mostly WALKING

So it's going to be spring again

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 21:49:00 +0000

When looking at the pictures above it might not look like spring - but it definitely feels that way. Not only this blog but also its author have been more or less hibernating for the past couple of months or so. But the days are getting longer and the thermometre is showing milder temperatures and I have started to feel an itch to pack my backpack and hit the road. Today I went for a short local walk with a flask full of tea and a sitmat in my pack. I was breathing fresh air and enjoying the sunshine.

During the past week I have started to plan backpacking trips for the coming spring-summer-autumn season. Repovesi is likely to be one destination (not only because it was elected the Finnish trekking destination of the year, but also because my father-in-law would like to visit it with me and our son). I will also be visiting Kaunissaari once again - if only the schedule is ok I will be helping this friend of mine to set up/take down her camp (like in last September). It also seems that it might be possible for me to reach Lapland this summer. I guess that even our youngest family member has now reached the age when it would be ok for the mom to be away for a week or so. And sure I hope there will be other trips as well. But everything is still pretty much in the planning phase.

I have also gone through my kit. Is there anything I desperately need to buy? Well, not really. Is there anything I'd fancy? Probably yes. After purchasing a top mounted gas stove (the Coleman F1) last year I'd like to try a lightweight hose mounted gas stove. The Primus Express Spider would fit nicely into my bowl (which in turn fits nicely into my pot). Yes, I've visited a local outdoor shop and checked. The first aid kit needs to be checked and updated, too.

So all in all it seems that I'm gradually getting ready for the spring. The vernal equinox will be in less than a month.

PS. Contrary to the plans in my previous post, this blog has not turned bilingual. It would mean a lot of scrolling back and forth, so I'll need to think of another solution.

Happy new year!

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 20:14:00 +0000

Another year is reaching its end and a new one is about to begin. I thank all who have visited this blog, especially a big thank you for all the comments!

After some thorough contemplation I've decided to make some changes in this blog next year (including a change in the language - this blog will be bilingual from now on), but just now I'll continue to admire the fireworks!

I wish you all a happy year 2012!

Hyvää vuotta 2012 kaikille blogini lukijoille!

No two years alike

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:59:00 +0000

Vihti 26/11/2011

Two previous winters have been extremely snowy here in southern Finland. Last year I visited Nuuksio in November and it really was a wintry day. This autumn we haven't seen one single snowflake in Helsinki. We've had a couple of frosty mornings but for example right now the temperature is around +7 °C. And the regular readers of this blog know that I'm not complaining.

The Christmas time is anyway approaching, whether it is going to be a white Christmas or not. The first advent was celebrated last weekend - and that means the official start of the pre-Christmas party season (or pikkujoulu 'little Christmas', as we call it in Finnish). We were visiting the summer place of my parents-in-law where they had organized some outdoor activities for the children.

Small presents - stickers, candy etc. - were found along the route.

Some food was prepared over the open fire.

And of course, the nature was enjoyed!

This time I thank my hubby for the photos - I forgot my own camera at home!

A misty Sunday walk

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 10:33:00 +0000

Myllyjärvi (Espoo) 23/10/2011

We went for a short Sunday walk in Myllyjärvi nature reserve a little north of lake Bodom* in Espoo. It was me, hubby and our two daughters - our son was visiting my parents-in-law. It was a misty day. The thermometer told it was +8 °C, but it felt chilly. Here are some pictures:

Some of the trees have already lost all their leaves, while others are still yellow - a nice contrast against the grey sky.

We passed some fields...

and farm land.

It was grey, but beautiful.

Hazel shrubs are not common in Finland, but there are some in the southern part of the country. (I've been told by a guide book that these here are hazel shrubs.)

The remains of an old mill, mylly - hence the the name of the area Myllyjärvi, "mill+lake"


Some sandwiches and hot drinks (tea/coffee/hot chocolate) were consumed by lake Myllyjärvi.

What a perfect hideout!

Weird looking fungi.

The girls were having fun in their wellingtons...

... while I was testing my new Sealskinz socks for the first time! (They did their job fine.)

I felt refreshed after our walk. The air - albeit chilly - was humid and fresh, it was good to breath. So almost any weather is nice for getting out for a walk. They are predicting for a cold and snowy winter again this year; I must try to learn to enjoy that as well. Snow-shoeing is definitely something I'd like to try out. Meanwhile, I'll continue to enjoy the autumn, my favourite season of the year.

_____

*Lake Bodom is infamous in the Finnish criminal history. Four teenagers were camping on the shores of the lake in the summer of 1960 - three of them were killed during the night, the fourth one survived with some injuries. The case remains open up to date. You can't really mention lake Bodom without telling this.

Sorlampi overnighter

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:31:00 +0000

Oittaa - Pirttimäki area 15/10/2011 - 16/10/2011

The schoolkids in Helsinki had a short (Thu - Sun) autumn holiday last week. I went for an overnighter with our 8-year-old son. I wanted to spend some time with just him and we had planned to go camping for some time already. I was also curious to know how he would behave when he needed to carry his share of the load. He carried his own sleeping bag and mattress (both of which he borrowed from his dad) + his own clothes - and of course some other essentials, like a deck of playing cards and a 0.5 l water bottle. The weight of his rucksack was a tad under 5.5 kg (including the water). He seemed to cope well and told that the backpack was not too heavy.

I chose Oittaa - Pirttimäki area in Espoo. These areas are owned by the City of Helsinki although they are located in Espoo (close to Nuuksio national park), and they are meant for recreational use. There are some marked trails, but it is allowed to walk also off-trail. It is allowed to camp and build a camp fire in designated locations - and there are several of those locations. We took the bus number 85 from Espoo centre (Espoon keskus) to Brobacka and headed to Sorlampi nature trail. We started walking at around 2 pm and our target was to reach Sorlampi pond in good time before the sun would set shortly after 6 pm. There was also an interesting cave along the way which we wanted to explore.

We were lucky with the weather. It has been raining quite a lot lately, and the terrain was wet and muddy - but we didn't get a drop on us from the sky. It was also relatively warm (+5...+10 °C) considering the time of the year.

I had planned our route so that there would be something interesting to see both days. The attraction of the day on Saturday was a cave, hiidenpesä or 'a goblin's lair' as caves like this are called in the Finnish mythology. It was possible to crawl into the lair. We spent almost an hour exploring the cave and eating sandwiches there. The imagination really got loose; at one point we were archeologists, at another point we were goblins, ...

I kept an eye on the watch because I wanted to find a good camping spot before it was dark. So we continued our journey to Sorlampi pond.

We reached Sorlampi in good time. There were still some day walkers sitting by the camp fire, but they were gone by the time we had set up the camp and filtered some water into our water bottles.

The sun started to set and by 7 pm it was completely dark. No-one else was around so we had the cooking shelter and the camp fire just to us. We sat by the fire, chatting and eating not only freeze dried but also popcorn (it was the first time I popped corn using an outdoor stove, but definitely not the last) and roasted marshmallows (too sweet to our liking - but you need to try out new things). The moon was almost full and the sky was starry.

We crawled into our sleeping bags quite early (at around 9 pm). Son sacked out really fast. I still listened to his breathing for a while - and the amount of traffic noise struck me. It must have been the noise from the Helsinki - Turku motorway a few kilometres south.

The night was peaceful, although I woke up a couple of times to check that everything was ok and son was still in his sleeping bag (stupid, I know, but it is some kind of an instinct which wakes me up - when I'm camping alone, I usually sleep like a log through the night). We got up only after the sunrise. After breaking the camp, we headed again to the cooking shelter to have some breakfast.

There was plenty of firewood but it needed to be chopped. The recreational areas owned by the City of Helsinki are often equipped with this kind wood-chopping-devices instead of axes. You place the log onto the blade and hit it with another log or like here, with a club. It works, believe me.

Breakfast was eaten and card games played. We didn't want to hurry anywhere. But when day walkers started to arrive with their sausages we decided to move on. The attraction of the day on Sunday was some giant's kettles a little north of Sorlampi pond.

These giant's kettles (there were six of them close to each other) were formed during and after the ice age in Finland. Son measured the depth of them - the deepest one was approx. 80 cm deep. Nuuksio - Retkeilyopas ja kartta (Nuuksio - a guide book and a map) by Joel Ahola is a wonderful source of information if you are planning a trip to this area. This is how I found the cave and the giant's kettles.

Now we stepped off the marked trail for a while. You meet a lot of day walkers if you follow the marked trails, but if you leave them behind, you don't see many people. We took a bearing to the north as I knew there is a sand road there which would take us to Pirttimäki (our bus would leave from there). The distance to the sand road was approx. 1.5 km.

We soon found the road and while walking to Pirttimäki we were stopped by some day walkers a couple of times. "Did you really spend the night camping? Wasn't it cold? How did you like it? But it is so dark in the evenings!" I let my son do the talking and I was happy to find out that he really seemed to have enjoyed our trip.

We walked ~4 km on Saturday and ~5 km on Sunday. We could have walked more, but I didn't want to push the limits this time. Now I know I can start planning some longer trips together next year. And maybe some of those inquisitive day walkers will venture to go camping as well!

Ruutinkoski & Haltiala family walk

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:08:00 +0000

Ruutinkoski & Haltiala 18/9/2011

We spent a Sunday in September walking in the Ruutinkoski area and visiting the nearby Haltiala animal farm. They are located in northern Helsinki.

It seems that my backpack is getting lighter - the contents of the Deuter Kid Comfort II have started to prefer walking/running. It feels a little strange that the baby/child carriers we have are becoming redundant - they have seen a lot of use during the past 8 years.

Some grey clouds gathered in the sky but the weather remained fair.

The green colour still dominated, but it had started to give way to the more autumnal shades.

A part of our walk passed through a nature reservation area where you were supposed to strictly follow the path.

The Ruutinkoski rapid area. They say this is a good place to fish.

Looks like snow, but it was some kind of foam.

A beautiful white snail.

The animals were the kids' favourite part of the walk, although I have to admit that I liked them as well.

Looks like fun!

I see many beautiful skeins of warm, woolly yarn here ;-)

A delicious end to a nice walk - the doughnuts were still warm when we ate them. Yummy!

A different kind of a weekend on Kaunissaari

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:40:00 +0000

Kaunissaari 9/9/2011 - 11/9/2011

The clouds were thick and hanging when I commenced my journey to Kaunissaari.

I spent a weekend on Kaunissaari island in September - once again. This time I was invited there by a friend of mine who spends her summers almost entirely there, camping and enjoying the beautiful nature. She's in her sixties and already retired. This year she spent only three (3) nights indoors between mid-May and mid-September!

The evenings were beautiful.

We have a common hobby - textile handicrafts - and that's how I lerned to know her. When she found out that I enjoy outdoor life she asked me if I could come and help to take down her camp now that the camping season is over on Kaunissaari. Ok, I said. To spend a weekend camping was a great idea. And it is also interesting to get to know how many different ways there are to spend your summers!

When living in a tent for four months you seem to need a lot of stuff! This is how her camp looked like when we had emptied the tent before taking it down. Pay attention to the gas stove on the left (partly covered by the opaque plastic curtain). What a difference when compared with backpacking stoves!

This is how her camp looked like when everything was packed and ready. A part of the stuff was left on the island for winter - like a migrating bird she will be back when the connection boat starts operating in the spring.

Apart from the "volunteer work camp" I had time to enjoy my being there. The evenings were spent by the campfire, cooking pancakes:


It was full moon the second night.

The first signs of autumn were already there, but it was still green and fresh:

Mushrooms were everywhere!

The sea was lovely as it always is. But the water already felt cold - I went swimming twice, luckily the warm sauna was waiting...

The capital of Estonia, Tallinn, is just some 60 kilometres south of Kaunissaari. This balloon must have floated from there:

Vabaduse laul - 'the song of freedom' (not that I know Estonian, but it belongs to the same language family as Finnish so that it is possible to understand - or guess - the meaning of some of the words).

A view to the south - the Söderskär lighthouse to the left.

It was a relaxing weekend. It had rained both nights, but I slept like a log. As my father had passed away just a week earlier I really appreciated this opportunity to be out in the nature and to have some time with my own thoughts and feelings. Nature is a great healer.

In my own camp, cooking breakfast the second morning.

Sipoonkorpi revisited

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 20:23:00 +0000

Sipoonkorpi 27/8/2011

I visited Sipoonkorpi area about a year ago - now I'm happy to let you know that Sipoonkorpi was declared a national park in spring 2011. Metsähallitus (the Finnish Forest and Park Services) organised a welcoming day in the brand new national park in August. Hubby was feverish, but I took the kids with me and we took the metro to the easternmost station, Mellunmäki. To avoid unnecessary traffic in the national park, Metsähallitus had organised a free bus connection from there to Sipoonkorpi.

The weather was nice and there were a lot of people enjoying the day outdoors. We got off the bus in Byabäcken from where there was maybe a one kilometre walk to Ängesböle.

The Finnish Scouts were present in Ängesböle, telling about their organisation and activities. There were some more traditional shelters on display. The ever-so-popular Hilleberg Akto stood for the more modern way of camping.

Martat - a Finnish home economics organisation - had built a mushroom exhibition. It was amazing to see how tiny the differences are between a delicious and lethal mushroom!

There was also a campfire and music. Metsähallitus was telling about the area. I also found out that a new guide book, including a map, was about to be published. Now it (Sipoonkorpi Pieni retkiopas) is already available in bookstores.

We spent a nice couple of hours outdoors before the bus journey back to Helsinki. Thank you Metsähallitus for organising a day like this!

_____

Just a few days after our visit to Sipoonkorpi my father passed away (this is also why I'm running so late with my updates). He was diagnosed with the infamous liver cancer back in January. The first treatments were very successful and while it was evident that he will not get rid of the disease completely, we tried to be optimistic and hoped for a couple of more years. But he got worse and worse during the summer and he died at the age of 68. Previously he had fought two different forms of cancer successfully, but this time the disease was stronger.

While I think we lost him too early, I'm grateful for the time we had with him. He was the one to introduce me to the great outdoors. I don't think I would love walking as much as I do hadn't he been my father. He also enjoyed his time as a grandfather - and I surely would have liked to have him around as a grandfather to our children for many more years. Now he teaches the kids (and us all) something about the art of saying goodbye to a loved one.

Rest in peace, dad. We miss you.

A year of outdoor blogging

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 11:35:00 +0000

Merrel Siren Sport and Meindl Vacuum Lady GTX. I choose either pair depending on terrain/weather/my mood/... For city strolls I might even choose something completely different.

Hip hip hurray! It's a year since I started writing this blog. I had been reading other outdoor blogs for some time already and thought that a blog of my own might be a nice idea. Not only because it is a good way to record my walks, but also because I wanted to comment on other outdoor blogs and it felt more okay to do so if I had an existence in the blogosphere. This is also why I chose to blog in English - I like to read not only Finnish blogs but also foreign, and English acts as a lingua franca. Sometimes I've been thinking whether there are people out there reading my blog who'd prefer a Finnish blog? Or sometimes I've chosen not to blog about something very local (a sale at a local outdoor shop, a booklet of a local trail or something like that) because such news are not very interesting to an international readership - and it feels a little strange to tell Finns about something like that in English. Anyway, I'm continuing like this so far.

Map and compass - I'm happy I did so much orienteering in my childhood and in my teens, so I got quite confident in using these. Although, there is no such thing as a perfect orienteer!

I have always walked much and spent a lot of time in the outdoors. I remember the family summer holidays as a kid: if we were not visiting relatives, we were either orienteering, doing day hikes in the Finnish national parks or travelling to European cities (by train). Oslo, Edinburgh, Paris. Prague, Vienna, Berlin (East/West). And so on. Those tours in Europe included a lot of walking! I guess we averaged some 15 kilometres a day. I'm sure that my love for walking started at a very young age.

Two of my stoves: the recently purchased Coleman F1 lite and my trusty Trangia Mini (aka Trangia-28). We also have the Trangia-27 (meths) and Primus EtaPower EF (gas) stoves, but they are more for family use.

When it comes to backpacking, I'm still a newbie. My background is more in day walks and base camping. I have practiced my backpacking skills and got new equipment over the past year, but my hikes have still been very modest. I know I can do longer backpacking trips when the kids grow up a little bit - either with them, or leaving them at home with their father. At the moment I know that all the family members would just get too cranky if I would be away for more than two or three days. But there are hikes to be hiked even in a couple of years time. And there are so many areas to choose from: Lapland, Scotland, the Pyrenees, England, the Alps... Or why not the Rhine Valley or the French coastline? Or the more remote areas like the Andes or the Himalayas? And let's not forget the local opportunities in southern Finland! It is relatively unimportant whether it is at sea level or high up in the mountains, a remote place with very few other visitors or a more densely inhabited area. As long as it is an area where I can walk and enjoy my life, it's fine.

Some bedtime reading. More on the bookshelf!

I also like the social aspect of blogging. While the majority of outdoor blogs seem to be written by males, and quite many of them are more technical and gear oriented, I still feel like a part of this Outdoor Blogging Land. A great example of the kindness among the outdoor bloggers is how I got my new tent! I thank all my readers, and appreciate each and every comment I have received. It is always nice to receive comments (there hasn't been one single mean comment during the entire year!) and exchange ideas.

Now, into the next year!

Uutela nature trail

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:35:00 +0000

Uutela 21/8/2011

It's been a while since we last had a family walk. On Sunday we headed to Uutela in Vuosaari, eastern Helsinki. There are two nature trails there, their lengths being 2.5 km + 1.5 km. Together they form a figure eight shaped, 4.0 km long trail (a pdf in Finnish - the map is on page 2).

The weather was quite perfect on Sunday. It was warm enough so that you wouldn't feel cold on breaks, but not too hot to make you sweaty when walking.

The nature along this trail is versatile. The trail goes partly in thick woods, partly on the seaside. There are also remains of old agriculture in the area.

We met a few lizards on these duckboards. They were enjoying the sunshine. I managed to take photos of these two before they gave us way. We also saw some ducks, they looked quite funny when only the tail was visible.

I think we all enjoyed the day very much. We had plenty of time, so we could stop to play every now and then. Our son learned the hard the way that a rock covered by seaweed can be very slippery indeed! I couldn't but laugh as this dip was preceded by a conversation:

Me: Don't go there. It's slippery there, you'll wet your feet.
Son: Yeah, I'll be careful. I'll just take a look.
[splash]
Son: How could I have known it's so slippery there?!!

This just proves that there are things we only learn by experience, not someone teaching you (especially if the someone is your mom).

I had something to play with, too: I was testing my new Coleman F1 lite stove which I ordered inspired by Alan's review. This is the first top mounted gas stove I own and it did it's job fine. We had a longish lunch break and enough chocolate to end the meal with - which probably was one of the reasons why we enjoyed the day so much!

More days like this, please!

Utö island

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:17:00 +0000

Utö 5/8/2011 - 7/8/2011

Helsingin Seudun Lapinkävijät organised a weekend trip to Utö island. It is a small island in the Baltic Sea, some 60 km from the Finnish southwest coast (map) - its name Ut+ö (in Swedish - many coastal areas have Swedish names in Finland) translates into 'out+island'. It is the southernmost inhabited island in Finland.

Friday:

We were some 40 participants on the trip. A bus took us from Helsinki to Pärnäinen (Pärnäs) in Nauvo (Nagu) where the connection boat Eivor was waiting for its passangers.

The passage to Utö took ~5 hours with stops at Berghamn, Nötö, Aspö and Jurmo. We were lucky with the weather; it was sunny so I spent almost all the time on the sundeck.

It was almost midnight when we reached the camping place. I pitched my tent in darkness with the help of my trusty headlamp. It is hard to believe that just a few weeks ago it would have been just dusky at this same time - the autumn is approaching! We were only nine campers in six tents; the rest of the group spent their nights in cabins scattered on the island.

Saturday:

I woke up at around 7 in the morning to the sound of rain drumming the fly of the tent. This was no surprise as continuous rain was forecasted for the weekend. I knew Utö is a former military island (the military withdrew from Utö in 2005) - when I opened my tent door I could immediately spot a piece of artillery.

We had agreed to meet in a small cafeteria near the lighthouse for breakfast. In the darkness of the previous night I hadn't really seen where we had come. Now I saw the rough but idyllic landscape.

After the breakfast we had a guided tour in the lighthouse. A lighthouse was built on Utö island in 1753 but it was blown up during the Swedish - Russian war (1808 - 09). This existing white and red striped lighthouse was built in 1814. As there was no church on the island in those days, the third floor of the lighthouse served (and serves, although a church was built in the early 20th century) as a small chapel.

The nature on the island is rugged but beautiful. There are only some 35 permanent inhabitants on Utö nowadays. The number of inhabitants was considerably higher in earlier days, when military personnel, lighthouse keepers, maritime pilots and customs officers lived on the island with their families. But times have changed, and today the permanent inhabitants mostly serve tourism or are remote workers.

Utö is infamous for the many shipwrecks around it. The m/s Estonia disaster which claimed over 800 lives in September 1994 is only one of them. The candle holder with its ten candles at the altar of the Utö church is a memorial for the ten mariners who sank with s/s Park Victory during Christmas 1947; the star and cross commemorate the sinking of m/aux Draken in 1929. And there are numerous other shipwreck stories to be told.

During the afternoon the rain ceased and the rainy day turned into a beautiful evening. The wind was brisk but I had secured all the guylines of my tent and had no problems at all, while some other campers (not in our group, though) were having difficulties with their tents.

Sunday:

By Sunday morning the wind had calmed down and it was sunny - time to take a dip in the Baltic. After having refreshed myself in the sea I still had some time to wander around the island.

I found some jellyfish near the quay. I could not get very near to them without risking another dip in the sea (this time with my clothes on!), so I am amazed that the picture turned out to be even this good.

Soon it was time to wave goodbye to Utö and head back to the mainland. It was a well organized trip, and while I'm not used to travelling in big groups, there was enough time to explore the island on your own. I will definitely join trips like this in the future as well.

Linnansaari circular trail

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 23:14:00 +0000

Linnansaari 28/7/2011

Some pictures taken on the boat. There are hundreds of small islands in this area. It would be lovely to spend some time canoeing here - in the winter time tour skating is popular.

We spent my last holiday week in Etelä-Savo which is located in the Finnish lake district. On Thursday we visited Linnansaari national park. This national park can only be accessed by water, so we drove to Porosalmi. There is a daily boat service from Porosalmi to the main island of the national park - the Linnansaari island.

Our schedule did not allow us to stay overnight on the island, so we had no more than approx. 3½ hours to explore the island. The 7 km long circular trail is the most popular hiking trail in the national park, but it was clear that the kids would not make it quickly enough for us to catch the boat. Luckily my husband felt that it was anyway too hot (+28 °C, sunny, no breeze) for an enjoyable walk and volunteered to go swimming with the little people while I would go walking.

First we visited an old croft ('torppa' on the map) to see how people have lived here. It was inhabited until 1950's and preserved as a kind of outdoor museum nowadays. Very idyllic.

Then I separated from the rest of the family and started walking across the island towards Perpulanluhta (so I followed the circular trail anti-clockwise). It was very green in the woods. Several fallen trees reminded me of last summer's severe thunderstorms, and the large glacial erratics reminded that this area once was covered by thick ice.

There was a scenic fire place in Perpulanluhta, but no time for a brew this time! Also camping is allowed here.

The views from the western end of the island were very beautiful, as you can see from the pictures above. I would have liked to stay longer there, just to take in the scenery, but I had to rush on in order to meet the others again and catch the boat on time.

The way back to Sammakkoniemi (from where the boat operates) was quite rocky with a lot of going up and down. I had to maintain a reasonable pace but paused to take some photos on the way. Beautiful flowers and weird looking mushrooms were spotted!

I walked this trail in two hours, but I could easily have spent more time if only the schedule had allowed. But it was a nice visit despite the lack of time. I also learned a lesson: the 0.5 litres of water that I carried with me was definitely not enough on a hot day like this - I got a terrible headache later on. I had some ibuprofen to relieve the pain and drank a lot of water during the evening, but it would have been much wiser to take more water with me in the first place.

Tuohilampi and Salmi day walks

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 21:29:00 +0000

Vihti 4/7/2011 - 5/7/2011

In the beginning of July (when hubby was still working and I was vacationing with the little people) I took the kids to their grandparents' summer place in Vihti for an overnighter. And that meant taking our five-person car camping tent with us and camping in their front yard. The smallest family member started her camping career when she was 8 months old, and now two years later, she still loves sleeping in a tent.

But it was not only about camping and playing outdoor games: we also did two strolls in the woods. My father-in-law (who is a keen outdoor person) accompanied us.

The first walk took us to Tuohilampi nature trail. A very short walk, maybe 2 km. A lot of blueberries and wood strawberries were eaten along the trail!

Our second walk took us to Salmi recreational area. This walk was maybe 5 km long - and again, we found very tasty blueberries. We spent so much time there that we had to call my mother-in-law who had stayed at their summer place that she would not need to worry.

That was a nice couple of days with a lot of fresh air. I think I need to go backpacking to Salmi area one day. It is close to Nuuksio national park so I think a weekend trip from Salmi to Nuuksio would be a good idea.

A weekender in Vaakkoi

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 17:06:00 +0000

Vaakkoi 28/5/2011 - 29/5/2011

I had my last exam of the term yesterday - now I'm enjoying my well earned summer holiday until the end of July! (And I try not to think of my studies, although at the moment it seems like a difficult task. Tomorrow I'm going to visit the library to return the books I studied for the latest exam, maybe that helps.)

I'm a bit late with my blog (and catching up with other blogs!), but here are some pics and a short story of a backpacking trip in Vaakkoi area late May:

I've long been thinking that joining in an outdoor club might be a good idea. So, after some contemplation I decided to join two local organisations: Helsingin Latu and Helsingin Seudun Lapinkävijät (Helsingin is the genitive form of Helsinki, just in case someone is wondering). Helsingin Latu organised a one-night backpacking trip in Vaakkoi area in Vihti (quite close to Kaitalampi), so I thought that this weekender would be a good opportunity to get to know other people in the organisation.

This weekender was not only for fun, it was also meant to be educational. Orienteering skills were in focus. We were some fifteen participants, and one by one, we were leading the group. It was quite hilarious that when it was my turn, I met the old competitive orienteerer somewhere deep inside me; I had to find the best and quickest way to the next control point, and I had to speed up. Oh yes - orienteering is fun!

We had a lunch break at this nice lean to shelter; I think it would be a good idea to spend a night there once the mosquito season is over.

It was a cool weekend, the temperatures were between +10 and +15 °C. Anyway, we were quite sweaty when arriving to the place where we were to spend the night. This red building is a sauna - what a pleasant (and a very Finnish!) way to end the day!

A dip to the lake was also very enjoyable - and refreshing!

The tent village was soon set up. My tent is the green one to the right. It was also possible to sleep in the hut, but I prefer the privacy of my own shelter. The Marmots seemed to be dominating: out of the nine tents (two of them were outside of this photo) three were Marmots. I was very happy with my Vaude.

Some after-sauna-beer was drunk with some socialisation around the fire. What a pleasant weekend.

A leisurely weekend on the Isle of Beauty

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Mon, 23 May 2011 15:21:00 +0000

Kaunissaari 13/5/2011 - 15/5/2011

A week ago I spent a most enjoyable weekend on Kaunissaari, 'the Isle of Beauty' - the same island I visited with my daughter last August. This time I was accompanied by a friend of mine. We took the ferry on Friday evening. It was a windy weekend - so windy that the ferry was cancelled on Saturday, which didn't bother me at all as I had anyway planned to return back to mainland only on Sunday - and the temperature stayed below 10 °C. We were enjoying the beauty of the island:

Daphne mezereum

Anemone nemorosa and hepatica nobilis

Caltha palustris

An old shed

The remains of an old sawmill. It was operational 1728 - 1742. It was wind-driven, very high-tech in those days. The metal parts were brought from Holland, as was the master of the mill, too.

The second night I spent on the island was rainy. My portable home stayed dry and comfortable.

Time to head home. Waiting for the ferry.

Another sunny day - a family walk in Kivinokka

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 08:39:00 +0000

Kivinokka 25/4/2011

The Easter time continued sunny so we took full advantage of the holiday time. On Monday we headed for a day walk in Kivinokka area here in Helsinki. We started our journey from the Herttoniemi metro station and quite soon we were able to leave the roads behind and head into the woods.

A big adventure is about to begin!

Some snow was found in the shadows of the woods...

... but the spring is definitely taking over!

The sea.

The Kivinokka area is partly covered by natural forest, but a part of it is reserved for these tiny cottages. The story of these cottages dates back to the early 20th century, when this area (then very rural) was reserved for the working class to be used for recreational purposes. There were no cottages, but camping in tents was allowed. After a while tent platforms were allowed; then it was allowed to build wooden shelters. But they all needed to be taken down for winter. But then the World War II broke and the men were at war; I guess the women also had more important duties than to take down their families' summer shelters. So soon the permanent cottages were allowed. However, there are strict regulations regarding the construction of a cottage (these were dictated after the war in 1946) - if I remember correctly, the maximum size of a cottage is 12 m². Today, there are some 800 cottages in the area (and as far as I know, no new cottages are being built, unless a cottage burns down or something like that).

A view over to the city of Helsinki.

This area is close to the urban Helsinki and there are certain pressures to build houses there. In my opinion we need recreational areas within an easy reach as well and I'd like to see the area preserved as it is. It has natural values (e.g. the bird life is rich in the area), but it is also a part of the cultural history of Helsinki. It is a nice place to visit even for us who don't own a cottage there. Also environmental art exhibitions and many kinds of other summer happenings are organized there. Besides, the best doughnuts I know are served in the small café/kiosk in the area ;-) (Unfortunaly it was not opened for the season yet.)

Playing by the sea shore.

Some tresures were spotted.

It was a fine day out. Tea/coffee/juice and buns (which we had carried with us as we knew the café is closed) were enjoyed on the beach. The total length of the walk was around 6 km. The distance was ok for the 7 year old. I think he could have walked a little longer still. The 5 year old thought it was a bit too long - although I think she would have liked it better if we hadn't been forced to come back to the streets on the way back home. Anyway, she coped well. The 2 year old was mostly carried and she was perfectly happy. This gives me some kind of an idea how long distances the kids can walk.

Kaitalampi overnighter

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 21:04:00 +0000

Kaitalampi 22/4/2011 - 23/4/2011

The spring is finally here. Just two weeks ago we still had plenty of snow, but now it's almost gone, so it was time for the first overnighter of the spring.

My parents-in-law had invited the kids to stay overnight at their place so I had the opportunity to go backpacking together with my husband. We took the bus (345 from Elielinaukio at Helsinki main railway station) to Kaitalampi in Luukkaa area (just some 25 km from Helsinki centre). This was not meant to be a high mileage trip; the most important was to get confidence in gear and to get some routine after the long winter break in backpacking.

It rained in the morning but the rain ceased when we arrived in Kaitalampi. It was still cloudy, but later in the evening the sky cleared and the sun started to shine. The temperature was around +10° C.

That's me walking.

I wanted to practise my solo backpacking skills so I opted to carry everything I would need to carry if I was backpacking alone - my husband thought this was a brilliant idea as I carried our tent, stove, fuel etc. and he was just carrying a small rucksack where he had his sleeping bag, mattress and clothes. I even carried all the food as I wanted to practise packing for a little longer backpacking trip. I hope he doesn't get used to this kind of service! But despite this offer of mine my backpack weighted far less than our Deuter Kid Comfort II with its contents - the yougest family member has gained weight over the winter!

Some fungi...

... and lichen were seen.

Kaitalampi translates roughly into "a narrow pond". While the sea around Helsinki has mostly lost its icy cover, there was still some left here. Some of the ice formations were rather beautiful:

My husband in his green/grey clothing can hardly be spotted in front of the fire place.

There are several fire places in the Luukkaa area. We passed a couple of them, but we didn't use them this time.

Soon we started to look for a place to camp and found a suitable spot with a nice view over the pond:

The Vaude Odyssee tent - not perfectly pitched, but well enough ;-)

This was the first time I was using my new Vaude Odyssee tent. The Odyssee has seen some beautiful places in the UK with Alan and Sheila but as they were upgrading to Tarptents the Odyssee became redundant. Luckily Alan read my blog as I was looking for a new tent and offered the Odyssee for me to buy. Isn't it amazing how you meet very nice people over the Internet! The Odyssee is in very good condition and it matches my current needs very well; it surely will be used for several years still. Thanks again, Alan!

I bought the tent mainly for solo use but as you can see from the picture above, even two adults can sleep in it - although you better be on intimate terms. I had pitched the Odyssee in our living room earlier, but now I was positively surprised by the size of the porch - two backpacks & two pairs of boots fit into it. Sure they are a bit on the way if you want to get out of the tent, but luckily we both slept happily through the night. For one this tent is very nice and spacious and at 1.8 kg it is reasonably light to be carried alone.

The night was chilly. We didn't have a thermometer with us, but I'd say the temperature dropped down to +2° C during the night. It was warm and cozy in the sleeping bag. The morning was sunny. As we had used all the tap water we had carried with us, I went to fetch some ice cold water for the breakfast:

This was the first time I was using my Super Delios water filter which I bought based on good reviews over the Internet. It is a very simple and easy to use water purifier and requires practically no maintenance. It needs to be protected from freezing, though (which is why I kept it inside my sleeping bag during the night, just in case...). As the bottle only holds 0.3 liters of water I intend to buy a 2.0 liter Platypus to be used with the filter.

Several butterflies were seen, but only this one wanted its picture to be published - the others were too shy.

We enjoyed the sunshine and ate the breakfast with no hurry. Then we packed our belongings and started to walk to the bus stop. A backpacking season has started!

A morning swim - neither of us went swimming into the ice cold pond!

My new sleeping bag: Cumulus Panyam 450

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 12:55:00 +0000

The courier service brought my new, long-awaited sleeping bag to its new home yesterday. I started looking for a new sleeping bag during the autumn when I realized that this newly awakened itch to go outdoors is of a more permanent nature.

My wish list for the sleeping bag included the following attributes (in random order): weight 1 kg or less, compact size, filled with down, full length two-way zipper, comfort temperature around -5 °C, not excessively long (as I'm 155 cm), reasonably priced. Quite a list of requirements! The local outdoor shops did not seem to offer anything for me, so I started to do some research over the Internet to find what I was looking for. I also asked questions on a Finnish outdoor forum where I got the recommendation to contact Cumulus in Poland (note that their selection differs from Cumulus UK); while they don't advertise any shorter models on their Internet pages, they do take in orders for customized sleeping bags (thanks for the tip!).

There were two Cumulus sleeping bags which got me interested: the Panyam 450 and the Lite Line 400. The comfort temperatures for these two bags are almost identical (-7 °C/-6 °C), but the construction is a bit different. I went for the Panyam 450 as it has a more robust contruction; especially the inside collar appealed to me. I sleep terribly cold, so I thought the extra warmth is worth some extra bulk (even though the slightly smaller packed size of the Lite Line 400 attracted me).

At first inspection, the Panyam 450 seems to be a quality product. The workmanship is excellent and the sizing is perfect, both length- and widthwise. The Panyam 450 is a mummy shaped bag, but I can still move my legs comfortably and can cross my arms over my chest without any trouble. (This is important to me as I don't get a good night's sleep if the sleeping bag is too tight.) The zipper slides easily and while I don't believe in zippers that never cause any trouble, I'm quite confident this one is not likely to do that very often. The bag feels silky to the touch.

The sleeping bag arrived in a sturdy mesh sack. In addition there was this bag to be used on trail. I find the packed size small enough, and it was easy to get the sleeping bag into its stuff sack (although it seemed like a mission impossible at first sight - the bag is very fluffy and has a lot of loft, a sign of good quality down, I guess?). According to my kitchen scales the sleeping bag (packed in the stuff sack) weights 850 g. A little more than advertised, but not much. This is anyway a giant leap from my old sleeping bag (a 1980s model) - it was warm enough, but it was also heavy (2 kg+) and bulky (to say the least).

The cost for the sleeping bag was 254,72 EUR including the shipping costs and the shortening of the bag (which was 10 EUR). The Cumulus had some trouble keeping their delivery times (it took nearly 6 weeks instead of the promised 3 weeks from placing the order to the shipment) and there were also delays in answering my e-mails. I was enquiring the status of my order after 4 weeks had passed and it took 6 days (and a couple of e-mails from me) to get an answer. I understand they are a relatively small company, but anyhow it got me a little irritated as following the status of my order was very difficult. My order was made over e-mail rather than using their webshop (due to the customization) so I wasn't really sure if it is being processed or just forgotten somewhere. Maybe my years in the IT business have just made me a bit sceptic... ;-) But the sleeping bag got here in time to greet the Finnish spring, so all in all, I am a happy customer and could do business with Cumulus in the future as well.

Is it spring already?

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 21:55:00 +0000

Töölönlahti 5/3/2011

It was definitely still winter last weekend, but today it felt more like spring. The sun was shining and it was fairly warm (a couple of degrees above freezing), although a bit windy. The kids were spending the day with my parents and I was kind of planning a lengthy walk in the woods. My husband, however, insisted on a leisurely day out. I valued his company so we headed to Töölönlahti (Töölö Bay) in the centre of Helsinki.

Töölönlahti is the southernmost part of the Helsinki central park. It is located right next to the main railway station.

There are some beutiful old villas in the area. Most of them were built during the 1880s and 1890s and were inhabited by the intelligentsia. Some of them are still private homes, but there are also workrooms for authors and other artists in some of the villas.

While the bay was still mostly covered with ice there was a hole in the ice for the ducks to swim in.

The ice cover was so thick that many people were crossing the bay walking on the ice - I guess that it is not something the authorities recommend! Luckily the life buoy was not needed today, though.

We then headed up to the bridge...

... which crosses the railway tracks and leads to Tokoinranta bay area.

There is a city owned marina with berths for private boats. There were a couple of boats in the sea - I just wonder whether this boat still floats when the ice melts away...

A couple of boys were playing football on an icy field! They must move somewhere else to play before they get a cold bath... No wonder the Finnish national team has not been very successful with training conditions like this ;-)

There were some snow sculptures along the way - this one was maybe the most beautiful.

No freeze bag meals today - the walk was ended in a nice café enjoying the spring time and sunshine.

The night temperatures are still well below freezing and it will take long before all the snow has melted. But the spring is definitely on its way.

Art met ice

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 15:02:00 +0000

Art met ice in the Helsinki Zoo a couple of weeks ago. The past few weeks have been rather cold (-20 °C... -25 °C) in Helsinki but this weekend we have been enjoying milder weather. It was a lovely sunny Sunday today (-4 °C) with almost no wind so we spent a family day walking in the Zoo and admiring the ice sculptures.

You can see more (and even better quality!) pictures and video on the Helsinki Zoo internet pages. The sculptures will stay in the Zoo as long as we have sub-zero temperatures, so this exhibition is highly recommended to anyone living somewhere near here! Not even the best pictures can completely capture the beauty of these pieces of art.

_____

By the way: CNN has made a video of the Helsinki Snow War. Go and see, if you like to see what the winter can be like here. Maybe the video also offers some kind of an explanation why I am not that fond of snow.

A new toy for the weight conscious hiker

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 12:24:00 +0000

I'm by no means aiming to be the lightest of them all (reasonably light is enough for me), but still I think it's interesting to know the weight of my backpack. I have a digital kitchen scale that weighs loads up to 2 kg with 1 g intervals. I guess that each individual item in my backpack is under 2 kg so it would be possible to weigh them one by one and then calculate the weight of the entire backpack that way. But I'm not really keen on Excel sheets when it comes to spare time activities so this Digital Luggage Scale from Asaklitt comes in handy:

It weighs loads up to 40 kg (no, my backpack does not weigh that much!) and shows the outcome with 10 g intervals. The accuracy of the result is 100 g for loads under 10 kg and ± 1 % for loads heavier than 10 kg. This accuracy is perfectly ok for me when I'm weighing the entire backpack with it's contents - of course there is no point in weighing each individual item separately with this scale. The accuracy of the end result would suffer too much.

The scale is easy to use. You just hang the backpack - or like in the photo above, my new tent - in the hook and read the weight in the display. This new tent of mine arrived in November just a few days before the snowing started. Now I'm eagerly waiting for the snow to melt (as I'm not too keen on winter camping, at least not when the winters are as snowy and cold as this has been) to get to test the tent in real life conditions. Pitching a tent in the living room may be amusing and a good very first test, but it's certainly not the real thing...

Last walk of the year - also featuring Kahtoola Microspikes and Petzl Spiky Plus

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 20:35:00 +0000

The Christmas is over once again. It was a relaxing one. But on Boxing Day we received the news that my grandmother had passed away at the age of 87. She was brought to a hospital a few weeks ago because of an infection and mental confusion. I visited her a couple of times in the hospital, the last time on Christmas Eve. She was still talking (although not very clearly) but was too tired to open her eyes. She was weak and aged, so we were prepared to hear the news. Anyhow, after her death all kinds of memories have started to come into my mind, and walking is maybe the best way to organize thoughts and memories. So, lonely walks in our neighbourhood have been part of my program this week.

It is as wintry as before; the pictures are mostly white. But today there was a strange kind of haze over the sea. It looked as if one could disappear into the haze completely:

There was also a winter swimming place along my route. No swimmers, though. There is a pump which circulates the water to prevent the swimming place from freezing.

The year ends in a mild winter weather. It is -4 degrees Celsius. Today even some rays of sunshine could be seen.

Today I was also testing my new Kahtoola Microspikes for the second time. I bought them just before Christmas after reading some positive comments on them by Mark and Baz. I have long (since winter 2002/2003) been using a pair of Petzl Spiky Plus (or actually, I have worn out one pair and I'm now using my second) but wanted to have something more robust to complement them.

I brought my ancient hiking boot (I have not had the heart to depart from these boots although the soles are starting to fall off!) with me to take some pictures of both the Spiky Plus and the Microspikes. First, the Spiky Plus:

The Spiky Plus are good all purpose studs for general use. They have four studs in the front, two in the rear part. They are ok for walking in the city as well - the streets of Helsinki can be very icy! The studs are just 1 - 2 mm high, so you can walk with them even indoors (metro stations etc.). On the other hand, they are not super efficient in more extreme conditions.

Although I'm quite happy with the Spiky Plus, there is one niggle: the rear studs have a tendency to move to the back of the heel like in the picture above. This happens with many kinds of shoes, not just with these hiking boots. I have never fallen over because of this, but it is anyhow annoying.

Then the Kahtoola Microspikes which I bought for more serious use:

First of all, the Microspikes look much more professional! They also have claws which are around 1 cm high - they grip very nicely into the snow and ice. There are two claws in the rear, and eight claws in the front. I guess that also the chains offer some grip. At first I thought they would jingle while I'm walking, but they don't once they are properly attached to the shoe. I feel very secure when walking with these, but they are strictly for outdoor use - I wouln't take them into the town.

I think they are both good quality gear and equally easy to attach to the shoe. I'd say that I would choose the Microspikes for winter hiking, but the Spiky Plus are better for everyday use, also in the town as they can be used on hard surface as well. I'm happy to own them both and will find lots of use for them.

I also use this opportunity to wish you all a

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

May it contain lots of enjoyable walks!

Season's greetings

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 19:04:00 +0000

Christmas time is here. Schools are closed for a couple of weeks now. The kids are excited as ever, so even though the temperature plummeted down to -20 degrees Celsius, I took them out for a brisk walk this afternoon. The pics were taken during our walk. Luckily it was not windy, so the weather was actually quite nice.

The snow is record high considering the time of the year. Helsinki area is actually the most snowy place in the whole of Finland, thanks to the relatively warm Gulf of Finland just south of Helsinki. The moisture from the sea then falls over Helsinki as snow. The winter solstice has been passed so the days are gradually getting longer and eventually there will be a new spring.

Yes - it's a car.

We are going to spend the Christmas time at home. The Christmas Eve will be filled with excitement - there will be sauna, some eating, and Father Christmas will come to visit us some time during the evening. I hope you all know that he lives in Finland (in the mountains of Korvatunturi - not in Greenland as some mistakingly think!) so he comes to visit the Finnish children already on Christmas Eve before starting his long journey to more remote places. Then the Christmas Day will be spent just relaxing with the family at home.

I wish all the readers of this blog happy holidays. I have enjoyed my first autumn as an outdoor blogger and want to thank all you who have visited my blog and especially you who have left comments here! I appreciate them a lot.

Merry Christmas!

A winter day in Nuuksio

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 17:59:00 +0000

Haukankierros 22/11/2010

The snow fell over Helsinki last week. I have to admit that I am not very fond of it, have never been. Here on the coast it often turns into slush, wets everything and then freezes overnight, making the streets an icy nightmare. And if the snow stays white and nice, it means that it is cold. Some -5 degrees Celsius is still acceptable, but when it's combined with a humid wind from the sea it is really chilly. And then again, temperatures down to -20...-30 degrees are not uncommon either. But living in Finland and disliking snow is a personal tragedy, so I have tried to learn to enjoy it, with moderate success. The kids are definitely less muddy after outdoor activities now that the snow has fallen, and I even went sledding with them during the weekend.

Today I had a wintry day walk in the Nuuksio national park, located a little west of Helsinki. A friend of mine happened to have a day off and she asked me to join her. She picked me up shortly after 9 and we drove to Haukkalampi Nature Information Hut. We decided to walk the Haukankierros, a 4 km circle trail. Not a long one, but we simply didn't have time for a longer hike. The thermometer showed -7 degrees as we started our walk.

There was even more snow in Nuuksio than in Helsinki, maybe some 10 cm / 4 inches. Often the first snow comes and goes, but it seems that this snow will stay on the ground at least some time now, the weather forecast predicts subzero temperatures - and even more snow - for the rest of the week. Or maybe this snow melts no earlier than in the spring?

The trail was easy to follow not only because it was marked with blue signs, but also because of the footsteps in the snow. Today we met just two other walkers on the trail, but judging from the tracks the weekend had been busy.

But we saw many tiny spiders along our route! I wonder what these little arthropods are filled with, pure ethanol maybe? I had never thought they would be alive and kicking in these temperatures, but they seemed to be busy working on something.

The brooks were babbling, but the ponds and pools had an icy cover.

We had lunch at a campfire. We were a little worried whether there is any firewood left after the weekend, but there was no need to worry - this is how we found the fireplace. It was all nicely tidied up, new firewood was put in place, so all we had to do was to light the fire. It is Metsähallitus who manage these shelters.

Soon we had a nice fire going on and we were able to enjoy our hot drinks and some lunch - and just watch the fire.

After the lunch break it was time to head back to the parking place. It really was a wintry day outdoors.

A sunny start for the week

noreply@blogger.com (-maria-) — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 19:53:00 +0000

Suomenlinna 8/11/2010

One of the greatest things about being a student is that I can manage my own schedules better than I could while working. The past two weeks I've been quite busy writing a paper and now it's ready to be returned. As the weather was lovely this morning, I decided to spend a couple of hours outdoors.

I took a ferry from the market square and after around 15 minutes I arrived in Suomenlinna (Sveaborg in Swedish - that is also the original name of the fortress), a sea fortress located just outside Helsinki.

There are actually some 800 people living on these islands and the public transportation system of Helsinki takes you there. The crossing is included in the monthly fee I pay for the public transportation. There are basic services in Suomenlinna: kindergarten, elementary school, library, church, grocery store and kiosk. The Suomenlinna church steeple doubles as a lighthouse:

The construction of the fortress began in 1748 when Finland was a part of the Kingdom of Sweden. In 1808, there was the Finnish War between Sweden and Russia; the fortress surrendered to the Russian army and in 1809, Finland became a part of Russia. The guns on the islands are from the Russian era, and therefore, they face to the west.

In 1917, there was the Russian Revolution and Finland declared independence on Dec 6. During the Finnish Civil War in 1918 there was a prison camp in the fortress, and during the World War II, Suomenlinna served as a military base for coastal artillery, anti-aircraft defences and submarines.

In 1973, the Finnish garrison left the fortress, and since then it has been under civil administration.

In 1991, Suomenlinna sea fortress was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

During the summer months hundreds of people visit Suomenlinna every day. Some are there for museums and history, others (most!) are just having a nice day out picnicking. Also cultural events and festivities are being organised. Today I met only few people. I enjoyed my morning tea (actually, my 3rd and 4th cuppas of the day) on these rocks in the company of the swan couple and the sound of the waves:

The winter is definitely just around the corner. The leaves on the ground were beautifully frosty and there was a thin layer of ice over the ponds and puddles. The temperature was just below the freezing point, maybe -1 or -2 degrees Celsius.

For the rest of the week the weather forecast is not that promising: it is going to be a cloudy week with lots of sleet, slush and rain. So although I hope the meteorologists are erring in their calculations and weather models, I think it was a very good idea to enjoy the sunshine today.