When the sun is setting, between dusk and darkness, there is a moment when the light turns blue. And the world stops for a heartbeat.
The drive home from a holiday, especially with forecasted rain, is rarely fun.
But when it is, it is a lot of fun.
A morning walk (with a breakfast that, according to Kiara, is worth moving to Haapsalu for), a submerged limestone quarry, an abandoned prison, and a real submarine – a few worthwhile stops. And Stuart drove faster than the wind, as the rainclouds never quite reached us.
And at the end is home.
For good and bad.
Ambling around Saaremaa gets you to some… interesting places.
Sörve Lighthouse and Peninsula were seriously majestic, albeit in a windy, rough and rustic way. But Sõrve Museum, with its three little “military, seafaring and natural history” buildings, was weird – in a good way. The themes were interpreted rather loosely, and included eg., material of Hitler and Occultism, and a wide selection of preserved bird feet.
And then there was the park with more than 300 stone sheep statues with strong political opinions. And the Viking playground. And the stone tree.
Kuressaare castle was cool, but quite ordinary castle… if you ignore the nun, the sceleton and the lions.
We told the kids they can get a little wet.
They got soaked to the bone.
Best thing ever.
Lotte is not a character I was familiar with. So we approached Lottemaa with some trepidation, especially as we knew everything would be in Estonian.
But children have an amazing ability to throw themselves into the parts of the story they understand – and just ignore the rest. The park had sufficient things to do, even beyond the story itself, especially as (totally out of character) I actually looked at the website beforehand and knew about the hidden adventure trail…
And everyone told us about the Finn in the village, the blue fox called Katri Helena.
The “quick stop” to cool ourselves off in Pärnu beach took a lot longer than expected. Mostly because even the girls had to walk about 100m in to the sea before the water reached their belly buttons. The shallow water felt above 30°C, though, so I didn’t mind a bit of splashing.
Washing rugs on the summer cottage pier was fun as a child. Mum would throw buckets of water on my feet as I scrubbed as hard as I could. I still love the smell of Mäntysuopa (pine soap).
As we cleaned the wendy house today, the girls tried the traditional method of cleaning a rug.
Their comment was a dry, “Clearly kids in the old days had a different way of having fun”. Apparently, it was hard work.
The best purchase of the summer – if you ask the girls – has been the massive, almost 5m-long swimming mattress Ukki ordered.
It easily holds both girls standing up, so, wearing a life jackets, Alanna and Kiara have been allowed to push it almost to the middle of the lake by themselves. This is, of course, infinitely cooler than doing it with an adult. Ukki even towed the girls and the mattress all the way to the other side of the strait.
In the deep, the mattress becomes a platform for jumping, diving, kicking, pushing and generally messing around in the water. The best game, naturally, is trying to stay standing when the waves from a passing boat rock the mattress.
Great fun and a great way to build even more confidence in the water.
Now we just need to figure out where an earth to store a thick, 5m mattress for the winter.
There is a beautiful narrow strait just next to our summer cottage. It used to be a protected fish migration route, so no building and no fishing were allowed. I think the regulations have changed somewhat, but parts of the shoreline remain untouched.
As kids – maybe 14-17 years old – my brother and I would occassionally take the boat there for a swim. The strait is so sheltered from the wind that the water was always several degrees warmer than anywhere else.
When something is close to home, you rarely see it as anything special.
Pulkkilanharju is a narrow esker gormed during the Ice Age. It is surrounded by the open waters of lake Päijänne, with small green islands dotting the landscape. It is often listed as one of the most scenic drives in Finland.
But because it is so close to the summer cottage, years can pass without us visiting.
This year, we decided not only to drive across it, but also to walk the short nature trail in the national park. The girls insisted the terrain was so challenging they couldn’t possibly have finished the walk without the 1,5l of bilberries they ate along the way. It really wasn’t. But the bilberries were clearly excellent.
We finished the adventure with lunch and ice cream at Vääksy Lock. Another piece of Finland’s must-see scenery.
Boats (of any size) are hard work.
I love being on the water, but have no interest in owning, operating or maintaining a boat. I want to admire the scenery, take photos, feel the wind… and step off at the end.
I only have to look at my dad or some of my friends to understand how much work boats are. I’m lucky to be in a position, where I can help out here and there without carrying the resposibility. I occassionally drive boats, but even that I do reluctantly. Like with a car, I get no pleasure from being behind the wheel (and I’m always convinced I am bad at it).
When we moved into our house in Espoo, the previous owners asked whether we’d like to include their boat in the deal. Stuart and I did not even need to glance at each other before saying no.
Luckily, there are people more willing to put in the work. I certainly benefit from the result.
“Go shopping by bike,” they said. “It’s so much more fun,” they said.
In all honesty, 94% of the time, it is.
Blue Moment 