Back in the land of a thousand lakes

I have an amazing penfriend. Not only is she a beautiful person, inside and out, but she is also kind, considerate, and incredibly generous. She and her lovely man, Seppo, once again overwhelmed us with an amazing experience in Finland.
And Finland is a truly beautiful place in Summer as well as winter. It is so green! And Tiina and Seppo live in a veritable paradise. I couldn't stop taking photos which is very unusual for me (lol).
But look on below and you will see what I mean!
Before going any further however, I have to describe the best experience of Barry's life (other than meeting me of course!). Actually, as he says, it's impossible to describe, so here is a video to show you instead:

Seppo had arranged this after Barry talked about how much he'd love to go rally driving, when we were in Lappland in April. We had just been out on the snowmobiles and pretty much; Barry+speed=very happy Barry! The driver in the car is Jarkko Nikara, a local of Saarijärvi and a professional Rally driver on the Finnish racing team and he sure gave Barry a taste to remember! Barry said it was like a rocket taking off and he just laughed and yelled the whole way round the track. He didn't settle down again for days.

Tiina and Seppo and their laphund dog, Toto, live in a beautiful large house in a large section by a lake. They have a summer cottage next to the lake with its own sauna, and it's all so beautiful. I was even brave enough to jump into the lake after the sauna which is the traditional thing to do. It's no wonder the Finnish people have such good skin. One night we had a stunning sunset but the view was stunning at all times of the day.
We went for a big walk with Toto and I went foraging for berries; they grow wild. There are blueberries, strawberries, red and black currents, raspberries. In the right season you can also pick cowberries and cloudberries.

Our beautiful room

Cloudy day view

Perfectly still view

Dad's water colours on the wall in pride of place!

Having a dip in the pristine waters, the colour is due to the peat. The water is so pure you can drink it.

Seppo allows Barry a drive in his Mercedes Kompressor MSK230

Glorious sunset view, picture a sauna in a lakeside cottage with this view!

Early morning view

Sunny afternoon view

The house from the front with strawberries, raspberries and currents growing.

Barry and Toto take a walk

River view; with the brown peaty bottom colouring the crystal clear water.

Fresh raspberries

Funny little strawberries that are flavour explosions in your mouth

Fruit for breakfast

Wild red currents

Toni, Tiina, and Toto; the three Ts

Wild blueberries

Toto standing on guard

Tiina and Seppo took us to meet two of Tiina's sisters; her twin sister Kati, and older sister Aulikki. They both have amazing homes and were just as lovely as Tiina. And speaking of homes, we also went to an amazing home show. This was a huge exhibition of homes and everything associated showcasing the best of Finnish Architecture and trends.

Modern Finnish architecture

Barry, Seppo, Maija (Seppo's daughter), and Tiina at the home show

Another example of Finnish architecture

A walk in the local forest with Tiina, Barry, Seppo, Kati and daughter Krista and husband Raimo

Another one with me in it and the camera on a timer. We climbed the tower behind.

Kati and Raimo's house, Raimo is a builder and built it himself. Very clever!

This is Aulikki and Jussi's home

Along with sauna's, boats are another normal thing for homeowners in rural Finland.

Down by the jetty and the other boat

The lakehouse

Seppo and Barry soak up the rays

Barry, Seppo, Aulikki, Toni, Tiina, and Toto

Seppo also arranged a white water rafting experience for us with his childhood school friend Lassi, who with his wife Ruuska run their own tourism business. The tour is based on their beautiful property and I wish I had taken more photos of the actual raft experience as the scenery was stunning.
To start with we learn how to smoke Salmon the traditional way. Back in 2013 we actually met Lassi in the village market where we enjoyed a coffee (Kahvi) and then had a slab of his smoked salmon for our Christmas dinner. This time we were going to smoke the fish ourselves, so we did this then went by tractor and trailer to the launch area, paddled our way down the river and rapids, then enjoyed a smoked salmon dinner in the smoking shed with Ruuska's home made bread and chutneys. It was just magical. Are we the luckiest people or what!

We also visited Tiina's childhood home in Suonenjoki. The house and land was ultimately split up between Tiina and her four sisters when their parents died. I went to finally meet the parents too, in a manner of speaking, and the church, local shops, place where the school was and where Tiina used to catch the bus and so on. It was lovely. We went to Maija's place for a delicious dinner that night (Maija is reknown for her fabulous cooking) before heading back to Saarijärvi for our last night.

In the forest behind Tiina's old home

The lakehouse

View from the other side

Meeting Tiina's Mum and Dad

Maija and her boyfriend Erik. It was the first time Tiina and Seppo met him so we had given him a 'permission to date my daughter' form to read. Very funny!

Maija also has a lovely sense of style!

This is another view of another lake from another lakeside cottage that Seppo owns.

And the lakehouse. We also visited this place in 2013 and roasted sausages and marshmellows around the fire then walked out onto the, then frozen, lake.

This is actually on day 1. Seppo introduced some of his horses to us.

The next morning Seppo and Tiina took us to Jyväskylä to catch a train to Tempere, where we took a flight to Helsinki, then another to Copenhagen, then a train to Horsens, then finally a Taxi to our flat. We left Tiina's home around 8.30am and arrived home, some 16 hours later, at 12.30am. It was a long day!
We have at least one more visit to Finland though sadly next time we wont be visiting Tiina and Seppo. We are flying straight from London to Santa's official home in Rovaniemi. This is when Bernie and Kelly come to visit. Bernie is probably the world's biggest fan of Christmas so it will be a dream come true for her.
Hopefully, however, Tiina and I will be able to coordinate one more catch up before we leave this part of the world in January, but if not, we will just have to come over again another year or welcome them again in NZ, or maybe even meet somewhere in between.
That's it for another big post. Enjoy!