|
|
Pervomayskiy sqaure, Novosibirsk, Russia - 6th March 2014
By: Abdysh
Then we went to the magical Pervomayskiy skver.
|
Posted Mar 8, 2014, 10:40 am
[Quote] [View just this post]
|
|
|
Metro, Novosibirsk, Russia - 8th March 2014
By: Abdysh
|
Posted Mar 9, 2014, 9:44 pm Last edited Mar 12, 2014, 2:56 pm by Abdysh
[Quote] [View just this post]
|
|
Lenina square, Novosibirsk, Russia - 12th March 2014
By: Abdysh
|
Posted Mar 12, 2014, 3:12 pm Last edited Mar 12, 2014, 3:14 pm by Abdysh
[Quote] [View just this post]
|
|
Pobedy Boulevard, Novosibirsk, Russia - 14th March 2014
By: Abdysh
The real tanks of Second World War on the Square of Star on the Pobedy Boulevard (of Victory).
This is the house of my host on the background
|
Posted Mar 14, 2014, 5:03 am
[Quote] [View just this post]
|
|
Turku, Finland - 26th June 2014
By: jinxed
Hello!
I arrived to Finland a couple of days ago. Just in time for the Medieval Market, which is held at the Old Great Square (Vanha Suurtori) on this weekend.
I met some toyvoyagers on the bank on Aurajoki (joki = river) near the Old Great Square. Hanne Hü, Qah and Mr. Moose invited me to join them and that's what I did.
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,
ZeeZee
|
Posted Jan 22, 2015, 9:51 pm Last edited Jan 24, 2015, 7:45 pm by jinxed
[Quote] [View just this post]
|
|
Turku, Finland - 28th June 2014
By: jinxed
Hello!
Guess what? Our medieval adventure continues.
During the market weekend there's usually a medieval day at the castle too. Of course the castle is medieval all the time and you can go there whenever the museum is open, but the medieval day is a bit different. There's more activity and medieval people than usually and it's also possible to go to some places which are normally closed.
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. This is the courtyard between those two parts - with a view of the eastern tower and the smaller entrance tower of the Medieval keep in the front of it.
First we went to the inner courtyard and found out that this door was open. Now we can see a room that's usually closed. It's the oldest room where people have lived in the castle.
After that we decided to enter the Medieval Keep. On a way there, we met the gatekeeper's bear.
Inside we sat down for a moment and admired the thick walls and big windows.
In the gatekeeper's chamber we saw paintings from the 16th century. There was also an old saddle, which seems to be quite small and possibly very uncomfortable.
In this room you can see scale models of the different building phases that the castle has gone through during it's long history.
This room is the Nun's Chapel. Katarzyna Jagiellonka - wife of Johan III, who lived in the castle on the 16th century when Johan was the Duke of Finland - used this room for her prayers.
This picture is from the scribe's chamber.
These stairs lead to the top of the western tower. The uppermost floor is usually closed, but not today. The stairs are very steep with high and worn steps, not the easiest thing to walk on.
Here we are, on the top of the western tower. We wanted to take a photo in the front of an open hatch because the view is beautiful, but there were too many people and we didn't want to risk falling down either. These hatches are built for cannons, so no window glass there.
Here we are on the Renaissance floor, it's the uppermost floor of the castle, if you ignore the towers. This floor was built on the 16th century for Johan III and Katarzyna Jagiellonka. The chambers where they lived are located here.
Then we continued the tour to the Renaissance Bailey. Here we are in the prison of Erik XIV. Erik was Johan's brother and the king of Sweden (at that time Finland was a part of Sweden, too). He was held as a prisoner here after he lost his sanity and Johan became the king.
It's said that Erik spent so much time watching out of the window that his elbows left marks on the windowsills. We're sitting around one of those marks on these photos.
The paintings on the wall show Erik XIV and probably his wife Karin Månsdotter.
Later the castle served as a prison too. The last convicts were moved out of the castle on 1891, when the building of Kakola was completed.
We had a great day in the castle.
Greetings,
ZeeZee
|
Posted Jan 24, 2015, 3:33 pm
[Quote] [View just this post]
|
|
Lieto, Finland - 17th July 2014
By: jinxed
Hello!
We spent a couple of weeks at the cottage enjoying the sunny, warm and lazy summer days on the countryside.
It was fun, quiet and very relaxing.
Best wishes,
ZeeZee
|
Posted Jan 24, 2015, 6:25 pm
[Quote] [View just this post]
|
|
on the road, Finland - 18th July 2014
By: jinxed
Hi!
After relaxing at the cottage it's time for a trip to eastern Finland. Our destination is Eno. It's a village in Pohjois-Karjala (North Karelia) that has been a part of the town of Joensuu since 2009.
Here we are on the road, somewhere near Pieksämäki.
In Finland the distances can be long and the roads are built in a way that you don't need to drive through towns and villages. So, it's possible to drive hours without seeing anything but forests, lakes and occasional farms.
These photos are taken at Ylämylly, when we had a short break at this lay-by. A beautiful place with a very popular beach.
Greetings,
ZeeZee
|
Posted Jan 24, 2015, 7:06 pm
[Quote] [View just this post]
|
|
|
|
|
on the road, Finland - 21st July 2014
By: jinxed
Hi!
Today it was time to travel back to Turku.
This time we had a short break in Central Finland, more precisely in Vaajakoski, which is a part of Jyväskylä. We chose to stop there because of Panda, which is a candy factory that produces licorice and chocolate. They have a factory outlet there and that's where we went.
The mascot is kinda cute, so we wanted to pose with it.
About 600 kilometers and 7-8 hours in car on a hot summer day... We were very tired and happy, when we finally reached Turku.
Greetings,
ZeeZee
|
Posted Jan 26, 2015, 10:10 pm
[Quote] [View just this post]
|
|
|