Travelog for: Hanne Hü

Hello

It's our last day on Tenerife, so we wanted to go to the beach one more time. The waves were huge and we sat for a while watching them.





Here I'm enjoying the evening sun at the balcony. Tomorrow at this time we'll be on our way back to Finland. By the way, here you can also see the neighbour island, La Gomera. Maybe I'll travel there one day, who knows?



Warm greetings,
Hanne

Hello

We were walking peacefully in a forest, when suddenly we noticed a monkey peeking from a hollow stump of a tree. He seemed friendly, so we went to talk to him. It turned out that he's Qah and he's a toyvoyager too. We invited him to join us.



It's spring in Finland, too. Look at these flowers. They're growing here and there in small groups among all the old, fallen leaves. Beautiful.



Huge old tree had snapped in two and the upper part had fallen down. The damage seemed to be quite recent, although the tree is very old and hollow. Perhaps the tree had finally gotten tired of standing still.



Unfortunately it started to rain and we had to rush back to jinxed's before getting soaked.

Best wishes,
Hanne

Happy Easter for those who celebrate it and happy spring for everyone.



Hanne

Hello

It's one of the warmest days of this spring and sun is shining, so we decided to go to the riverbank for a walk. There are very nice walking routes following Aurajoki (joki = river).

The river on this photo is Vähäjoki, a smaller river that flows into Aurajoki. It looks like we're on the countryside, but actually we walked only a couple of kilometers away from the town center.



Soon after crossing that bridge we arrived to Koroistenniemi. Here's a sign telling something about the area. This is a historically notable area: an old trading post and a church, where the diocese of Finland was located before Turku Cathedral was built. The diocese was then moved to the Cathedral on year 1300 or so.



A view towards Vähäjoki.



And a view of Koroistennimi. The white cross marks the place, where the church and the diocese were located. The river on this photo is Aurajoki and you can almost see the place, where Vähäjoki joins it. If you look carefully, you can see the tower of Turku Cathedral, too.



There isn't much left of the buildings anymore. You can seen some remains here and there, though.









Mr. Moose and Teddy arrived later and we gathered on a big stone that's probably been one of the foundation stones of the church.



We talked a lot, enjoyed the nice weather and had fun, but nothing lasts forever and soon it was time to say good bye. It's time for Gozer to continue his journey.



Best wishes,
Hanne

Hello

Tomorrow is the first of May, which in Finland is called vappu and we're going to celebrate it. The celebrations start tonight, even the shops are closed earlier than usually and tomorrow is a national holiday.



The roots of vappu can be found from pagan spring celebrations and later it became the worker's holiday. Whatever the reasons for celebrating are now, the Finns gather their friends and/or families and do something fun. Like going out for a picnic and probably getting drunk, too.

Silly costumes are a part of vappu, too. Unfortunately we didn't have any, so we took some silly photos instead.



The weather isn't that nice, so we decided that jinxed's balcony is a good enough place for our picnic. So, that's where we went with our balloons and serpentine. Teddy brought us some traditional vappu snacks: crisps, funnel cake, doughnuts and mead.







We ate and drank a lot, maybe a little too much.



But who cares, we had fun.

Greetings,
Hanne

Hi there

Samppalinnanmäki (mäki = hill) is one of the seven hills of Turku and there's a nice park, too. That's where we went for a walk today.





This old cannon is a memorial for the cannoneers, who were in the Winter and Continuation Wars on 1939 - 1945.





Hey, look. It's another memorial. This one is for all the veterans of Winter and Continuation Wars.





This statue is a memorial for G.A. Petrelius, whoever he was.



Here are some nice views to the town center.















The building here is restaurant Samppalinna.



This one's for the independence of Finland.



Here you can see a small part of Aurajoki (joki = river). The red building is Pharmacy Museum and Qwensel House. It's the oldest surviving bourgeois home in Turku, dating back to the early 18th century. Turku is a bilingual town and Åbo is its name in Swedish.



Here's a view from Aurasilta (silta = bridge). The nearest building is the town hall.



There's a nice cafe in Qwensel House and we decided to go there.



Then it was time to say goodbye. Emil won't return to jinxed's with us, he'll start his journey towards new adventures instead.



Greetings,
Hanne

Hello

Today it was time for some flowery fun - a trip to the Botanical Garden.





First we went to the greenhouses. So many plants to see there. I really loved all the wonderful flowers.

























Then we went for a walk to the garden outside of the greenhouses. Of course it's still spring, so most plants haven't reached their full glory yet.















Greetings,
Hanne

Hello

It's a nice and sunny day, spent outside at riverbank. This time we walked towards the sea.

Here's a view towards the town center. The building is theater and there's Samppalinnanmäki behind it. Seems to be a bit greener than last week.



Another view, but to the different direction. Here you can see the windmill. The building in the front of it is the Museum of Wäinö Aaltonen. He was a Finnish artist and sculptor, who lived on 1894 - 1966.



If you're following the Aurajoki (joki = river) towards the sea, Martinsilta (silta = bridge) is the last bridge that crosses the river. Here's a view from the bridge.



Here's Ukkopekka, a steamboat that makes day and evening cruises to the archipelago on summertime.



This boat is Rudolfina, she makes dinner cruises to the archipelago too, but I think her cruises are shorter than those of Ukkopekka.



The bow on the right belongs to Esposito, one of the many restaurant boats that you can find in Turku. The orange ferry is called Föri and she transports people over the river for free.




Between Rudolfina and Föri, we had wandered off to Kakolanmäki. I think it's better to write about that on another post, otherwise this one's going to be horribly long.

Anyway, here's Sigyn, one of the museum ships that are docked near Forum Marinum. the Maritime Center, where you can find the national special maritime museum and the Finnish Navy Museum.

Sigyn is the last of her kind, the only remaining wooden-hulled barque which has transported cargo in ocean traffic. She was built in 1887.



Here you can see Suomen Joutsen (Swan of Finland). She's one of the museum ships, too. Suomen Joutsen was built on 1902.



This one is Keihässalmi, a museum ship, too, although not as old as Sigyn and Suomen Joutsen. She's a minelayer / minesweeper and was built in 1957.



This ship is Bore. She isn't a museum, but serves as a hostel, a restaurant and a cafe.



From here we continued our way to Linnanpuisto (linna = castle puisto = park), but that's another story, too.

Greetings,
Hanne

Hello

While walking on the riverbank, we decided to go to explore Kakolanmäki (mäki = hill), too. Again, it's one of the seven hills of Turku.

Here we are climbing up the hill. On this side of the hill, it's only a serpentine road going between trees, grass and walls, heading towards the gates of Kakola.







The building on top of the hill is an old prison, which is known as Kakola. It was known for holding the worst criminals. Kakola was built on the mid 19th century and was in use until 2007, when the prisoners were moved to the new prison located in Saramäki. The reason to build a new prison was that the old buildings of Kakola became too small, too old fashioned and they also are in need of renovation.





After the prisoners left, there were some sightseeing tours in Kakola on a few summers. It was also a filming location for a reality TV-show, where teens that were in a risk to become criminals were put there to try a life in a prison. Now, the buildings just are there and it seems that no one really knows what to do with them. The old buildings are protected, so they can't be demolished either.





We didn't go to the other side of the hill, because there seemed to be somekind of a worksite. They're building new apartments nearby.



If the prison was still in use, some of these areas that we visited now, would've been out of bounds for us.

Greetings,
Hanne

Hello again

When you've followed Aurajoki as far as we did today, you'll be near the place where the river flows into the sea. You can't walk on the riverbank further than Bore, so from here it's only natural to continue walking to Linnanpuisto.





Look at this old tree. I wonder how old it is.



And here's the reason for the park's name. Turun Linna (Turku Castle) towers over the area. Here's the main entrance to the castle.



Turku Castle is one of the most notable historical buildings in Finland and it's also the oldest surviving medieval building in Finland. The castle was founded in the late 13th century and it's located near the mouth of Aurajoki and the Port of Turku. Originally the castle was built on an island, but the ground has ascended during the centuries so much that the island is fully connected to the mainland.

The castle has been through a lot during it's long history. It's been built, burnt, rebuilt and extended many times. The latest major damage was caused by an incendiary bomb that hit the Medieval keep on 1941, when Soviet Union was air raiding Turku during the Continuation War. After that the castle has been renovated and restored to its 16th century glory. Now the castle is one of the most popular museums in Finland. It's also a popular place for weddings.

The castle can be divided into two parts: the Renaissance bailey and the Medieval keep. Here we are on the outer courtyard, the white part of the castle is the bailey.



Here's an old well. Maybe there's still water in it?



Here you can see the eastern tower of the Medieval keep and the smaller entrance tower in the front of it.



A view from the entrance tower to the courtyard. Look how thick the walls are.



Entrance to the castle and to the inner courtyard.



That's where you go, if you want to take a tour in the castle. We didn't go there this time, not much to see beyond that door without buying a ticket. Maybe we'll go there one day, who knows.



Here's the coat of arms of House Sture. Sten Sture the Elder was a castellan here on the 15th century.



Here we are on the inner courtyard. You can see the western tower of the Medieval keep, too.





Here we're going back towards the entrance.



Back in the park again. Here's the only round tower of Turku Castle.



Here it's easy to see the two different parts of the castle.



It's forbidden to climb on the walls, but we did it anyway.



And here's the western tower again. This is the part of the castle that you see most often in postcards and other pictures. It's also known as a symbol of Turku.





Greetings,
Hanne

Hello

The weather was nice and sunny, so I went outside to enjoy the spring.



It was fun to climb the trees, the flowers are so beautiful.







Greetings,
Hanne

Hello!

It's another beautiful day and another walk in a park. This time we went to Puolalanmäki (Puolala Hill), which is one of the seven hills of Turku, again. On top of the hill are Art Museum and Puolalanpuisto (puisto = park).

Puolalanmäki is located in the town center, only a short walk from Kauppatori (marketplace) which is the heart of the center. Here's a view towards Kauppatori.



Here we are in the front of the Art Museum. It's one of the many old buildings in Turku.







We decided to sit down for a while and enjoy the sunshine.



Here's an interesting looking building near the park.



A view from the top of the hill.



This is statue is for the friendship between Turku and Leningrad. Yes, Leningrad is Saint Petersburg now, the statue is obviously old.



I like these swans and the fountain, too. We decided to sit for a while here, too, before walking back to Kauppatori.



One more picture of the Art Museum after walking around the park.



Greetings,
Hanne

Hi!

Yet another beautiful summer day spent outside. This time we decided to go for a short trip to Ruissalo, it's one of those islands that belong to Turku.

Here's a view towards the Port of Turku.



Ruissalo is a protected area and belongs to Natura 2000. Besides beautiful forests, fields and beaches, there's camping area, botanical gardens, spa and golf course. We didn't go to any of those places, we just enjoyed walking on the promenade.







Greetings,
Hanne

Hello!

Today Qah and I wanted to go for a walk to one of the nearby forests. This time we got to climb some huge and high rocks, too.





After a longish climb we wanted to rest for a moment, so we sat on a rock and enjoyed the sunshine.



Then it was time to continue forward.





I climbed to a tree, too. It was fun.





After a while we left the rocks behind and the forest became greener again.







Then the path became rockier again, but we decided to follow it anyway.



There seemed to be something interesting on top of the highest hill of this forest.



It's the old and abandoned aerial beacon, which was built on 1930's when the airport of Turku was located in Artukainen. On 1950's the airport was relocated to it's current place. After that, the old airport served as a racetrack and now it's a location for HK-areena (also known as Turkuhalli) and the Fair and Congress Center. HK-areena is known as the home of TPS, the ice hockey team of Turku, it has also hosted the world championships of ice hockey and various other events.





The aerial beacon is sealed, probably for safety reasons.



Here you can see the rooftops of HK-areena and the Fair and Congress Center.



Look, how beautiful flowers I found.





We chose a different path to follow, when we left the forest.











Greetings,
Hanne

Hello!

There's Medieval Market at the Old Great Square (Vanha Suurtori) on this weekend and Qah and I wanted to go there. Mr. Moose decided to join us. Old Great Square is located near the Turku Cathedral and it's the old town center.

First, we met another toyvoyager on the bank on Aurajoki (joki = river) near the Old Great Square. ZeeZee Zebra had arrived to Finland only a few days ago.

The red building is Katedralskolan (Katedraalikoulu in Finnish, Cathedral School in English). It was the first school in Finland and was established by Catholic monks in the Middle Ages. Of course the building itself isn't that old, it was built after the Great Fire on 1827. In the Middle Ages Katedralskolan was mostly for educating priests, now it's upper secondary school for those who speak Swedish. (Finland is bilingual country with Finnish and Swedish as official languages.)



A quick view towards Aurajoki and the Handicrafts Market on the other side, before we went to explore the Medieval Market.



Here we are at the Old Great Square. Merchants are selling their "medieval" products - different handicrafts, paintings, ointments, food, etc. Then there are actors - mostly amateurs and hobbyists - dressed up as medieval people. They have a partly trained and partly improvised show going on for the duration of the market. Although the actors aren't the only ones who have dressed up, some regular market-goers and hobbyists do that too.



This building is the Brinkkala Mansion. It has a long history, beginning on the 16th century. The building was badly burnt on the Great Fire and then it was renovated to become the Town Hall. Now the Town Hall is located on the bank of Aurajoki near Auransilta and Brinkkala Mansion is best known for the traditional proclamation of Christmas peace, which is proclaimed from the balcony on Christmas Eve at noon.



Porthaninpuisto (Porthan park) is right next to the Old Great Square and the masters of medieval crafts are showing their skills there.





There were some sheep in the park, too.



Then it was time for a break. We went back to the river bank with some traditional confections and the program. Mr. Moose translated it for us, so we found out what's going on and where.



Then we went to explore the market again and watched a part of the show, too.











Later we went to watch a tournament by Rohan Stables. It was probably the most exciting part of the day.



After the tournament it was time to leave the Middle Ages and return to our own time.



Greetings,
Hanne