Lost Post 4: What not to take on a bike ride

Hazards for cyclists... From Kesä10 - lost postcards

Imagine it is the middle of summer again - heinäkuu 2010 to be exact - remember the blue skies, 20 hours of light, 30+°C heat? You are going with your partner on a ten day cycling/camping holiday around Saimaa, starting in Parikala and ending with a few days at a friend's mökki near Haukivouri (see map) - about 350km in all. You can't be sure if the weather will hold, and for every cyclists's instinct shouting 'travel light' there is the camper's instinct whispering 'be prepared'. It may be warm and dry today, but it could be 10° colder, wet and windy in a weeks time. What do you take? 

Day for the Big Chief of the Clan

Zig Zag: From Dartmoor 2009

We ended our family get-together-cum-holiday in Dartmoor today in a rather fitting way on a rather fitting day. But some explanations first.

What 10 things do you associate with Dartmoor?

1. Ponies (in the road)
2. Walking up 'Tors' (the granite outcroppings on top of the moor)
3. The prison
4. Narrow roads/tractors
5. Family holidays
6. Windy days
7. errrm...
8. Heather??
9. Sheep?
10. ..... oh yeah - that thing with stamps

No.10 is properly called 'Letterboxing' which was a past-time my youngest brother, li'l sis, Mum & Dad picked-up visiting Dartmoor sometime after I foreswore family holiday's in my late teens - so something I had zero interest in back then. Later Mum and Dad continued to visit the area to walk the moors and Tors. So it was appropriate that last year, when we went to Dartmoor on 'goodbye' family holiday before we headed off to Finland that the clan left a box out on the moors in memory of our 'big chief'.

So this year, 18 months later, with my own significant large-numbered birthday celebration at hand, we have come back to Dartmoor to regroup, catch-up, celebrate (two birthdays other than mine), meet new additions (nephew and b.f.), walk (best one just Konna & I - 12km, lovely sunny day, Hameldown Tor, Grimspound bronze age settlement and around), eat (excellent and over-ample cooking all round), to dress in Victorian clothing (obviously), take lots of photos with my new 'toy' (and thanks to all my family for the present); and to check on Dad's letterbox.

So yesterday we recovered the box from Feather Tor, near Windy Cross and replaced it with a new one (with an appropriate cross stamp); then after browsing the visitor book last night we placed that box on Top Tor this morning, the day of his anniversary. It was nice to arrive home this afternoon to take some of his favourite flowers from the garden to the churchyard and tell him about the new boxes. I think he would have liked it.

---

Clues to find the letterboxes: (remember to wear appropriate clothing, take an OS map and a compass when walking on the moors! A notebook, pen, stamp and inkpad, as well as a sharp pair of eyes, may also come in handy...)

• The new box in the old place:

1. From the car park on the B3357 head south to Windy Cross;
2. Cross the aqueduct and head up to Feather Tor;
3. Find the 'balancing rock' (see picture) and head east-ish towards a square looking rock;
4. The box is somewhere about halfway between...

• The Chief's old box in the new place:

1. From the small car park on the B3387 cross the road and head south to the small Tor;
2. Look for this small stack (see photo) you may want to scale it for the view west;
3. Head towards Widecombe-in-the-Moor's church tower - about 70 paces
4. The Chief now resides nearby...

Do you like needles?

Marienhamn harbour at midnight, July 2006.

Ahvenamaa or Åland (as the locals prefer to call it, or rather them) is a bit of a historical geo-political oddity.  An archipelago of more than 6000 islands and skerries, although only 35 inhabited, it is inhabited around 26,ooo Swedish speaking people in an autonomous Finnish kunta (Commune). The Swedish Krona freely circulates (although the Euro is the official currency), they have their own flag and the Finnish defence forces are forbidden (it was made a demilitarised zone after the first world war).  Lying between Turku and Stockholm, handily for the locals all the big ferries stop at it's capital Marienhamn (Maarianhamina) albeit in the middle of the night, in order to take advantage of it being outside the EU-customs zone; but in the process adding an annoying couple of extra hours to the Helsinki-Stockholm journey time (unless you're just on the boat for the booze, fags and karaoke, in which case who cares). It has probably the best summer weather in Finland, (but the worst winter weather if you like skiing) and some beautiful archipelagic scenery. And, to get a bit closer to the point of this post, it's also reputed as a great place for cycling and camping holidays.

So as you might guess we are planning a cycling/camping holiday in Åland (I'm going to use the local names for everything from now on as I am writing in English and to annoy Konna who insists on using the Finnish versions), for a week this summer and as well as the usual logistical issues of transport, equipment, food, routes and accommodation to resolve (as we are not doing a pre-packaged deal) we also need to think about something I associate with visiting exotic destinations like Africa or the far east father than cartographical inksplashes in the Baltic. Vaccinations.

Now to get right up close and personal with the point of the post, Åland also is home to something other than a bunch of people with a long standing identity crisis (Finns, Swedes, Ålanders...). Ixodes ricinus ticks. Yum, look tasty don't they? Unfortunately as well as being as fugly as hell, and liking to latch on to wayfarers and do impressions of blood-filled coffee beans, punkki are tricky to remove.  Then you discover they potentially carry two even more unwanted guests: the bacterium Borrelia burghdor feri, which causes Lyme disease; and even worse, the virus for Tick Borne Encephalitis (TBE) in 1:200 to 1:1000 ticks.  Åland is considered endemic for TBE in Finland (although maybe not according to UK NaTHNaC), which is un-curable after contracting it, and it has a 1-2% fatality rate. For this reason the advice seems to be that at-risks groups (which include cyclists and campers you-know-where) should consider having the vaccination course. 

So that's three shots at €40 a shot; €120 each to add to what was supposed to be a cheap holiday. Money well spent? Well it's hard to judge the risks on this sort of thing (just ask Ben Goldacre if you don't believe me) - trying to put it in perspective even taking the worst case: say 1 in 200 x 2% x say 50% chance of getting bitten/latched onto by a tick in a week (that last is a complete guess by the way) = 1 in 20,000 chance of death.  Which compares to something like a 1 in 94,000 chance of dying cycling in the first place. [A direct comparison of those figures is statistically completely wrong, as different things were being measured in each case - so please don't imagine that means 5x more likely!!!] 

Maybe we will end up going to the punkkibussi after all, too much knowledge is a worrying thing for Konna at least ... or am I being complacent when we can fix it with a needle or three?

Lappi

Talvimökki: From Helsinki/Lapland 04-05

Lappi is the Finnish name for their part of Lapland, the home of the Sami and their reindeer herds.  We're off there for the New Year and a couple of weeks of snow, skiing (both flavours), huskies, reindeer, sauna, ice fishing, kammos (that's the winter darkness) and hopefully the northern lights - we'll skip the wolves, bears and lynxes thanks. 

I imagine it will be a tad more authentic than the West Midlands Lapland...

Syyskuu ja syksy

Where were we last year? Eden project, September 2007.  

September (Syyskuu) has always been my favourite or at least a special month for various reasons, (okay, because of my birthday then); even with it's connotations of 'back-to-school' for us from UK.  These days we often seem to go for short holidays with friends in (out of season) September.  I like the occasional indian summer days, the autumn colours, the first rustle of leaves on the ground; the beginning of autumn (syksy) and the end of summer (kesä).  Things always seem to start or end in September for me somehow, and now it will always be more poignant. 

Today is another start: the first lesson here in my Finnish for Foreigners course. 

Ehka ehkä mina minä sanoan sanon nyt: tänään on minun ensimmäinen suomen kieli oppitunti keilioppitunti.

I wonder how many mistakes are in that sentence...?

[corrected  23:06 01.09.08 by konna]

Mölkky

Rustic Mölkky 

[image from Wikimedia commons]

Drop in at just about any Finnish mökki over the summer and you are more than likely to interrupt one or more of the following activities: the grilling of makara, sauna, and mölkky.

According to Wikipedia, Mölkky was invented in Finland in 1996, and has been very successful here. Although described on American websites as a 'Finnish tossing game', it's certainly a good way to while away the long summer days in a more social way and can be played (and even benefits) from the uneven and varied terrain you find in the average yard. Just be careful not to lose your mölkky (the throwing 'stick') in the forest or lake...

The world championships are held in Lahti each year, this year's being the 11th.  

These days you can even buy mini, indoor versions for the long, dark days of winter (but mind the glasswear!), and of course to add to the burgeoning list of Suomi souvenir gifts to inflict on your friends and family...  happy birthday Robert!

Welcome back...

A Tent With a View, or, Where To Next?

We arrived back last night, and have started uploading 493 photos and 19 video clips (yes I foolishly bought a bigger memory card) while the washing machine rumbles away in the background, and the YLE olympic commentators witter away in suomea.

Have stayed in four-star hotel, bunked in aitta's, tent in campsite and backwoods, in mökki with no electricity or running water, and mökki with dishwasher, flat screen TV and two saunas; eaten elk, karelia pies, karelia egg sauce, karelia stew, wild berries, pulla and drank kahvi, kotiolut (home beer), australian shiraz and lake water (boiled of course) ;  seen lots of puu (trees), jarvi (lakes), and even mäki (hills); traveled by car, coach, ferry, train, minibus, taxi and foot; and walked, hiked, climbed, rowed, swam, sailed, slept and been bitten by a hundred hyttynen (mosquitoes) all the while.

Will eventually make a few posts on some of the highlights, and put up a few of the photos - when I can summon up the energy.

Oh and Konna had another name day...

[edited 18/08/08]

We'll be right back after the break...

Mini-mökki, Vaasa

We're off again - to Kesälahti then Koli for a couple of weeks of mökki (cottage) and camping - so probably no more posts for a while... Unless we find a campsite with wireless Internet! (And even then no pics as we'll be working off my iPod). But before we go we've been literally inundated with requests - okay just the one then - to know a) how to pronounce Hölynpöly; and b) how to leave comments...

a. My best representation is "Herlewen-perlew"; but any better suggestions welcome

b. Just click on the 'comments' link at the bottom of each post. If we don't go mökki höperö in the meantime, I'll catch up with them when I am back!

Freedom!

JE! mummo stepped in from the main door; door slammed close behind her leaving the winter storm outside; she was in the summer; beach and sunny weather - swimming is a possibility; have to go whatever it costs; see you in the waves. JE!

Architects on holiday: Aalto to Asuntomessut

One of the curses of being an architect is that it is pretty hard to get away from the stuff (architecture that is) unless you go camp in the wilderness somewhere - but even the tent is an ingenious tensile fabric structure... Well getting out of the urbs will come later, but on this little cultural tour of westen Finland we managed to pack in plenty of architectural sightseeing.

First off (Monday) we stopped in Seinäjoki to see not the Tango festival, but the central civic area - church, library, town hall, theatre and town square all to the masterplan and design of Alvar Aalto between 1951-87. The region is known for it's flat plains, so it interesting that a striking feature of the design (after the 65m high church tower) are the artificial hills for the church lawn and town hall.

Seinäjoki Town Hall with Church of the Plains behind

Seinäjoki Town Hall, Aalto Civic Centre

Tuesday we visited the Asuntomessut (housing fair) in Vassa. This is a annual event showcasing a housing development, from one-off architect designed houses, to apartments and family homes. This years site, a curving waterfront development, has pushed the balance towards the one-off houses after last years larger and more sub/urban site. To be honest there was only one house that really stood out, but some of the more modest houses (in sixes or fours to a court) where also very impressive compared with the typical UK development. I should also say the site was packed with families, not just 'trade' visitors like us.

The fancy bit of the Asuntomessut, Vasaa

Our favorite house, somewhere behind the crowds...

Thursday: After the visit to the folk festival (see separate post) the night before, we went back to the Folk Art Museum in Kaustinen and got a look round, including the auditorium buried in the rock of the hill side. Completed in 1998 it shows the Finns have no fear of using contemporary architecure to give a home to their traditional culture, and was described as a 'Finnish Acropolis' in AR.

Kaustinen Folk Art Centre

After the lull for the Jazz we find the smaller Lomas (holiday home) exhibition outside Pori on Sunday.

Lomas (holiday home) exhibition house, near Pori

But the best is saved to last, as on Monday we head to Noormarkku for a guided tour of Villa Mairea. Built in 1939 for the Gullichsen's this is seen as one of Aalto's main works (with Aino, Alvar's wife contributing considerably), and doesn't dissapoint 70 years later - rivalling the Picasso's kept on it's walls as a work of art. We can only see the main 'public' reception rooms as the family still use the house, but these are so rich in subtle detail an hour is easily filled.

Villa Mairea, Noormarkku (not my video BTW, we weren't even allowed to take photos inside)

I suppose the real curse is on the non-architects (sorry Bore) who get dragged round various buildings, and put up with extensive photographic essays of obscure modernist sites... 

Well you could always go camping instead.

All that Jazz

Pori Jazz Festival

Gannet Colony 

Maybe I have been sitting in the sun too long, but have you ever seen a nature film of birds (gannets maybe) where the birds are packed into their nesting grounds - social yet territorial - feeding and sending up a clamour? Well in this case the 'clamour' is Finnish and the the 'gannets' picnic-ers. And away down the bottom of the slope is a stage occasionally inhabited by jazz performers... But the huge flock feeds and socializes oblivious to the intrusion, until Santana arrive bringing proceedings to a frenzy of flapping.

Yes definitely too much sun.