Suomi

Finland always has had a special place in my heart and every time I am here, I feel a special happiness descend upon me. It might have all started with the Finnish name I have, as I am named after a Finnish family friend... It might be because my family visited here multiple times when I was a little girl... Or because I came here as an exchange student in 1992, fresh out of high school... Maybe it is because some of my dearest friends live here... Or because my sister moved here and has a beautiful family here... Or all the good memories John and I have of holidays here, together, and later with the kids... What ever it is... I am happy to be back!!

We drove south through Lapland, into the centre of Finland, where our dear friends Anne and Ari live. They for sure have one of the most beautiful properties in Finland in my opinion, and together with their good company, it makes for a very pleasant stay.

The children are always happy to spend a few days here too, as this is one big natural playground, and Anne makes the world's best cinnamon buns! Anne and I share thirty years of friendship!

We continued our journey, and spent an afternoon with my friend Maarit and her husband Janne. Maarit and I lived in the same village, 30 years ago, but we lost touch for a long time. Through Facebook she managed to find me, a few years back, and this visit was a long overdue rekindling of our friendship!

When my dad was young, he befriended, on two different occasions, two Finnish girls, Sisko and Raija. They became good family friends and we often visited them. Sadly, Sisko (senior) passed away earlier this year; a chance to introduce her to my family has never happened.

Raija (senior) lives with her husband in southern Finland, and they spend their summers in their cottage on a small island. As a kid I already loved coming here, and still, to this day, it is one of my favourite places in Finland. Four years ago, I took John and the kids here for the first time and this time around, we spent another blissful day with them. Little Raija loved picking blueberries and swimming in the Gulf of Finland. The family dog kept a watchful eye on her and pulled her back every time he felt she went too far out ;)

Myron made friends with a grandson of Lasse and Raija, and they spent most of the day together, swimming, making and enjoying sauna and supping.

We spent the night in Katariina Seaside Park in Kotka. It is a large outdoor recreation area created in the former oil port amid the ruins of the Ruotsinsalmi fortress.

Our last stop at a friend's place, was at the cottage of my dear friend Sanna and her husband Matias. Sanna and I met in school, thirty years ago, and we have been good friends ever since. We spent a lovely day together and Sanna taught us all about chanterelle and black trumpet picking. We had so much fun! Another amazing day in beautiful Finland.

We ended our travels in Finland at my sister's place, where my brother-in-law and nephew were home. My sister was working up in Lapland so we unfortunately missed her at her own place, but we did see her in The Netherlands and Denmark.

We did not take many pictures while being together, but John and I did get one taken of the two of us, to commemorate August 8, the day we immigrated to Canada, 17 years ago 🍁

And of course a picture of the little delivery robots that scoot around the neighbourhood, had to be posted here ;)

On our day of departure, we drove through the city centre to the harbour, where we took a ferry to Estonia. As always, we are happy to get on a boat, but in this case it is a bit bittersweet to leave so many lovely people behind.

Kiitos Suomi! Thank you Finland, with all your beauty. You have been very good to us ♥