Even tough we didn't quite adjust to Lappeenranta and are moving back to Vantaa we've enjoyed the summertime here. The whole city seems to wake up in the summer but especially the harbour. It's called Huvisatama during the summer (huvi=amusement, satama=harbour). There are twelve amusement devices for free to anyone to jump in in the area starting from the carousel all the way to the Ferrish wheel. There is also a market place, two restaurant ships and little huts selling vety and atomi (local treat: meat pies with ham and egg or just either, tastes good), ice cream, waffels etc. in the harbour. The one thing I like the most in Huvisatama is the sandcastle!
Sandcastle is a large area where are sand sculptures made out of 3 million kilos of sand. This years theme was space. I like walking around the area watching those marvellous sculptures.
Right beside the Sandcastle there is a little Wendy House village. There are eigth fully funished and equipped playhouses there. Different firms have donated money in order to keep it free for the public and so they also got to furnish and advertise in those playhouses. My favourite is this:
We visited the Wendy House Village with Juha's cousine Jaana and her son Jonni who is Juha's godchild. His favourite was the one where you could send an imaginary space ship in to the space!
This is a cute one too.
There are also many kinds of events in the harbour in the summer. The one our children loved the best was the presentation of Finnhorse. It's the 100 jubilee year of Finnhorse this year. That's why there are Finnhorse presentations all over Finland this year. We saw how to harness a horse with an old harness and with a new harness, girls got to go for a little ride on a carriage and also on a saddle. One horse even got new shoes in the event!
In this last picture the horse isn't a Finnhorse. There was another event when girls got to ride with Lauke for free.
One day I went to the Ferrish wheel with Viivi. The view was beautiful!
The picture above gives you a better view of the harbour area. This walkway takes to the sandcastle (distance maybe 500 meters), on the left you see the market place, on the right there is the Lake Saimaa and up on the hill is the fortress of Lappeenranta. Another place worth visiting. All the sights are easy to reach at a time. The fortress is place for history and art lovers. FOR ME!
In this building there are a few gallerias and a wonderful cafe with old furniture and athmosphere.
There are also three museums at the fortress and one more very close in downtown. I must admit that I've only visited the South Karelian art museum and South Karelian museum. The one in the picture is the museum of the cavalry. I've wanted to go to the house museum of Wolkoff since last summer but it seems I'm not able to visit it before we move away, it's a pity! Well, it's a good reason to come back to Lappeenranta for visit some day. Girls had a drama tour in South Karelian museum this summer. It was a nice way for children to get into the theme of the exhibition of Suvorov. Suvorov was a Russian general who lived in south east Finland (it was Russia then) 1730-1800. 
We visited the Wendy House Village with Juha's cousine Jaana and her son Jonni who is Juha's godchild. His favourite was the one where you could send an imaginary space ship in to the space!This is a cute one too.
There are also many kinds of events in the harbour in the summer. The one our children loved the best was the presentation of Finnhorse. It's the 100 jubilee year of Finnhorse this year. That's why there are Finnhorse presentations all over Finland this year. We saw how to harness a horse with an old harness and with a new harness, girls got to go for a little ride on a carriage and also on a saddle. One horse even got new shoes in the event!In this last picture the horse isn't a Finnhorse. There was another event when girls got to ride with Lauke for free.One day I went to the Ferrish wheel with Viivi. The view was beautiful!The picture above gives you a better view of the harbour area. This walkway takes to the sandcastle (distance maybe 500 meters), on the left you see the market place, on the right there is the Lake Saimaa and up on the hill is the fortress of Lappeenranta. Another place worth visiting. All the sights are easy to reach at a time. The fortress is place for history and art lovers. FOR ME!In this building there are a few gallerias and a wonderful cafe with old furniture and athmosphere.
There are also three museums at the fortress and one more very close in downtown. I must admit that I've only visited the South Karelian art museum and South Karelian museum. The one in the picture is the museum of the cavalry. I've wanted to go to the house museum of Wolkoff since last summer but it seems I'm not able to visit it before we move away, it's a pity! Well, it's a good reason to come back to Lappeenranta for visit some day. Girls had a drama tour in South Karelian museum this summer. It was a nice way for children to get into the theme of the exhibition of Suvorov. Suvorov was a Russian general who lived in south east Finland (it was Russia then) 1730-1800. 
Even though Lappeenranta is a beautiful small town I must say that I'm glad I get to go back to Vantaa. It has been a hard year here without friends and family. Our home is in Vantaa and I love it more than Lappeenranta although there isn't the Lake Saimaa and it's mainly ugly block buildings built on a former flat field. You can't reason your heart! 
2 comments:
This sounds like so much fun! I would love to see the sand castles. As always, you have taken beautiful pictures. Coming to your blog is like reading a travel book!
Mari,
you're right! Lately I've been concentrating on telling about South Carelia. Maybe it's because we are moving away from here. I have a strong desire to capture it and show it around. One more post of South Carelia coming today. :) Maybe some day I have something else to blog...
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