We got back from our holiday in Finland a couple of weeks ago. We had a good time, and it was nice to be able to take Ali and Beth over there to see it, given how many times I've been and how big a part of my history it forms.
I really like being in Finland... it's beautiful and unspoilt. There's forests and lakes and fields everywhere and its so big and wide open. The population density is a low low 15.5 people per square kilometre (thanks Wikipedia). If you do the maths, that means that if you spread people out evenly (a bit difficult due to there being close to 190,000 lakes in the country - that only counts those over 500m^2, the largest being the 5th largest in Europe at 4,308km^2) then you would be 250m from the nearest person. Somehow I like the idea of having that much space around you... Once you get out of the cities and towns, you can be in the proverbial middle of nowhere in about 20 minutes. It's quiet and peaceful, the air is clean, there's minimal light pollution... It's wonderful.
We spent a couple of nights in Helsinki, the capital city, which was nice as I've never really spent much time there. We had a look around the city and spent one day at a zoo that they have on a nearly island. It cost just 10 euros for entry to the zoo and the boat ride to get there, which should be a bargain by anyone's standards. The zoo was pretty good, and I've got quite a few photos in the album that I'll link to later.
After Helsinki, we drove up to Parikkala (note to self - update that Wiki page, or suggest that my mum have a go at it), where my mum grew up. Between drama over the hired car seat for Beth, and Beth's yelling on the 5 hour journey, it was quite a long day, but we got there in the end.
We stayed in a lovely cottage, about 20 minutes drive from where my Grandma's house is. We were pretty much in the middle of nowhere. The cottage had only just been built and it was extremely nice - very well decked out and extremely comfortable. The place had it's own sauna, which is always enjoyable. We were right by a lake so we could go swimming, although it was pretty shallow around us, so swimming was more an exercise in falling over and making a meal of getting up again.
A couple of our day trips were slightly marred by events out of our control, but we got to see quite a bit of the surrounding area, so that was good. I'd like to go back again, when Beth is a bit older, which would make things on that front a bit easier. We did manage to see Savonlinna (Finnish link, because I'm bored of just linking to wikipedia pages the whole time), spent some time at my aunt and uncles, saw my ill grandma in hospital and went to a nearby nature reserve, though that last trip did involve Alison being extremely startled when an adder crossed her path.
The travelling was OK, though Beth was a bit noisy on the flight there, and very noisy on the flight back. Our trip back involved a 4 hour train journey, which was considerably more pleasant and considerably cheaper (about £80 for the two of us plus Beth) than any 4 hour train journey I've ever been on in England. We got to stay in our own little compartment, with a bit of company from another mum with kid's at one point, and the train even had a play room for kids with a slide and books and stuff. Kudos to VR, Finland's rail network. Apparently you can do stuff like that when you don't privatise your rail industry, and you actually make sensible use of your taxpayer's money, unlike a certain bunch of clowns.
So, all in all it was a good trip. You can see the photos that I've uploaded to Facebook, complete with captions and a bit more explanation of stuff.
I like Finland. Monty Python be damned, it is the country where I want to be. I think I'll learn the language (my initial explorations suggest it is a work of art - logical in ways that please me more than they probably ought) and buy a holiday cottage there. Maybe I'll retire there when I'm older.
