Days 30 and 31 ~ Baltic Jewels & the Midnight Sun: A Visit with Taija
A Visit with Taija ~ July 24 -27, 2022
Sunday, July 24
We woke early this morning in anticipation of a drive through the Finnish countryside to Taija's village of Ojakala. We have been to her home (her childhood home, actually) before, and we look forward to meeting her family and seeing her parents again. Jeff has been communicating via text with Avis, and they prefer to meet us at the train station to pick up the car, so we enjoyed breakfast at the prison ... err I mean HOTEL, and then grabbed a cab to the central train station.
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| Finnish Train |
In short order we had our rental car, programmed the GPS for Taija's house specifying "no highways" and we were off into the countryside. Basically, Finland is made up of farms and forests. Everything is clean and beautiful. We never saw litter of any kind. Occasionally we would pass a barn or shed that had fallen into disrepair, but not often. Fields upon fields of barley -- a deep golden yellow color that took my breath away. In addition we saw many young wheat fields. Those were a glaucous blue/green color that was also extraordinarily beautiful. Forests were a mixture of pine forests interspersed with tall tall birch trees. The soil in these areas is generally rocky, making the land less suitable for farming.
As we made the 2-3 hour drive, we were struck by the absence of commercial areas. These seem to be confined to the outskirts of the larger cities. Jeff mused that we hadn't passed a single gas station for much of the first two hours of the drive. We made a stop in the seaside village of Raasepori, where we enjoyed a delicious buffet lunch.
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| The View from Our Table |
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| We enjoyed our lunch on this enclosed patio with a view of the sea |
When Jeff went to purchase the buffet, he said, "Do you speak English?" The young woman at the register replied, "Yes, of course." Jeff responded, "Oh good, because my Finnish is not good." She laughed and said, "It is probably better than mine!" When we told this story later that afternoon to Taija, she expressed her concern that the Finnish language is disappearing in many parts of Finland.
In looking up Raasepori, I discovered a few things that I wish we had known about and taken the time to visit. I am including them to remind me for our next visit to Scandinavia and Finland.
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| Raasepori Castle |
The municipality of Raasepori was named after a medieval castle, called Raaseporin Linna (Raasepori Castle). The castle was a lively trading place as far back as the 15th century. Today, they say, it is one of the most impressive ruins in Finland, and visitors are able to roam around it and peek through the windows.
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| Mustion Manor |
Mustion Linna is another place I wish we had gone to see. It is one of Finland's most important manor houses, consisting of five buildings with over 200 years of history. The manor has been lovingly restored and serves as a museum and a hotel.
A third place we wished we had known about - the artisan villages of Fiskars Village, known as the center of Finnish art and design, and Billnas, which has residential and commercial buildings dating from the 1700s.
Anyway ... all of that is for another time. Within a few seconds after we arrived at Taija's, she was at the door! The years fell away, and she looked just the same as she did thirty years ago. Hugs were exchanged, and we went upstairs to meet her husband, Jukka, and her younger son, Niklas (soon to be 11 years old). Her older son, Samu (aged 15), was away at "confirmation camp" - he will be confirmed on Sunday, followed by a party with fifty guests at Taija's home.
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| Jukka, Niklas, Samu, Taija |
Jeff bought the Yankee caps as a gift for Taija's boys. I brought one of my favorite plates painted by my mother and a bottle of sparkling wine as gifts for Jukka and Taija.
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| Selfie of the whole gang! |
We spent a delightful afternoon chatting about this and that, and Taija said that they ate their main meal at lunch time, and offered to reheat some soup for us. We opted for coffee and a savory rice biscuit and some chocolate chip cookies proudly made by Niklas.
After some more conversation, we headed to what Taija has always referred to as the "luxury warehouse accommodations." Taija's husband runs his own trucking business, and he has to get up at 3 a.m. Besides, we were tired and ready for some rest and relaxation. We had stayed in this "guest house" on our prior visit back in July of 2000, so we were quite familiar with the accommodations, which are comfortable and separate from the main house.
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| Taija's House Viewed from Our Guest House Window |
Monday, July 26
The next morning we had a bit of breakfast with Taija and Niklas, and then Taija went to pick up Samu while we stayed with Niklas. Samu turns out to be a typical teenager - aloof and almost surly with his mother at times. He greeted us and then disappeared into his bedroom.
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| Niklas, Taija, Linda |
Taija's House (left) and Beautiful Deck (right)
We had offered to take the family out for dinner, and Jukka phoned Taija mid day to say he could come home early from work if we would like to go for dinner. When Jukka got home, the adults enjoyed some sparkling wine and then the six of us went to Ismet, a restaurant in the nearby town of Nummela. The boys rode with us, and Taija and Jukka led the way to the restaurant.
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| Our Table at Ismet |
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| Chevre (Goat Cheese) Chicken Salad |
I had a salad with grilled chicken, and a large cake of goat cheese that had also been grilled. It was absolutely delicious. Jeff, Taija, and Niklas each had a pizza; and Jukka and Samu had huge platters of meat with French fries. Everyone enjoyed their dinner immensely. When we got back we walked about the yard a bit viewing some "forts" that had been built by Taija's father with help from her brother (the older one) and from Samu (the newer one). Jukka also showed Jeff a gigantic ant "nest" that was absolutely amazing to me!
The tree house built by Taija's Dad and her brother on the left; the one he and Samu built is on the right.
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| Gigantic Ant Hill! Unbelievable! |
Tuesday, July 27, 2022
We woke late this morning and joined Niklas and Taija in the kitchen, where Niklas was making another batch of his chocolate chip cookies. Jeff delighted Niklas by using a variety of coins left over from our travels to "buy" some of Niklas' cookies. Once the cookies were finished, we went over to Taija's parents house for a short visit.
Several years ago Taija and Jukka purchased her childhood home from her parents. Her parents had inherited a home nearby from her grandmother and renovated all three floors. I believe they also added an indoor heated swimming pool. Taija took us over to see them and the house, and we had a short, but lovely visit.
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| Taija's Grandparents House, Now Owned by Her Parents |
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| Niklas Loves to Swim! |
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| Indoor Swimming Pool with Solar Heating Devices |
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| Taija's Dad Loves to Talk About His Solar Heater |
Taija's Mom is quite the flower gardener! I just loved these lilies!
We don't have any photos of Taija's mother because during our visit, she was in the kitchen baking special cookies for Samu's confirmation party, so we did not spend very much time with her. We stayed about half an hour and then said our goodbyes. Niklas stayed longer, but we headed for our last stop - to see Taija's church in the neighboring village of Vinhi.
This is the third iteration of the Vinhi Church (Lutheran). The first building dates back to the 1700s and was located down the hill next to the lake. It was destroyed by fire, and a new building was constructed up the hill. This, too, was destroyed by fire in the 1800s and replaced with the current building.
The painting above the alar dates back to the 1800s building. It had been placed in storage because the people of the church didn't like it at the time. As a result, it wasn't destroyed in the fire.
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| Marlia, the Docent/Guide at the Church, was a lovely and knowledgeable young woman! |
The organ on the left is a tracker, similar to the organ in the Methodist Church. It is the instrument the church uses. The organ and pipes on the right are not used any more.
Both the candle lighting structure on the left and the chandelier on the right were salvaged from the second fire, according to our lovely and knowledgeable docent. The wood stove below was also salvaged and placed in the church as a reminder of its past. It is not functional at this time.
Jeff, Taija, and the docent began the ascent to the bell tower. Taija immediately returned saying that the steps were too steep, narrow, and "twisty" for her taste. Jeff returned later exclaiming how wonderful the view had been.
As we were getting ready to leave, the docent exclaimed, "Oh! There's one more thing I can show you. It's kind of a museum, but it's also a storage place.
The two pictures above are part of a memorial for Finnish soldiers who were killed in the various wars. The garden with the crosses are meticulously maintained - in fact we saw a couple of young adults doing some weeding while we were there.
Sadly, when we returned to Taija's house after the tour of her church, it was time for us to head to Helsinki where we will spend the night before our 7:00 a.m. flight. We said our tearful goodbyes with promises that "this won't be our last visit," set the GPS for a "no highways" trip to the Hilton Helsinki Airport. We checked in, and then Jeff returned the rental car while I waited for him in the lobby.
We enjoyed a late lunch and then returned to the room to take a much needed nap. Late in the evening we shared a delightful charcuterie board with delicious cheeses, some bread, crackers, several different cured meats, and some wonderful olives. Since we have to get up at 3:30 a.m. to check in for our flight, we had and early night. This has been a wonderful trip of a lifetime, and although I am sorry to see it end, it will be good to get home
Wednesday, July 28
I didn't sleep well because I was concerned about the alarm not going off, and I got up at about 3:00 a.m. Shortly thereafter Jeff's alarm went off, causing him to jump out of bed and bend over quickly to turn the alarm off. I'm not sure whether that is what caused it, or whether it was just "one of those things," but Jeff was behaving strangely, and as he sat down heavily in the armchair in our room, I looked over and said, "Are you OK? I think you might be having some vertigo." Sure enough, that was the issue, and we would NOT be flying that day. Sigh ....
Four hours and $5,000 later, I managed to secure tickets to get us home tomorrow. It wasn't easy, and I was on the verge of tears more than once as I spoke first with Viking Air, who were not at ALL helpful, and then with two different Delta agents - both of whom were wonderfully helpful. Our tickets from Amsterdam to JFK in New York will be first class (not my choice -- but there are NO seats available other than first class). So ... we will fly Helsinki to Amsterdam; Amsterdam to JFK; and JFK to Boston.
Next, I headed down to the lobby to let the hotel know that we would not be leaving today. Fortunately, there was no problem. Relieved, I returned to our room.
Jeff will sleep off his vertigo, and I will worry and try to get some sleep myself.
Thursday, July 29
Going home ... Take Two! Once again the alarm went off at 3:30 a.m. This time, however, even though Jeff was still not 100%, we packed up the few remaining items, grabbed our three suitcases and walked to the terminal to check in for our flight. I was relieved when I looked at our boarding passes to see that we were seated together on all three of our flights. We easily went through security, and arrived at our gate at about 4:30 a.m. Jeff procured some water for himself and a bottle of lemon flavored sparkling water for me, since my stomach really wasn't ready for coffee. The time passed fairly quickly, and before we knew it the flight was boarding.
I was seated in the middle, with Jeff by the window, and a guy on the aisle. That guy was the biggest "manspreader" I've ever encountered, hogging the armrest as well, leaving me feeling squashed and uncomfortable. Fortunately, the flight was relatively short and uneventful.
Making the transfer in Amsterdam was not nearly as harried and difficult as social media would have you believe. We made our way to and through passport control in less than twenty minutes and were at our gate with lots of time to spare.
What can I say about traveling first/business class? To say that it is "comfortable" is a complete and total understatement. For Jeff, who still just wanted sleep, it was heaven sent. Since he had not eaten in more than 24 hours, we decided to wait until lunch was served before settling in to sleep most of the trip. He ate about half of the lunch that was served and the next thing I knew he had put on his headphones to listen to jazz and had made his seat into a flat "bed" and was off to dreamland.
As for me, I enjoyed a few glasses of wine and a nice lunch of very good grilled chicken and salad, and watched a couple of movies.
We landed at JFK at about 1:30 p.m., had no problem getting through customs (thank you Global Entry), dropped our luggage at the designated spot (hoping that and found our way to the Delta Lounge, which as business class passengers, we had access to - which was great since our 6:30 p.m. flight to Boston was delayed until almost 9 p.m.
At last we were at Logan, Bethany was there to meet us, our luggage made it as well. Beth drove us to her house and we both collapsed into her guest room bed for a much needed night's sleep.
The next morning Aimee and Ann joined us for breakfast and a visit before we headed for Middlebury and home.
What an amazing five weeks! We met wonderful people all along the way, ate fabulous food, and gasped at so many breathtaking sunsets. We learned so much about Scandinavia and its history as we soaked up the culture and all that each city and town had to offer. I am truly blessed to have come to this point in my life when I am able to have these fantastic travel experiences and return to family, friends, and all the comforts of home.
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