Good Bye and Good Night

I'm back in Kansas...

Well actually it's more like Victoria, British Columbia.

This will be the last posting for this blogsite. I felt that I needed to have a final concluding word to just sum up my Scandinavian adventures. Destinations in chronological order beginning 29th of August 2009 and ending 7th October 2009:

Tonsberg, Norway
Oslo, Norway
Bergen, Norway
Balestrand, Norway
Fjaerland, Norway
Alesund, Norway
Trondheim, Norway
Sundsvall, Sweden
Umea, Sweden
Vaasa, Finland
Jyvaskyla, Finland
Pori, Finland
Helsinki, Finland
Tallinn, Estonia
Turku, Finland
Stockholm, Sweden
Helsingborg, Sweden
Helsingor, Denmark
Humlebaek, Denmark
Copenhagen, Denmark

A brief visit to Glasgow again to send some boxes home, kiss my boyfriend and pick up my cat before heading home to Canada.

Packing List:

hiking boots ( useful for the first week on the farm, gave them away in Helsinki because I got tired of carrying them, plus they started to hurt my feet)
1 pair of waterproof pants ( gave these away in Jyvaskyla)
walking shoes
fast drying top ( I lived in this shirt, super comfortable and breathable)
3 extra long sleeve cotton tops ( 1 too many. I think I would have been better off with 1 extra fasting drying top)
PJ top
PJ bottom
5 pairs of socks
5 pairs of underwear
2 bras
1 swimsuit
1 hat
1 pair of gloves
contacts/solution
hair brush
deodorant
toothbrush
toothpaste
shampoo
body soap
small bottle of laundry soap
nail clipper
mobile phone
phone charger
digital camera
digital camera battery charger
USB card reader to transfer photo files
1 hooded base layer jacket/doubled as jumper
1 3/4 length rain jacket
1 umbrella
Combination Lock (I didn't use this)
1 pair of flip flops
Head torch
Spork
Travel Guides
Sketch book
Diary
Pens

Wish I had brought:
sink stopper for washing clothes
personal music player of some sort

10 things I learned along the way:

1. From Linda, Marianne, the family and their students, I learned that a happy life can be found in the garden.
2. I'm allergic to Norwegian midges
3. Scandinavia has many good qualities, coffee quality isn't one of them I'm afraid.
4. Couchsurfing has forever changed my independent travel adventures. I'm glad I took the time to go search for fellow couchsurfers who shared my age and my interests. I was able to meet contacts that I will endeavour to keep in touch with. Seeing a place through the eyes of a local has to be one of the best experiences ever.
5. As Marja, my lovely Swedish friend put it - Amongst the Scandinavian countries - " The Swedes are like the English of Scandinavia, nobody likes us "
6. There seems to be a mutual respect between the Scandinavians and the Japanese when it comes to design aesthetic and the Moomintrolls. I'm still contemplating this one.
7. Being able to experience and visit Alvar Aalto's masterpieces completely inspired me again. Learning about his buildings through books is nothing compared to actually seeing them in person. He just has this innate understanding of light, nature and landscape that seamlessly resolves itself in architecture that is sensitive to human scale, form and materials.
8. Try to avoid train travel during the day. There were a few beautiful afternoons that I could have spent sight-seeing, but because of my tight itinerary I had to spend them on a train.
9. Norway has some really good alternative music. Thanks again Annette for introducing me to Kings of Convenience
10. There is sauna etiquette in Finland. Note to foreigner - you might want to do some research before participating in Finnish sauna. Thanks to Kevin, Tero and Emmi for enlightening me.

Thanks to all my followers who were just so bored at work that they had resorted to following me on my blogsite. Mincing About is going to take an extended hiatus while I get settled on the west coast of Canada, but may resurrect itself on my next travel adventure! Also, I've added some more photos to previous postings, if interested. To future travellers who will be visiting Scandinavia, I hope my blogs have been helpful in planning your itinerary.

I am working on my next blogsite which is called: http://dugnadcollective.blogspot.com/. It's still being fleshed out but I hope to use the site to explore and document my post graduate research and next career path...so watch this space.

Safe journeys
xoxo

Copenhagen in the wind and rain

I managed to arrive at the Louisiana Museum on Saturday morning just before they opened the doors. It was raining and I was drenched by the time I arrived. It was about a 15min walk from the train station. The museum is busy on a Saturday. I'd hate to see it on a beautiful sunny day as I would have imagined it would have been twice as busy. Out of all the museums I have seen over the course of my travels - this one was by far the best. The building blends in seamlessly with the landscape, framing views of the Oresund and surrounding forest. I was in heaven. The exhibitions are of high quality and engaging. I could have spent the whole day there but there was just too many people and I was happy to leave after a few hours. Got back on the train and headed to Copenhagen. A relatively short trip - it only took about 30min.

I had booked a private room and decided to treat myself before catching up with Marja, a friend and ex-colleague. She was away the weekend I arrived and we had arranged to meet up on Monday. The private room was on the 6th floor of the Danhostel (City) with views of the canal and one of Plot Architects early projects - the Harbour Bath on Islands Brygge. It was comfortable except for the annoying magnetic card keys that were difficult to use and the fact that I wasn't able to leave my luggage at the hotel on Monday morning because they were expecting 800 school children that day and I was told that the luggage room would be full. Would I stay there again?...probably not.

I was a tourist for the first couple of days in Copenhagen. I didn't have a couchsurfer host and only had my Lonely Planet guide. I did all the touristy sites including the Little Mermaid. I found it quite strange that this statue was such an attraction. It reminded me of the statue of the Greyfriar's Bobby in Edinburgh. Monday afternoon came quickly and I was looking forward to seeing Marja. I ended up having to leave my luggage at the train station storage lockers and we ended up meeting there before going back to her place in trendy Vesterbro to drop of my bags at her flat. Headed out for drinks at a local pub and then some Thai food, followed by more drinking and hanging out back at her place...It was nice to see a familiar face and someone whom I could just relax and enjoy my last few days of my travels.

Marja and her flatmate share a two room flat with kitchen and toilet - the shower room was downstairs on the ground floor - her flat located on the 5th floor. One shower is shared by all the tenants in the building... I was still trying to get over this concept as we headed to the pub. I was left to my own devices that night as Marja was kind enough to let me have her room whilst she stayed at her boyfriends place.

Next morning Marja showed up with Danish for breakfast and we had a leisurely morning with coffee and delicious pastry. She had taken the day off from work to show me around the city and the sun was out. I was starting to warm up. First stop was the Arne Jacobsen's SAS Radisson Hotel. Marja tried to use her Swedish charm on the concierge at the front desk to let us go up to the restaurant/bar to have a drink in Jacobsen designed lounge chairs and soak up the view. Unfortunately we were unsuccessful and were told that you needed to make a reservation for a table and perhaps we should try coming back around 6pm at which time they "may" allow us to go up and have a look.

We left and headed to the shopping district to pick up some souvenirs. As Copenhagen is my last destination before heading back to Glasgow I decided it was time to pick up some gifts without having to worry about carrying it around with me whilst I travelled. Shopping was followed by lunch at a strange American western styled pub which served traditional Danish lunch. We had a bit of pickled herring with capers and onions on rye bread. Fried fish with mustard sauce and more rye bread followed by a fillet of beef with another small salad. Washed down with a Tuborg lager. It was lovely even though the atmosphere was questionable.

After lunch we decided to hit a museum and chose the Danish Museum of Decorative Art. The one museum I didn't get to during the first couple of days on my own in Copenhagen. Beautiful building with a lovely courtyard in the middle. We zipped around the exhibitions which were quite good. Highlight for me was the Arne Jacobsen chairs and the poster exhibition - they had everything from Communist Propaganda posters from the mid 1900's to Toulouse Lautrec posters of Paris theatre. We then ended up sitting in the courtyard garden having a Carlsberg and soaking up the last of the days sun.

Headed back to the flat to pick up my things. On the way we passed by an interesting housing development. Marja thought it would be easier if I stayed at Jacob's place as it was easier for me to get to the airport the next day. We were pretty exhausted by the time we got back. We decided to go shopping for food to make a big feast for dinner. Food, wine and friends on my last night in Copenhagen - the perfect end to an amazing trip!

On the Road to Copenhagen

I left Amy in Stockholm. She had another night and booked accommodation in the Ice Hotel... The last few days in Stockholm were cold. Amy and I struggled to get around to all of the museums. I have been here once before so I by-passed the Lewerentz and Asplund architecture because I didn't think Amy would be up for it and I felt I didn't need to see them again. We hit the Museum of Modern Art, Nobel Museum and Nordic Museum instead. I would highly recommend all. Especially the restaurant in the Museum of Modern Art, really good food and reasonably priced. Other time was spent just hanging out in cafes and an afternoon shopping in Södermalm. It was nice to catch up with Amy again. I took a great picture of her eating a bratwurst covered in mashed potato and rolled up in a flat bread with ketchup and onions. Yum-yum...

We had both gone to bed early as I had an 8am train to catch in the morning. At around midnight the hotel fire alarms went off. I've never seen so many pissed off people as we trundled down the stairs and into the lobby only to find out that it was set off by a couple of French Belgians who were smoking in their rooms. Suffice it to say that people were fairly grumpy at breakfast this morning.

I made it into Helsingborg around 2pm. Left my bag at the hostel and went off to find the Dunker's Museum designed by Kim Utzon and opened in 2002. The building houses a concert hall, a shop, a reading room, a restaurant/bar and exhibition spaces all arranged around a central hall with views out towards the harbour and Öresund. I'll have to post photos of it later. Had lunch in the cafe. It was well worth the 114 swedish crowns.



Tomorrow I think I will try to have a leisurely morning before catching the ferry to Helsingor in Denmark. I'll be going to see the Louisiana Museum in Humlebaek before catching another train to Copenhagen.

The Louisiana Museum designed by Jørgen Bo and Wilhelm Wohlert and opened in 1958 is known as "a masterpiece of Danish modern architecture" according to their website.












I was blown away by this museum. The calibur of the exhibitions were exceptional. Well designed, thought provoking and engaging were my first impressions. The setting of the museum was another story. I found myself constantly trying to find a good perspective or angle to take in and look at the building itself to get the big idea. I soon gave up as the museum is completely nestled into the surrounding forest - that's when I realized how dumb I was being. The building was about glazed corridors and passageways, cafe and galleries with framed views of the Oresund. The building was designed from the inside out, a vehicle that would enable people to experience the landscape and forest.

Tallinn and beyond

Spent last weekend in Tallinn with Airi. I'm going to say that she is an environmental lawyer who speaks several languages including English, Russian and Estonian. I think there is a few more...She had just moved into a new flat and was nice enough to arrange to borrow a fold away bed from her friend. The medieval city is amazing inclosed by ancient masonry walls. They then decided to run large roads and tram lines around it so that it feels very much like a sort of island. New parts of the city are popping up everywhere. It was also light on my wallet which was a nice change. I managed to pick up some lovely souvenirs from an independent design shop. They catered for the tourists but it was quite tucked away and stocked young designers who had designed cool-er t-shirts than the run of the mill ones found in the other tacky souvenir shops.

The Rotterman Quarter is worth a swatch if you find yourself in Tallinn. Apparently it is "owned" by a developer who started his career as a security guard. At the heart of the development are old industrial buildings which they have started to refurbish. There are some interesting contemporary buildings some of which I remember seeing in the A10 architecture magazine recently. I'll need to look up the architects later.

I left Airi on Monday morning and took a ferry back to Helsinki then hot footed it to Turku. Stayed at the Omena hotel again which just happened to be a refurbished Aalto building. The sun was already setting when I arrived in Turku and there was one Aalto building I wanted to see which was the Turun Sanomat Building 1927-29 for the Turku Newspaper. The structural frame made out of reinforced concrete, outer external walls with lightweight concrete. Apparently it was one of the first Aalto buildings that attracted international attention. It was closed when I got there, but the security guard was nice enough to let me have a walk around the car park courtyard.

Woke up early to catch the 8.15am ferry to Stockholm. I promised Fred, an old university professor that I would take the day ferry from Turku to Stockholm to see the Archipelago. It only cost 11 euros. The night ferry has a reputation for being a party boat for the 20 somethings who take advantage of the cheap alcoholic beverages. I was able to avoid it by taking the day ferry on a weekday. I'm glad that I did the very long journey. The weather was beautiful and the scenery was even better.

Got into Stockholm on Tuesday evening and went to the hotel. My friend Amy who I have known since highschool was coming to meet me in Stockholm. She had booked the hotel and managed to find a great deal on the accommodation.

Aalto in Helsinki

I'm starting to feel like I am overdosing on Aalto. He seems to be every where. This is my last night in Helsinki. Tomorrow I take a fast ferry in the morning to Tallinn for the weekend. Staying with Airi, another couchsurfer host who works as an environmental consultant and is keen to experience a "Design Weekend" in Tallinn exposing all that is good in Estonian design.

http://www.edl.ee/en/news?news_id=75

Skype seems to be an invention owned by the Estonian's. People I've spoken to say that Estonia is a hot bed of creative activity now, I wonder if it has anything to do with years of Russian oppression.

In the last few days I've visited:

Finlandia Hall - Aalto, 1967-75

Kiasma Museum - Stephen Holl, 2003

Aalto Studio - Aalto, 1955

Aalto House - Aalto, 1936

Academic Bookstore - Aalto

House of Culture - Aalto, 1952-58

Finnish Museum of Architecture - Special exhibition showing Sverre Fehn's Venice Biennale exhibition in the Nordic Pavillion from last year.

Espoo, Helsinki University of Technology - Aalto, 1949-66

Design Museum

Architecture Museum

Lots of looking in design and furniture shops. Was introduced to Tove Jansson, Finnish writer who wrote the Muumi children stories. Very popular doesn't describe their status amongst popular culture in Finland. The Muumi's is an industry here. I managed to buy an english translation in paperback at a second hand bookstore today to familiarize myself with this phenomenon. You can buy dvd cartoons, mugs, stuffed toys, comics, books, clothes, bed linen with your favourite Muumi characters. According to my hosts, they are bigger than Harry Potter here.

Aalto Villa Mairea, Noormarkku

Ended up meeting the swiss architect couple again the next day at Villa Mairea. Not the easiest place to get to.  I stayed overnight at a strange hostel in Pori where the owners were only available on demand. I had to call and let them know I had arrived.

The next morning I left the key in the room and took my luggage to the train station where I stored it in a storage locker.  Then went to the bus station to catch the bus to Villa Mairea.  It cost about €4 each way and the bus driver didn't speak english, but quickly understood once I had shown him the Villa Mairea directions I was given by the Aalto Foundation. He let me off at a bus stop on Highway 23 and motioned to 

me to walk that way, which was up a gravel dirt path.  I followed it for about 5-10min. passing a children's nursery and then veered left up a sloped path. After passing a traditional country house that was originally the family home of Maire Gullichsen, the villa slowly reveals itself. Maintenance contractors were on site the day of my visit.  They were re-varnishing the timber window frames with a sky lift machine.

Seven people showed up for the tour.   Two swiss architects and 4 Japanese students and tourists. I met one Japanese visitor who wasn't an architect, designer nor had a profession closely related to architecture.  She just admired Aalto's work and was on a 10 day holiday, making Aalto pilgrimages.  She told me she went to see Aalto's Tuberculosis Sanitorium in Paimio the day before and got lost.  Was dropped off in the middle of nowhere and ended up finding a bowling alley where she was able to call a taxi who took her to the Sanitorium. Someday I would like to understand the unique relationship between the Japanese and the Finns.  There seems to be a mutual respect that exists for both countries design sensibilities.

This house is owned by the Gullichsen family foundation as opposed to the Aalto foundation. For this reason it is one of the most well maintained of Aalto's houses.  The Aalto Studio and House are owned by the Aalto Foundation and are less well maintained.  The family still gather here during the summer months we were told.  I think I would feel strange knowing that my house was being trampled on by thousands of tourists each year, although I suppose the tourists probably pay for the maintenance costs.

We were only allowed access to the ground floor of the house.  First floor was off limits as was the sauna. We were also not allowed to take photographs inside and had to take off our shoes and wear slippers before entering the main interior spaces.  Apparently Aalto was heavily influenced by Fallingwater when he began designing this house for his close friends Harry and Maire Gullichsen who made their wealth from the Finnish forestry industry.

It is a lovely house.  I realized that you can't understand Aalto's buildings until you've had a chance to visit them and experience a little of what it must have been like to live or work in them.  Photographs in books and written text just doesn't give them justice.  The proportions of the house and the size of the semi enclosed courtyard with pool feels perfect. It's not too big and not too small.  Aalto designed the courtyard as another room of the house, he made the main glazed wall movable so that the wall to the living space was actually the external wall of the adjacent sauna building. The tour guide noted that this glazed wall has probably been fully opened maybe twice in the whole lifetime of the house.  The glazed panels were designed to slide across and concealed behind the fireplace.

Aalto Experimental House, Muuratsalo

Through my student days and the many books and photographs I've seen, I though I knew this project pretty well. It turned out I didn't.

I was told to show up at 10am at the entrance into the site from the main road. The number 16 bus which originates in Jyvaskyla and stops in Säynätsalo took me to the last stop in Muuratsalo before turning around. I got off at the little grocery/post office /pub in Muuratsalo. From there it is a short walk, maybe 5-10 min. to the main timber gates leading into the forest to the Experimental House. When I arrived the tour guide and a swiss architect couple were waiting for me.

Mirkka, the tour guide told me that they had about 3000 visitors last year. Due to the number of visitors they've had to clearly mark a path to the house through the forest to minimize the impact on the landscape. We were first shown the larch clad enclosure that houses the boat Aalto designed for getting to and from the island.

When it was built in 1952-54, roads to the site did not exist. The original intended way of arriving to the house was by boat. We were then shown the sauna. It was noted that Aalto was not a big fan of the sauna. The sauna has a green roof which helps to keep moisture and prevent the sauna from catching fire. It takes 4 hours to heat the sauna, during which time the internal space is filled with smoke. When it is hot enough a small hatch is opened to allow the smoke to escape, the sauna is ready to use once smoke is emptied. Must be quite an experience.

The house itself is a lot smaller than I had imagined. Proportions are nearly perfect, except the bedrooms seemed really cramped for their guests and the family. I was told that Elissa, Aalto's 2nd wife was a few years younger than Aalto. There is a small half door leading from their bedroom into the courtyard. My tour guide noted that when Aalto was asked what he was thinking when he designed the door he said, "it's for Elissa's lovers to be able to make a quick escape when I arrive unexpectedly to the house". Not sure that's true.

I saw this feature again in the Aalto House/Studio in Helsinki.

There is a small ladder up to a small door into a storage room which leads out into the first floor balcony space and bedrooms. I was told again by the tour guide at the house that Aalto liked to escape from his employees without being noticed.

The brick work on the main entrance facade reads more like a wall of brick control samples...I like it. It's a very busy facade and yet I think it still works compositionally. It's interesting to see some of the brick patterns that were used here showing up on later buildings such as the House of Culture and his own studio/house in Helsinki.

Aalto Town Hall Säynätsalo

Okay, I know I've been light on the photos so far, but I'm hoping to make up for it now.  I've been staying with Tero and Emmi in Helsinki. Both graphic designers and they have been nice enough to lend me an old macbook to use for e-mail and blogging.

Säynätsalo Town Hall - main assembly rooms.  It was early morning on an overcast day but I would imagine that the lightplay on a sunny afternoon in this space would have been very dramatic.

Main public entrance into the Town Hall. Inside the foyer there was a guest book.  I noticed Richard Rogers was there in '08. Mari, the administration woman who takes care of visitors says they get quite a lot of architects and architecture students.  Local people who live on the island can't understand why people come from all over to see their town hall, she says. People are proud but they don't exactly know why.  I never really appreciated pergola's until this moment. I love the way he plays with light and shadow.

Arriving at the town hall from the bus stop. It's partially obscured from the main road until you walk on the path into the clearing.  There was a children's nursery to the left of the photo. The ground floor of the library was originally designed to be commercial/retail units, now it has been taken over by the library which now occupies both the ground and first floors.

Climbed up Aalto's sculpted turfed stairs into the courtyard. Probably the most photographed view. You can see the main assembly hall.  Below, you can see stairs and corridor leading up to the main assembly hall.  I was impressed with the amount of natural light penetrating into the building and done so dramatically.

Finland Finally

Arrived in Vaasa on Wednesday and lost an hour. Had to settle for the Best Western which was overpriced. It some how felt unfair that I would only be able to stay here for only 8 hours as I had checked into the hotel at around 1:30am.

I promised an old professor from University that I would visit Vaasa university to see the library by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simo_Paavilainen

A lovely building with terraced floor plates with views towards a lake. Had a cup of coffee in the student cafe and read a copy of the Sunday Times. Kinda' missing the Guardian. I think what I loved about the building was the way in which every seat/desk had a view of the lake and landscape beyond. The natural light penetrating into the building was also a nice change to the artificial flourescents I am used to in libraries at home. Left Vaasa early afternoon to catch a train to Jyvaskyla, Alvar Aalto's home town. I was excited.

I arrived and checked into a self service hotel. There is zero contact with hotel staff. The room was booked over the internet and a text message was sent to me which included room number and door code. I arrived and followed the instructions which included swiping my credit card to open the outside security gate and door. I took the elevator up to my room and typed in the door code on a keypad outside my door. I walked into a room with a flat screen tv on the wall with a personalized welcome message. The flat screen tv was controlled with a sort of wireless computer keyboard that had tv, internet, film, weather, and FAQ info access. I was sort of amazed and skeptical at the experience. It was about 11pm when I had arranged to meet my couchsurfer host for a drink. We met at the Old Bricks Inn, a popular bar in the city centre. Kevin is a mathematician and an american so we had no problems finding interesting conversation. I treated him to a glass of single malt whisky. Paid 19 euros for two Highland Parks...ouch!

The next day was Aalto day. I went to Kevin's in the morning to drop off my luggage and have a cup of coffee before walking Kevin to his office at the university - otherwise known as Aalto Land. It was interesting to talk to Kevin about his experience of the university buildings. I think he definitely had a beef with the men's toilets in the main building. Not being able to close the door to a cubicle once inside was very annoying. Aalto's campus buildings feel very much at ease with its surroundings. The Lozzi building houses the student cafeteria. It was a lovely surprise to walk into the building on the ground floor, up the stairs into a large bright cafeteria hall with timber framed trusses then out onto an external brick paved patio with tables and chairs leading seamlessly into the forested campus again. Note, if you come for a visit try to get there for lunch as the student meals are amazing value for 5-6 euros.

Wandered down to the Alvar Aalto Museum which is located very close to the university campus. A small museum but with very well thought out exhibitions with a good collection of models and his furniture. The gift shop had many Aalto books I had never seen before. I wanted to buy them all, but didn't think I would be able to carry them in my luggage so decided to save it for Amazon when I got home. I spent the better part of an afternoon there then meandered back into the city centre to find some more Aalto. The Worker's Club 1924-1925 was one of Aalto's earlier buildings and quite different to his later work at the University 1951-71. It feels like a before and after snap shot. He died in 1976, the year I was born.

Met up with Kevin later in the evening and did some food shopping at a few of the supermarkets in the city centre. I have never seen so many malls in such a small city. The city centre is made up of a series of soul-less mini malls. Kevin was of the opinion that this was in keeping with the Finnish attitude to a closed society and culture. A little bit anti-social and very protective of privacy and personal space. I was reminded of all the stares I received walking around the city and was stopped on a few occasions by people who tried to practice their Japanese and/or wanted something translated from Chinese.

I made my signature ratatouille for Kevin and his friend Susanne. It was a group effort and we did quite well. The evening seemed to pass by quickly in Kevin's one room flat, (23 sq.m) Luckily Kevin had ear plugs for my inevitable snoring that night. Decided to go to the "Vihrea Haltijatar" which translates to english as the Green Fairy pub.

Today, went back to the Alvar Aalto Museum with cash to pay for my 1 night accommodation at the Saynatsalo Town Hall. A woman overheard my discussion with the staff member and was amazed to find out that you could actually rent out a room there. For 50 euros a night you can stay at the Town Hall. There are two rooms named after Aalto and his wife Elissa. I'm staying in the Alvari Room. I was given a brown envelope with instructions, directions to the town hall and keys to the room. I couldn't believe how trusting they were to allow me to pick up a key on Saturday for a Sunday night stay.

Stopped by the Farmer's Market, an annual weekend event to celebrate the harvest and signal the end of the summer. Lots of food stalls and hand made goods, everything from bread to knitted wool socks. Tried a sort of fried salmon dumpling, apples that were similar to Macintosh , several different types of jams from berries native to Finland and little fried fishes that were extremely tasty. Bought loads of chanterelle mushrooms and another type of mushroom for 5 euros. Decided they would be good for a mushroom risotto for dinner that evening.

Went for a lovely walk in the woods to build up an appetite for dinner. Hikes and access to nature walks are very close by.

Tomorrow Kevin and I will part ways, he heads to Prague. I will be taking a bus to Saynatsalo island where I'll be staying at the town hall. I'll be meeting Anne there in the morning, another couchsurfer who was very kind to have invited me for dinner at her place. Monday I will get in to see the Experimental House in Muuratsalo, then I head to Pori where I will be spending the night before getting a bus the next morning to see Villa Mairea...can't wait!

(I managed to upload some photos to accompany my previous blogs. Will try to upload more when I get a chance)

Hello Sweden

Took the train from Trondheim to Sundsvall in Sweden, switching trains in Ostersund. A fairly long journey which started at 8.20am and finished in Sundsvall around 4pm. I was surprised that I wasn't asked for my passport when I crossed the border.

I had a half hour to kill before meeting up with my next couchsurfer host. Lena and her husband Larsh was nice enough to host me for one night. They live in an old farm house just outside of the city. I was fortunate to have met some of their friends who were on their way north of Sundsvall to begin a puppet theatre show tour for kids. We made dinner together. It's incredible how quickly you can whip up a feast with 6 people, a dog and a cat in the kitchen! Larsh is a blacksmith and he showed me his forge behind the house. He also has a workshop which he uses to make beautiful kayaks using traditional construction methods from Greenland. The kayaks are clad using the same material ship sails are made from. Traditionally seal skins were used, but Larsh is not allowed to use seal skins now for obvious reasons. I was also shown wooden paddles which were light as a feather. He is a very talented man, but is only able to make a living working as a welder in a nearby factory. The blacksmithing and kayak making have been reduced to hobbies.

I didn't stay long in Sundsvall. I was up the next morning at about 7am to take the bus back into the city centre. Had a very quick walk around the city centre and took the 10am bus north to Umea. A university town - my Lonely Planet guide notes that the average age here is 36 years old. The bus journey felt longer than it was, about 4 hours and managed to get into Umea around 2pm. The sun was shining, 17 degrees. I headed for the tourist information centre to find accommodation for the night. Almost all hotels and hostels were booked - there was some sort of convention in town so I had to settle for Hotel Wasa for 80 euros, breakfast included. I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to do some handwashing of some underwear and socks in the ensuite washroom.

Afterwards I headed down to the river for a walk in the sun. Past a student demonstration in the street. It looked like it had something to do with Swedish socialist politics. The town is kitted out with cafes, bars, kebab, pizza and burger joints. Tried some liquorice ice cream - surprisingly good. Decided to visit a pub called 'The Pipes of Scotland' It's noted in my Lonely Planet guide as a popular place to meet students. It was around 8pm when I walked into the pub. There was probably about 8 people there. I had a pint and watched a bit of Manchester United playing a team I didn't recognize - the tv was too far away for me to see and I couldn't be bothered to check. The student behind the bar was wearing a t-shirt with the St.Andrew's cross on it. He spoke with a very strong accent. I didn't want to ask if he'd ever been to Scotland. He was grumpy enough when I asked if he had any local beers on draft, which he didn't.

Got up this morning and went to the tourist information centre to find out the bus schedule for the ferry terminal in Umea. Turns out you cannot get a bus directly to the ferry terminal, it stops at the nearest town which is 2km from the terminal and you have to walk. Went back to my hotel who were nice enough to arrange a taxi to get me there - 35 euros. I am taking a 4hr ferry journey from Umea to Vaasa at 8pm. 60 euros for 1 adult, walk on passenger, one way. It would have been cheaper to fly. What a faff, I can't wait to get to Finland.