Meeting friends in the south of Finland
On our way to Savonlinna, we briefly stopped in the small town of Kerimäki. Kerimäki church, also called the "Yellow Giant", is the worlds biggest wooden church and was erected in only three years by the community in the mid 19th Century. It seats 3000 people on more than 1.5km of benches, 5000 is the maximum capacity. Unfortunately, as you can see, the whole church was shrouded, like Christo´s Reichstag in Berlin, once upon a time. Savonlinna, located in the south-east of the country, not far from the border to Russia, is nestled along the shores of Lake Saimaa, which is the largest lake system in Finland. With 4370km², it is the 4th largest natural lake in Europe. The main sight here, besides the lake itself, is Castle Olavinlinna. It was built around 1475 by the Swedes, who were rulers of these parts in those days, to avoid Russia taking over that rule. It served its purpose until 1714, when they had to surrender after a weeks long siege. Fun fact about Savonlinna: since t...