Tuesday, 04-June-2024
Quick entry, but after hiking earlier in the evening I took an absolutely lovely scooter ride back to my apartment in the dark. It really was lovely – The scooter had a nice light on the front, the paths were well lit, and the sky was just into the darker edge of twilight before it becomes truly dark.
The air was cool, the world quiet… Just so lovely.
Tuesday, 04-June-2024
I went on a hike!
Like, an actual honest-to-goodness hike! In the woods! Not in the city!
My boots touched mud, and I didn’t hear cars, and I heard birds and saw the horizon without buildings and saw a lake and touched the lake and cooked on a campstove <Gaaasssspppp> and walked around and saw trees and stayed out late and it was awesome!
It’s… Uhh… Been a while since I’ve been out of a city. Since Iceland, now that I think about it… but even in Iceland I wasn’t in a forest, since Iceland has a distinct lack of trees, so… Ohh wow I don’t want to think about how long it’s been since I’ve been hiking in a real forest.
We’re just skipping past this thought train now.
I went with a lovely lady I’d met earlier in my adventures in Finland, named Hanna. We’d been chatting a bit, and she was being incredibly generous by offering to drive us out to a nearby national park so we could do a short hike out in the tree canopy… and she even offered to bring a campstove so we could cook dinner at a popular campsite nearby before heading back into town!
(Now, this has to be said. I made a choice and took a risk by accepting a ride from a stranger, in a strange country. I stand by the decision, since it was a calculated risk with quite a few contingencies and backups in place… but in the end the key point boiled down to feeling comfortable with Hanna. Everything she said checked out, she wasn’t asking me to meet in a dangerous area, and she didn’t pressure me at all… and, I checked in with friends a few times throughout the adventure. Still, for anyone considering traveling based on these blog posts… please always take care and caution. Trust your gut.)
I took one of the electric scooters out to meet her, we chatted a bit, and then took a drive out to the park – a lovely and quick 30min trip where we got to chat a bit more while I got to see a bit more of the countryside!
The hike, dinner, and company were exquisite – Very fun, and I’m endlessly grateful that I got the chance to explore a bit of Finlandic nature.
Of which, I have to comment – I’ve explored the wilderness in Iceland, and now the forest of Finland, and I am pretty confident that Trolls live in both places. Nothing against either place! I mean this in the most positive way possible – when I say that I’m pretty confident that Trolls live in Finland and Iceland, I mean that these places are magical, and that even in the long light of the Summer I can see some of the hills coming alive, rising out of the ground, and taking a stroll.
Come the long dark of the Winter… Well. You wouldn’t find me out wandering without bringing along something really good to offer as tribute to the more magically gifted creatures of our world. I mean, seriously. Look at these views, and try to convince me that there isn’t at least one Stone Giant somewhere in the picture.
You can’t. Because if it’s not a stone giant, then it’s a rock troll, or maybe an earth elemental.
Let’s see… well, Haukkalampi Lake seems to be pretty popular – even on a Tuesday, we saw a few people on the trail in, and then quite a few folks camped out on the little island where we (Hanna, really) made dinner. There was a fire ban, so her stove made the rounds between a few other teams while we were eating… Which is a fairly key thing I appreciated about Finland: The people.
There’s a trope that Fins aren’t friendly. And maybe it’s true… in the same way that Bostonians aren’t friendly. People aren’t greeting you when you’re walking around on the street, or when you’re hiking. They don’t stand shoulder-to-shoulder at bus stops.
That being said, I found the folks in Finland to be exceptionally pleasant and kind. The times I needed help, they helped quickly and without judgement. People put up with my lack of Finnish Language, and when we were cooking dinner on the little island in Haukkalampi lake people chatted and laughed, telling stories and enjoying each other’s company. People came and left as they so chose, and no one tried to force anyone to “come on over and be social!” or anything… but those that chose to be, did so with relish.
Soon enough, thanks to good food and great company, the sun started going down and we started heading back. Gear was packed back up, and photos were snapped of the glorious sunset.
We drove back, chatted, and I endlessly appreciated my wee day out.
Quick final note:
I know, logically, that this structure is some kind of outdoor cooking area.
But come on. It’s clearly a forge for the aforementioned magical creatures to use when no humans are around. How polite are Finish folks, to set that up for the elves / trolls / giants?
So polite.
Monday, 03-June-2024
Quite soon after disembarking from the ferry, I got ambushed by a docent.
Realistically, I shouldn’t have been that surprised to be ambushed right after landing on a fortress island… so lesson learned, I guess?
Regardless, I was ambushed and hit with a full barrage of information – details about the island, a walkthrough of the map and trails, and a quick run through of the various museums available on the island – The main museum being the Military Museum, including two building and one submarine!
I honestly hadn’t planned on visiting any museums while exploring Suomenlinna, but as I wandered and explored and got a feel for the actual size of the island… I realized it wasn’t nearly as expansive as I’d expected, and that I’d have quite a bit more spare time than I’d thought. Which meant a museum (and its associated placards, of course!) could fit nicely into my timetable…
As I wandered, I found myself passing the museum as I followed the hiking trail. I veered left, and stopped on in to check it out!
The museum was really interesting, with beautiful artwork from front-line illustrators sent to help capture what life was like on the front, for the people back home. That’s not what set the museum apart for me, though… Because, to be clear, this museum was a first, in my life. What set it as a first? In this perspective, the Germans were the good guys.
Yep.
Part of Finland’s history that I hadn’t ever really recognized, if I’d ever been taught it in the first place – Finland was allied with Germany during WWII, to protect itself from the Soviet Union.
Now, don’t get me wrong. The Finns know the score – these exhibits talked about how supplies from Germany saved the day, and many dioramas showed German equipment… but none of the placards or displays were anything close to what I’d call “Pro-Nazi”. Finland was allied with Nazi Germany, yes, but (from what I could tell in my very cursory research) they were allied in a strictly military sense. No Finnish Jews were sent to camps back in Germany, and when Germany’s military officially pulled out of Finland, many units simply left the German Army to rejoin the Finnish army in holding back the Soviet Union.
An interesting viewpoint, completely new to me. One of the many reasons I really enjoy visiting museums!
Moving on, literally in my case, from the indoor museum… I trotted off into Suomenlinna to find the other major attraction of the Military Museum – the Vesikko! A landed submarine!
I was a bit apprehensive, stepping into the Vesikko, as the last time I walked into a submarine I’d gotten quite a bit of unexpected claustrophobia… but I was a brave boy, and stayed steadfast in the face of my fear… and, hey! Turns out I don’t have claustrophobia in Submarines anymore!
At least when they’re beached on land, maybe?
I won’t be performing any experiments to see which types of Submarines trigger anxiety, but for now I was happy to find out that I could easily explore the Vesikko at my own pace as a lovely rest before heading further into the bastion’s defenses.