Finland Visit - August 2016
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Rob and Hild have been travelling to Norway, for a family reunion, and then to Finland to catch up with Eija, again - .... photos below: Before Finland we were in Norway (see photos here) |
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Times are good on "The Horn of Orivesi" (named so by us due to Eija's plentiful kitchen garden).
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Like last time we visited Eija, we harvested plenty of dinner ingredients from her kitchen garden - now known as "the Horn of Orivesi".
The first dinner included home grown potatoes and salad. Self-picked lingonberries made into jam. Self-picked chanterelle mushrooms made into sauce.
And finally HK sausages purchased at local store. Yum!
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Hild enjoys making "fylte horn" - and now we have experienced "Filled Horns of Orivesi" baked in Eija's wood-fired oven no less!
The Minions helped too. Hild's recipe http://namnam.rygnestad.net/?p=29 |
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Rob and the Minions filled up the firewood storage. Hild helped a little bit too.
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All of us - and the Minions - enjoyed quite a few hours of Olympics from Rio. Go Bolt Go!!!
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Because the weather was too bad for kayaking, we went hiking several places in the area. For example, we walked the board walks of Siikaneva - here with a selfie.
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During our walks we saw many many kinds of mushroom but only ended up eating the chanterelle Eija picked.
Rob and Hild have no idea which ones are edible. The blue ones looked particularly dodgy.
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We also visited the town of Kangasala several times - including to visit Eija's dad, to view the beautiful church, shop at K-Kaupan, and pick up some Chilean wine for dinner. Minions were spotted everywhere.
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With some patience we also spotted an osprey at one of the local wetlands - and we got the T-shirts to prove it.
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We returned to Helsinki a day early and had time for some sightseeing. At the harbour we the famous fountain with
water-spouting sea lions surrounding a sculpture of Havis Amanda (the Mermaid by sculptor Ville Vallgren).
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We also walked past the Helsinki SkyWheel and many tall ships including one with a wedding on it.
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Downtown Helsinki we steered our walk past the old Parliament building (Säätytalo), and we met up and had lunch with Eija
at Café Köket on Senate Square (Senaatintori) at the Helsinki Cathedral (Helsingin tuomiokirkko)
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Our three favourite shops in order of most-used to used-a-lot: - Apteekki for various cold remedies (we both got solid colds during our holiday), - R-Kioski for tissues, SIM card, tissues, water, and tissues - K-Kaupan for food, milk, licorice, milk, sausages, and milk - but no spam. We had a great time. And next time we visit, we hope that the weather is more kayaking-friendly like it was back in 2013. Fingers crossed! |
August 2016