It’s a trip of a lifetime for us, a dream come true. Our first stop was Helsinki, a beautiful, squeaky clean and uncomplicated city. Flowers abounded in bright blues and sunny yellows, gracing stately white buildings. Our friend and guide, Joonas, took us out on a ferry to one of the islands in the Baltic where the Swedes built a huge fort during the time they attempted to rule Finland. Some would say that they never succeeded. A military museum captures something of these times, as well as the history of the tragic wars that challenged the Finnish people some 80 years ago. These times of hardship live in their memories and in their stalwart independent spirit their “Sisu”, a word which defies translation. Intestinal fortitude comes close. We strolled through the open market on the waterfront, full of all things Finnish from crafts to folk art to cheeses and jams. Then we found a restaurant that serves reindeer meat, an essential part of the local cuisine, with lingonberries, tart and tasty.
The next day we hired a car and headed for Heinavesi (“Haywater” in English) with Joonas. Four hours into the middle of an enchanting nowhere, abounding in lakes and rivers. His parents own a farm there where his dad works as a forester and caretaker of roads. We were in for a relaxing weekend in this peaceful place, with hours of rich conversation over coffee, raspberry picking in the woods, and a trip by rowboat to a friend’s camp on the edge of a pristine lake. As many Finns do in the summertime, this retired teacher camps out in her cabin all summer, enjoying her personal lake and savu sauna. The sauna walls are blackened inside from past years of use as a smokehouse, so the trick was not to touch any walls. Tricky, but not impossible. The heat was gentle and thorough, and when it became overwhelming, we jumped into the lake to cool down. I’ll never forget the feeling of immersion in that chilly water, surrounded by endless blue. Afterwards, euphoria took over. Then a barbecue lunch over an open fire. Coffee again, and pastries. Finally all six of us crammed into the rowboat. We had only traveled a few yards when the motor died for good and Ernie had to row us all home. Unforgettable! The next day, Saturday, we stuffed ourselves shamelessly at a pancake feed at the lovely old Lutheran church in town.
The drive further north to Kuusamo was a long one. Again, the middle of nowhere! Birch trees in abundance. We saw no less than six reindeer on the road, and we were glad to slow down for them. One was surprisingly white.
Kuusamo is a major destination for us because the first Karjala came to America from here in the 1700’s. Our hotel was basic but comfortable as can be and served a great breakfast which even included fresh veggies. Our hostess loved conversing with my Ernie in his “Storybook” Finn from the last century, the Finn his grandparents brought with them. She laughed with us over his mistake in asking the young teenage girl at the coffee shop if her coffee was fresh. The girl’s look of horror caused us to look up the word, only to discover that he had asked for “bloody” coffee. “Fresh” used to mean fresh meat, not fresh coffee. Shades of Dracula?
We were delighted last night to find fabulous kebab at a restaurant owned by Turks. Who would have expected that in northern Finland? Today we spent looking for graves and checking in church records. The local pastor tried to help. He did give my husband opportunity for a workout with his Finn. English speakers are few and far between up here. It’s been interesting to see the proliferation of “Karjalainen” gravestones here in both graveyards, but no links with our family could be found
Northern Finland is beautiful indeed, but miles and miles of the same kind of beautiful. The highway threaded through thick, stunted forests under a moody sky. The trees get so little sunlight in the course of a year. Only an occasional shower broke the monotony. We drove from Kuusamo to Oulo, on the western coast, then south to Kokkala where we experienced a short period of panic while we searched for our hotel, a Best Western in the middle of this very old town. We were exhausted after a long day of driving, but finally found it. The parking was free (not always the case) but quirky, involving a short underground descent into the bowels of the hotel and a fumbling exit that eventuated in our emergence into the hotel lobby. We checked with the accommodating clerk who directed us to a nearby restaurant which, after a doubling back to the hotel and a second query, we found. It was worth the trip. It was dark and elegant and cozy and too expensive, with a menu in Finnish only, but the food was scrumptiously unique.
In the morning we enjoyed the hotel’s typical Finnish breakfast. Rye bread, yogurt, hard cooked eggs, various cheeses and meats, juice, veggies, and coffee, of course. Ernie has not repeated his mistake of asking for “bloody” coffee. We packed up and drove down the coast, stopping in Lohtaja, where Ernie’s maternal grandmother was born, looking for ancestral graves, but no luck there. It was so long ago that they came to America, and the graves were often wooden or iron crosses, difficult or impossible to read. But we tried our best. I came across an old Finnish woman who was visibly mourning her husband, a Karjala. I did my best to comfort her but the language barrier made my efforts seem futile. Perched on the edge of the graveyard was a tiny white church. I imagined Great Grandmother Marjama attending Sunday School there. Once again it made me wonder just what motivated our people to pick up and start over in a strange land. Times were hard here during the 1800’s, with years of failed crops and Russian rule. Some may have been avoiding service in the Russian army, for all we know, or just looking for a hopeful new start in life.
We arrived in Turku in the early evening. It felt good to settle in with our hosts, Liisa and Seppo, retired college professors, so eager to share their life histories. Both remembered the hardships of war from their childhoods in the 1940’s. I got some intense exposure to the Finnish language during our time there.
On Saturday we took the train to Helsinki to spend a little more time with Joonas. He took us to the Rock Church which is built into a gigantic boulder in the middle of town. The roof is made of copper tubing, a giant dome gleaming in the sunlight. We had an Italian lunch and a coffee and enjoyed the sunshine and bustle of the city, as well as the music of two very enthusiastic and loud gypsy singers and their accordion. They were performing in front of the railway station so they were unavoidable. On Saturday evening we took our hosts to dinner on a riverboat that was docked on the River Aura in the middle of this very old town. All the signs are in both Finnish and Swedish because of the hundreds of years of Swedish rule. Swedish influence is strong and heavy here.
The next day we took off on foot to explore Turku and had an Indian lunch. Indian food is always good, anywhere in the world that I have been. We took some time to wander through the cathedral in the middle of town, which dates from the 1200’s. We just had to explore a small museum in a side room upstairs. I don’t know what it was in there that provoked my sneezing fit. I could not stop. Maybe it was dust from the display of Bishop Michael Agricola’s original ABC primer in Finnish, or his translation of the Bible into Finn. I wound have lingered but the sneezes won out and I had to exit.
Agricola was a colleague of Luther and studied in Wittenberg. He eventually became Bishop of Turku as the Lutheran church spread throughout Finland. Today the Finns pay a 1.5% church tax but hardly anybody attends. Maybe they feel that their religious obligation is fulfilled through this tax. We caught a beautiful communion service in the cathedral before hiking home.
On Monday morning we got up early, ate breakfast, said goodbye to Liisa and Seppo, and drove to the Helsinki airport. Goodbye to Finland for now. Ernie drove for over 2100 KM (1400 miles) just in Finland. I think we are ready to stay put for awhile.
