Travelog for: Banyo

My host went geocaching again and took me and Hippoda with her. This time we had to climb in 1m snow to get to the cache - and then we had to climb up high to a tree! 

Yes, I call it climbing in the snow as my host had to lift her feet up properly, too much to call it just walking.

I got that little lizard as a reward and my host put other stuff in instead. So this is sort of treasure hunting 

My host went geocaching again and took me and Hippoda with her. This time we had to climb in 1m snow to get to the cache - and then we had to climb up high to a tree! 

Yes, I call it climbing in the snow as my host had to lift her feet up properly, too much to call it just walking. Usually geocachers cover their track or make extra track to distract other people (including other geocachers) but my host was too tired after all the climbing...

I got that little lizard as a reward and my host put other stuff in instead. So this is sort of treasure hunting 

My host took the photo of the day there too, it's her newest project: http://365project.org/delenna/365

Some more geocaching (this time we didn't find it as my host mistakenly remembered it to be a winter-cache when it wasn't, back in the spring!)... with a view! The weather was so clear we could also see the Nesteoil's oil refinery of Porvoo - and somewhere behind the trees was home as well

This spot is near the Haikko Manor. The area is nature conservation area.

This is what they say in the description of the cache:

History:
During the Krim War in 1854 an optical telegraph line was built between Hanko and Kronstadt in St. Petersburg. The messages were forwarded with semaphores and it was used only in the summertime. The distance between stations were about 10 km and the message was read with binoculars. In the summer of 1855 the line was continued from Hanko to Uusikaupunki. That time it covered the whole coast of southern Finland.

The nearest telegraph stations to the Telegrafberget in Haikkoo were the Telegrafberget of Kulloo and Myllymäki in Porvoo. The stations were run by the russian soldiers and messages were sent around the clock. It took 500 men to manage the whole line between Hanko and Kronstadt.

The telegraph line was used only two summers after which it was replaced by the electrical telegraph.

Telegrafberget's nature conservation area was founded in 1961. Today it is owned by the town of Porvoo.

The text above is based on the text of the area's info sign.

Tallinn! First time for me and first time for my host 

On the ferry we planned our route - we were going to do lots of geocaching  Most of the caches were in the Old Town of Tallinn. It was really beautiful and medieval! Many restaurants had a person outside, dressed in medieval clothes, to attract people (and maybe get a few customers). The one we photographed was really eager to do his job (in a good way) and explained in a big voice to a tourist how he'd get "value for his money".

But now I'm way ahead in the story!
The first cache we loooked for and found was in the harbour - with a nice view to the old town. And swans! Lots and lots of swans. I didn't know their wings made a noise that resembled train 

The next cache was near the Estonia monument. MS Estonia, previously MS Viking Sally (1980–1990), MS Silja Star (–1991), and MS Wasa King (–1993), was a cruiseferry built in 1980 at the German shipyard Meyer Werft in Papenburg. The ship's sinking in the Baltic Sea on September 28, 1994, claimed 852 lives and was one of the deadliest maritime disasters of the late 20th century
The Estonia disaster occurred on September 28, 1994, between about 00:55 to 01:50 as the ship was crossing the Baltic Sea, en route from Tallinn, Estonia, to Stockholm, Sweden. The Estonia was on a scheduled crossing with departure at 19:00 in the evening on September 27. She had been expected in Stockholm the next morning at about 09:30. She was carrying 989 passengers and crew. Most of the passengers were Scandinavian while most of the crew members were Estonian. (geocaching.com, info on the cache description)

Next we walked by the city walls before entering the Old Town (after another cache). The church tower we kept seeing is St. Olav's church. Wikipedia says this about the church: is believed to have been built in the 12th century and to have been the centre for old Tallinn's Scandinavian community prior to the conquest of Tallinn by Denmark in 1219. Its dedication relates to King Olaf II of Norway (a.k.a. Saint Olaf, 995-1030). The first known written records referring to the church date back to 1267, and it was extensively rebuilt during the 14th century.

A legend tells that the builder of the church, named Olaf, upon its completion, fell to his death from atop the tower. It is said that when his body hit the ground, a snake and a toad crawled out of his mouth. There is a wall-carving depicting this event in the adjoining Chapel of Our Lady.

Around 1500, the building reached a height of 159 meters. The motivation for building such an immensely tall steeple must have been to use it as a maritime signpost, which made the trading city of Tallinn visible from far out at sea. Between 1549 and 1625, when the spire burnt down after a lightning strike, it was the tallest building in the world. The steeple of St. Olav has been hit by lightning at least eight times, and the whole church has burned down three times throughout its known existence. Following several rebuildings, its overall height is now 123.7 meters.

From 1944 until 1991, the Soviet KGB used Oleviste's spire as a radio tower and surveillance point. It currently continues as an active Baptist church.

We walked to the Town Hall Square (Raekoja Plats). Picturesque Town Hall Square has been the undisputed hub of Old Town for the last eight centuries. Surrounded by elaborate merchant houses and, in summer, packed with café tables, it's a natural magnet for tourists. Historically it served as a market and meeting place, and was the site of at least one execution (resulting from a dispute over a bad omelette). (www.tourism.tallinn.ee)

Next we walked to the Niguliste museum (formerly a church). This marvellous 15th century church is a popular concert hall due to the reputation of the acoustics and organ performances are held here every Saturday and Sunday at 16:00. Niguliste also serves as a museum of fascinating medieval religious art, including a wall-sized fragment of Bernt Notke's unsettling 15th century masterpiece, 'Danse Macabre,' one of the most famous art pieces in Estonia. Destroyed during the Second World War, Niguliste was rebuilt during Soviet times and is worth popping in for a perusal. (www.tallinn-life.com)

After finding the cache we looked for a danish knight 
On the slopes of Toompea hill between the city wall and Lower Town is an open, garden-like area that happens to be the legendary birthplace of the Danish flag.

This relaxing spot is called the Danish King's Garden because it was supposedly here that King Valdemar II of Denmark and his troops camped before conquering Toompea in 1219. 

More importantly, a well-known legend both in Estonia and Denmark holds that the Danish flag, the Dannebrog, originated right here. According to the story, Valdemar's forces were losing their battle with the Estonians when suddenly the skies opened and a red flag with a white cross floated down from the heavens. Taking this as a holy sign, the Danes were spurred on to victory.

Today the garden remains a place where locals honour the role Denmark played in Estonia's history. Halfway down the steps towards Rüütli street you can see an iron sword and shield with a Danish cross, and each summer, Danneborg Day is celebrated here. (www.tourism.tallinn.ee)

On our way back down we saw this amazing orthodox cathedral, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral:  This striking orthodox landmark was built in a typically flamboyant Russian style at the very end of the 19th century and stands atop Toompea Hill. For many years, the locals in Tallinn wanted the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral to be demolished, since it served as a continual reminder of Estonia's Russian occupation. Fortunately this beautiful building still remains standing and since the country regained its independence in 1991, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral has been completed restored and gained a place in the heart of the city's residents at last. (www.tallinn.world-guides.com)

Finally we looked for a cafe and sat down to eat & write some postcards. Then we found out our feet were exhausted! We walked back to the ferry just on time and headed back home. Thank you Tallinn!

My host found another geocache nearby and there were two TravelBugs - a scubadiver (Fridolin the diver) and a duck (Little Duck Just4U). They look like toyvoyagers! They were the first ones my host had found and she was pretty thrilled 

My host ran some errands in the capitol, Helsinki and I tagged along. She did some geocaching too and one was hidden nearby this monument. My host said she had never been to this Sibelius Monument before - so geocaching is educational as well!

Wikipedia reveals this about the monument:
The Sibelius Monument (Finnish: Sibelius-monumentti) is dedicated to the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865–1957). The monument is located at the Sibelius Park (Finnish: Sibeliuspuisto) in the district of Töölö in Helsinki, the capital city of Finland.

The monument was designed by Eila Hiltunen and unveiled on September 7, 1967. Originally it sparked a lively debate about the merits and flaws of abstract art, for which reason an effigy of Sibelius was included in the work. It consists of series of more than 600 hollow steel pipes welded together in a wave-like pattern. The purpose of the artist was to capture the essence of the music of Sibelius. The monument weighs 24 tonnes (24 LT; 26 ST) and measures 8.5 × 10.5 × 6.5 metres.

A smaller version of the monument is located at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. A work with a similar concept, also designed by Hiltunen, is located at the grounds of the United Nations headquarters in New York City.

Today we went to see the Disney On Ice -show in Hartwall Areena, Helsinki. The show was called  Disneyland Adventure and it included about all Disney characters. It was a suprisingly small ice they used! We didn't get good photos because my host thought cameras were prohibited and she only had her cell phone "camera" to use. But I was there! 

Iloista pääsiäistä!
Happy Easter!

Finally my host updates! 

My host and a friend of hers drove to Kotka to geocache. I got to tag a long as well as Gwen Jolie and Gary Boldie. We arrived around noon in the city of Kotka (kotka is Finnish for eagle).

What you see in the photos are the Church of Kotka, Haukivuori lookout tower, Herb Garden, seashore of Kotka, Maretarium form the outside, Maritime centre Vellamo from the outside, city center and Langinkoski rapids. Then it got too "dark" for proper photos. as it was midsummer the sun didn't really set but it wasn't light enough for photos.

In basically every spot was a geocache to be found 

As you could see, we did eat and write some cards too! And then we continued...

After geocaching all night we arrived in Pyhtää (around 04 am)  to find a geocache near this medieavl church (built in 1460). Then we drove to Loviisa to find a geocache near this lookout tower...

So no-one slept (well, I admit, I took nap when we left Kotka) the whole night. The last cache was found 05:45 am near Porvoo.

Crazy Finns! 


PS. my host's friend told me that my name means "shower" in turkish 

My host is really getting into this doemstic travelling. We drove to Jyväskylä, a city about 250km and 3h drive north from Porvoo. We stayed at a postcrosser and met many other postcrossers. One postcrosser owns a postcard shop there! At first we visited the local candy factory outlet called Panda.

Then we did some geocaching with postcrosser-geocachers And went on a lake cruise! 

It was a really hot day! Our sweets melted in the car... 

We went on a 3h cruise on the Lake Päijänne. Our boat was called s/s Suomi. It was really lovely out there! And the breeze was welcome too  The humans wrote tons of cards first (well, they were all postcrossers after all) and enjoyed the scenery later.

We saw some really cool summer houses/saunas on the shores. Basically everyone in our group started to want one  maybe it was beacuse of the hot hot weather.

When we got back to the shore my host looked for one more cache nearby and then we headed back home.

Once again in Tallinn, Estonia! This time we were here to see the Medieval Days  They sold all sorts of "medieval" items at the market place and everyone was dressed in a medieval way. There was music/dance  performances too! The Tallinn old town is a perfect spot for such a festival.

Lohja is a small town about 1/2h drive west from Helsinki. It has 39 000 inhabitants and is wellknown for apples. So I guess it's "The Small Apple" 

We drove there to meed postcrossers and to look for some geocaches. I'm sure the Church of St. Lawrence isn't the only sight allthough we photographed it the most. We just didn't see much else while staring at either postcards or gps-device...

The places we visit are getting smaller and smaller! This is the town of Vammala, now part of municipality called Sastamala. First we visited Mr Clutterbuck's House - in Finnish he's Herra Hakkarainen. Mr Clutterbuck is one of the famous characters in Mauri Kunnas' books. He's quite popular and very well known in Finland. My host says he rocks more than the Moomins 
The house was quite small but had fantastic displays and interactive plays (for example: you could dress up as Robin Hood or maiden in the castle room).

When we were finished we drove around for geocaches (starting to see a pattern here...?) and saw a few churches while at it. The first one is Church of Tyrvää (some indoor photos here) and the medieval one is Church of St. Olaf.

It's a rural area but thus lovely to drive in