I got during my last visit to Tampere (which was during winter), was strengthened during my visit – Tampere is perhaps my second favourite city in Finland, after Helsinki. I like the red-brick architecture, the location between the two lakes, and the down-to-earth people. We had a look at the famous library (with its Moomin museum), the cathedral, the Finnlayson cultural complex (a very nice conversion of the old abandoned factory buildings), Vabriikki (another factory, converted to a collection of museums – all of which were closed, unfortunately, today being Monday), had a mustamakkara (the local speciality – “black sausage” – quite similar to black pudding) and finally, visited the Lenin museum (the only one of its kind in the world). All in all, a very pleasant day, then!
Having “done Tampere”, we jumped into our car, and sped down to Pargas, where our summer house is located, and where we were spending our last night in Finland for this trip. On the way, we stopped in Kangasala, just outside Tampere, to pay visit Miguel and Tuija, yet another couple we know from our days in the UK, for yet another coffee and cake session. Great to catch up with them again, and meet the new family member! A couple of hours’ drive later, we finally arrived in Pargas. My parents had kindly prepared a proper “kräftskiva” for the occasion. Kräftskiva is a mainly Finnish-Swedish tradition, which involves dressing up very formally, eating loads of crayfish, drinking even more snaps, and singing drinking songs. Great fun, everybody should try it at least once… This time we did a light version, which meant no formal attire, white wine instead of vodka, and no singing. In spite of this, it was great fun!
Having spent Tuesday relaxing, resting (we needed it!), and reorganising our bags for the next leg of the journey (Sweden), we drove up to Turku in the evening to catch our ferry to Stockholm. In a way it felt sad to leave; for me this part of the journey had really been a great one (rediscovering my country, seeing friends & family, and just enjoying the peace and quiet the Finnish nature offers, which is quite rare in most parts of the world these days…). On the other hand, it was raining again, so we were happy to leave for sunnier pastures ;-).
Rovaniemi is the biggest city of Lapland (which isn’t saying much, really…), located just south of the Arctic Circle. It’s another typical example of Finnish post-World War II town planning – (unlike the towns in the east which had been destroyed by the Russians, Rovaniemi was destroyed by the Germans when they retreated from Finland at the end of World War II) – which is to say it’s rather ugly. There is a bit of an odd curiosity of a sight, though – the Lordi square. Yes, that’s right, a square dedicated to the 2006 Eurovision song contest winners (these guys) – who hail from Rovaniemi… We obviously also HAD to have lunch at the Lordi “Rockintola” – a “cosy” little eatery; with its cavern-like interior and charming decoration consisting of skulls and axes. Well, with a price of 10 euros for a monster burger, it was well worth the visit (even better than Hesburger). Obviously we couldn’t leave Rovaniemi without visiting Arktikum; which is probably the top tourist attraction of Rovaniemi. It’s a very interesting museum dedicated to Lapland and the arctic, where we spent a couple of hours learning all about the Sami way of life, ice bears and the arctic nature. One of the best museums in Finland, definitely. 
Before heading towards Tornio, we decided a detour to the Arctic Circle was called for (since we were only a few km away…). The “Arctic Circle” is a bit of a bizarre place. I guess it started off as a pretty normal highway services, but has over the years been transformed into a bit of a tourist trap (yihaa, mass tourism has arrived in Finland). There is Santa Claus’ post office (which is a pretty neat idea, actually, “you know, for kids”), SantaPark, Santa’s work shop, the “famous” Arctic Circle line (a bit like the Greenwich mean time line in London), not to mention a massive shopping centre full of tourist trinket shops. Never thought I’d see the like of it in Finland. Anyway, it was all very amusing in a very tacky & wacky sort of way, but we nonetheless pushed on (having sent our Santa post cards).
A couple of hours later, we arrived in Karunki – a place we have heard so much about (mostly – no, actually only – from our friend Sami). Turns out it’s not a very big place (blink and you’ll miss it) – in fact all the houses in Karunki seem to be lined up along the main road going through town. We joined Sami at his parents’ house, who warmly welcomed us with coffee and cake (as the custom is in Finland). During a very entertaining hour or so, Sami and his parents told us about what makes Karunki such a fascinating place (basically it’s all about fishing – I never realised all the politics involved…). From there we headed down to Kukkolankoski, to watch the local fishermen in action. The idea was to be there for the “fish distribution”, which is still done the “traditional way” (the rules for which are to complex to explain here – suffice to say that the rules were devised during a time when fishermen were illiterate) – unfortunately it didn’t take place when we were there... We then headed down to Sami’s parents’ cottage, very nicely located on the shores of the Tornio River. And this was a proper traditional Finnish cottage – which meant dry toilet and no electricity (and naturally a wood-fired sauna). After a very nice sauna bath, and swim in the river, Sami took us out on a boat ride along the moonlit Tornio river. It was a very pleasant experience indeed – especially since we were treated to the rather special sight of two elks walking along the mist-covered shoreline. And to top off a great evening, we had some tasty fish Sami’s mum had smoked for us –what a culinary delight!After a peaceful night’s sleep, it was time to carry on. Before bidding our farewells to Sami’s parents, and leaving beautiful Karunki, we did scale the local mountain though, from where we were greeted with some great views over the surrounding landscapes and the Tornio River. Our next stop was at Tornio, right on the Swedish border. We visited the church, with its pretty interior, after which we decided to go for lunch. After considering our options, we opted for a very “original” choice – crossing the border to Haparanda in Sweden, and having meatballs and mashed potatoes at Ikea!
After this culinary experience, we carried on to Oulu, where Sami lives at the moment (now there’s a bit of a change of environment – from Nice to Oulu…). After dropping off our things at his place, we headed into town for dinner. We had about an hour to kill before dinner, so had plenty of time to walk around Oulu. It’s quite a nice town actually, with quite a lot of well-preserved, old, wooden buildings. Oulu is also a pretty lively place, with a large student population and a big concentration of high-tech companies (including a rather big Nokia site…) – it’s sort of like the silicon valley of Northern Finland. We had dinner at a Greek restaurant, where Lauri and his lovely wife joined us. Good to meet Lauri again – he’s an old colleague of mine from Southwood, who decided to relocate to Oulu a year ago or so (from what he told me, he also suffered from some mild reverse cultural shock ;-). After the meal we headed to the local Irish pub (surely proof that Oulu is a cosmopolitan place in spite of its remote location – dinner in a Greek restaurant and drinks in an Irish pub!!), where we were joined by Jari, an old friend of ours from Nice. After a couple of pints of Guinness, and a ridiculously overpriced shot of Lagavulin (welcome to Finland…), it was time to make our way back to Sami’s place for some well-needed sleep…
The next day, we headed off relatively bright ‘n early, having said our emotional good byes to Sami, as we had a long drive ahead of us the next day. The road took us into the flat landscapes of Ostrobotnia, which is also peculiar in that large parts have a Swedish-speaking majority. Landscape-wise Ostrobotnia is sort of boring; this part of Finland is largely devoid of lakes or any height variance (hence some call this part of Finland “Pampas”). Our first stop in Pampas was Kalajoki, where we visited the famous “Hiekkasärkät”.- basically a long dune-covered beach – one of the most famous beaches in Finland, in fact. And quite justly so, it would’ve been a very nice place for a swim – a pity about the cold winds. Still, the place was well worth a stop. 
From Kalajoki we carried on to Kokkola, where the plan was to meet another ex-colleague from Southwood – Markus. We were once again kindly treated to coffee and cakes at Markus’ and his missus’ house, located just outside Kokkola (or Karleby, as it’s known in Swedish). Great to catch up with him– it’s been about 4 years since we last met, I reckon… After finishing our coffee, they took us for a short walk around the nice old town of Kokkola, amusingly named “Neristan” (means “Down in the town” in Swedish), with its typical wooden houses and cobble-stone streets. Neristan also had a rather peculiar artefact – a boat captured by the locals from the Brits during the Crimean war (yes, the Brits made it all the way to Finland…). 
The next destination on our journey was Jakobstad, where the plan was to meet up with yet another old mate from Southwood, Niclas, and his wife Portuguese wife Andreia. The drive up there took us through the “7-bridges archipelago”, which made a nice change from the otherwise rather flat landscapes of Pampas. After our rendezvous in the centre of “Jeppis” (as the Swedish-speaking locals affectionately call it), Niclas took us to a nice seaside restaurant for dinner. A great place to enjoy the late-summer Finnish sunshine, along with some nice food… Andreia’s parents were also visiting, actually, no doubt to dote over their young daughter… Our stomachs full, we carried on back to Niclas’ parents place, located at next-door Pedersöre (thankfully, I passed the breathalyzer test I had to take after leaving the restaurant). The Knuts clan live a at a typical Ostrobotnian farm, very rustic and cosy indeed. Niclas & Andreia are actually building their own house next to the main farm (they’ve done very well so far I think, considering the recently-arrived baby, Niclas’ company etc. – although a fair bit of work remains). We spent a very pleasant evening, watching Ocean’s 13 on their great home cinema system (like during the good old days at their place in Fleet)… The destination for the next day was Tampere. But before then we obviously paid a visit to Jeppis town centre, with its typically Finnish wooden houses and cobble-stoned streets (most Finnish towns used to be built mostly out of wood, which is why a lot of them no longer exist – they’ve burnt down). Having strolled around there for an hour or so, we set the course for Tampere. There isn’t that much to see between Jakobstad and Tampere, so we decided upon a rather unusual stop – at Tuuri. The main (only?) attraction of Tuuri is the biggest village shop in Finland. Basically, it’s a massive shopping centre in the middle of nowhere, with the associated restaurants, a hotel, casino, spa, etc. The only lasting memory of the place was that I had the worst fajitas of my life there – it’s one of those dishes I thought you couldn’t go wrong with (obviously I was wrong…). As far as the “village shop” itself is concerned, I don’t really understand what the fuss is about… (I’d rather go to Stockman in the centre of Helsinki).
We arrived in Tampere late afternoon, and were happy to see that the sun was shining (it had been pi**ing down all the way from Jeppis). The plan was to spend the night at a colleague of mine, Pentti’s, but we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and walk around Tampere for a bit first. Tampere is what one could maybe call the Manchester or Birmingham of Finland – this is where the industrial revolution of Finland kicked off in many ways. As a result of this, it’s also a city with strong working-class roots – during the Finnish civil war in 1918, it was the focal point of the reds’ resistance. Anyway, the industrial past of Tampere is very noticeable as you walk through the city, with its red-brick buildings and large factory buildings (many of which house museums, bars and cultural centres these days).
After our wander around, we headed back to Pentti's and his girlfriend's place, located in a very nice and leafy suburb of Tampere. Pentti is another friend from our days in the UK, who moved back to Finland a couple of years ago. Into a very nice house, it must be said! (the place is quite a maze, I got lost there more than once). The evening kicked off with a delicious dinner. Proceedings started with a delicious mushroom soup (which Pentti’s better half had picked, naturally), followed by some equally delicious barbequeued elk meat (which Pentti had acquired during a hunting trip), accompanied by some very nice Chilean red wine. After a very nice sauna session (in a rather high-tech sauna), and some (too much…) 15-year old whisky, we hit the bed for some well-needed sleep… 
The next day was dedicated to visiting Tampere. We started the day with a visit to Pyynikki, a big park located on the outskirts of Tampere, with its panoramic tower. The views from up there were rather nice, with a great view towards Tampere town centre and also one of the two lakes between which Tampere is located – Pyhäjärvi (the other lake is Näsijärvi). A pity about the grey sky, though… We then headed back to the town centre, and started exploring Tampere seriously. The positive impression I got during my last visit to Tampere (which was during winter), was strengthened during my visit – Tampere is perhaps my second favourite city in Finland, after Helsinki. I like the red-brick architecture, the location between the two lakes, and the down-to-earth people. We had a look at the famous library (with its Moomin museum), the cathedral, the Finnlayson cultural complex (a very nice conversion of the old abandoned factory buildings), Vabriikki (another factory, converted to a collection of museums – all of which were closed, unfortunately, today being Monday), had a mustamakkara (the local speciality – “black sausage” – quite similar to black pudding) and finally, visited the Lenin museum (the only one of its kind in the world). All in all, a very pleasant day, then!
Having “done Tampere”, we jumped into our car, and sped down to Pargas, where our summer house is located, and where we were spending our last night in Finland for this trip. On the way, we stopped in Kangasala, just outside Tampere, to pay visit Miguel and Tuija, yet another couple we know from our days in the UK, for yet another coffee and cake session. Great to catch up with them again, and meet the new family member! A couple of hours’ drive later, we finally arrived in Pargas. My parents had kindly prepared a proper “kräftskiva” for the occasion. Kräftskiva is a mainly Finnish-Swedish tradition, which involves dressing up very formally, eating loads of crayfish, drinking even more snaps, and singing drinking songs. Great fun, everybody should try it at least once… This time we did a light version, which meant no formal attire, white wine instead of vodka, and no singing. In spite of this, it was great fun!Having spent Tuesday relaxing, resting (we needed it!), and reorganising our bags for the next leg of the journey (Sweden), we drove up to Turku in the evening to catch our ferry to Stockholm. In a way it felt sad to leave; for me this part of the journey had really been a great one (rediscovering my country, seeing friends & family, and just enjoying the peace and quiet the Finnish nature offers, which is quite rare in most parts of the world these days…). On the other hand, it was raining again, so we were happy to leave for sunnier pastures ;-).
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