Scandinavia

The next day, our first day in Oulu we went to the beach as it was still very warm weather. Together with Pekka, Susanne and Veera we went to a beach on the Gulf of Bothnia. We've brought Ciska her inflatable whale and inflatable Pooh bear. She went into the sea together with Veera. As well did Hilleke and Susanna, although they only went in up until their knees as they didn't bring their bathing suits. Arjan and Pekka watched all our belongings while the ladies were enjoying the water. When they finished swimming, Arjan and Pekka went for a walk along the beach towards a watch tower. After our visit to the beach we went back to Oulu for lunch/dinner. After dinner we visited a museum in Oulu. The museum contained a few models built after drawings from a children's book. A number of the drawings from the book were copied meticulously. On the other floors of the museum the history of Oulu revived, among which a model of the city as it looked like around 1930. Back home, Arjan and Pekka went to the sauna. Almost every house in Finland has its own sauna. After they came out, Ciska also wanted to try it. She went in together with Veera. She stayed inside for about five minutes. It was too hot for her, but at least she had tried it. Since then she calls the sauna 'the hot chamber'.

The next morning we went to an open air museum near Oulu, Turkansaari. It lies on an island in the Oulu river and has a number of historical buildings. Amomgst which a church from the 17th century, a windmill and several other wooden buildings. In the past a lot of tar was produces her from the pine trees that grow in these areas. So there was also an example of such a tar pit. We spend about two hours in this lovely museum before we went back home. But not after we had something to drink and a pula (a kind of cake). Back in Oulu we had lunch

After lunch we went to the Hailuoto, an island off the coast of Oulu. There is free ferry service to and from the island. We went with one car this time, Pekka, Susanna and the three of us. We drove to the other end of the island. On the way we stopped to visit a special church. It is completely made of concrete and is build on the same place as the previous church that had burned down. In the church are a number of relics that were saved from the old church. On the other end of the island we did a walk along the shore and at a restaurant near a campsite we had something to eat and drink. After which we walked back to the car. Along the way back we stopped at a bird watchtower to see if we were able to see some deer or other wild life. Unfortunately we didn't see any animal apart from a few birds. From the watchtower we drove back to ferry and went home.

The last day in Oulu we did some sightseeing in the city, although the number of sights in Oulu is rather limited. First we went to the market. We walked around a bit also saw the small shops situated around the marketplace. We also visited the Oulu cathedral. Most people in Finland are Lutherans and that is why the churches are not as exuberant as a catholic church. After our visit to the cathedral we went back to the market where we met Pekka, Veera and Susanna who had been to the library. Our next stop was at a supermarket to by some things. Among which some Moomin mugs. The Moomins is a hippo family and there are also books and cartoons made of them. They are very famous here in Finland, there origin lies in this country. In Tampere there is even a Moomin museum. Since we are here in Finland Ciska really adores the Moomins, she bought some of them back in Tampere. From the supermarket we went back home to eat and after that we packed our things to continue our trip towards Simo. In Simo, Aura and Pekka have a holiday cottage and all of us will stay there for a few days. Pekka left first with the two dogs to heat-up the smoke sauna so we can use it this evening. Sometime later we left and we took Susanna with us. Later Aura and the other children followed. It is about a one hour drive from Oulu to Simo.