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 the year 2000, the annual "Mobile Phone Distance Throwing World Championships" are held here.

Truth is stranger than fiction!

Surely, this is a nice place in fine weather, with it´s harbor and the little sandy beach...
But you guessed it, it wasn´t such a day.

A bunch of fancy bird houses can be found all over town

Our next stop was Lappeenranta, less than 30km from the Russian border.

This little town also sits at the shores of lake Saimaa, which is why a part-time colleague my human knows from Thailand, has s sightseeing boat here and was going to take her out on a two hour cruise.

One of the rare occasions I am in a photo!

Captain Pekka in summer, dive instructor Pekka in winter

A huge bio fuel and timber plant

Millions of "match sticks" are floating down the river every year to get processed here.

The first lock of the canal from the Finish side.

It drops you down 12,5m!

Since 1856, a 43km long canal with eight locks connects Lake Saimaa, via the Russian city of Vyborg, with the Gulf of Finland and is the most historically important canal in the country.
It is more of less solely responsible for the industrial development of eastern Finland.

The town is a model for renewable energy and a clean living environment.

Every year, there is a sand sculpture park at the end of the harbor.

We were getting very close to Helsinki now, but stopped off for a stroll in one of six medieval towns of Finland, Porvoo (or Borga in Swedish).

It was first mentioned as a city in a text from the 14th Century and is the seat of the Swedish speaking Diocese of Borga of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. 

The town is a bilingual municipality with Finish (63%) and Swedish (27%) as official languages.

Porvoo Old Town is a popular tourist destination, known for its well-preserved 18th- and 19th-century buildings and the 15th-century Cathedral.

Now, on to Helsinki, or rather Espoo, a small city some 15km from the center.
Here we met up with Petteri, another friend an colleague my human works with in Thailand.

We were going to stay here for a couple of days before driving to Petteri´s summer cottage.

Helsinki has been the capital of Finland since 1812. Before that it was Turku, but Alexander I. of Russia moved it for political reasons.

Today, the metropolitan area of Helsinki is home to 1.6 million people and is the most significant center for politics, education, finance and culture. 
It is also the northern-most capital of a EU member state.

Helsinki has one of the highest standards of urban living in the world and continuously scores high on all the "city quality of live" indices.

The Senate Square, with the Cathedral perched high above it, is starting point for any city exploration.

Helsinki Cathedral

Uspenski Cathedral, largest orthodox church in Western Europe

The newest bridge in Finland, only for public transport, foot and bike traffic

Some nice produce markets in the city

The most striking building in town, at least for my human, is the public library.
It was built only eight years ago and is a marvel of public service.

Not only is it a place to rent out and read books, it also offers work stations for a variety of arts, crafts and handiwork.
There are cutting tables and sewing machines, large scale printers, work benches with tools like soldering irons and wood cutting instruments, gaming rooms, sound proof recording studios, instruments, you name it!
And all for free for the citizens of Helsinki.

It is a very modern, open space with a lovely roof terrace. 
The library alone would make a book lover want to live in Helsinki.

A small area dedicated to playing chess

In the late afternoon Petteri joined my human and the went to Suomenlinna, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, by ferry.

Suomenlinna used to be an off-limits military area. Nowadays you can visit large parts of the islands and look at the old buildings, museums and canons.
Some areas, like the Naval Academy, which is where Petteri spend many years studying and later teaching, are obviously still restricted.

This sea fortress was built over three centuries on six fortified islands.
Nowadays, there are also 300 private homes, even a school, daycare, offices and a surprising number of restaurants.

This church tower dubs as a lighthouse

Part of the Military Academy

Only 20 minutes by ferry from Helsinki

Just your average size cannon

King´s gate

The following day, we went to visit Violetta, who lives conveniently close to Petteri. 
My human and her first met in 2013 on an expedition in Nepal. A few years later, Violetta came to visit her in Mexico for some diving, where she was working at the time.

They spent the whole day talking, walking around a park and eating in Violettas beautiful house.

You know you are friends with someone special when you can pick up where you let off eight years earlier!

Fun fact:

Finland has an estimated 3.3 million saunas. Considering a population of around 5.6 million, that's one sauna for every 1.7 people!

Even the ferry we will use to get from Finland to Sweden next week has one!