Day 8: Down to Lahti and back!

Just before we set off for Lahti this afternoon.

We awoke to fantastic sunshine this morning, and once everyone had had breakfast, Keith and Olivia came into Jyvaskyla with me as Olivia wanted to buy a pair of headphones with some of her holiday money. While we were there, Anna and Olga went for a stroll up to the zoo about 1km from here, by the main road, where they had coffees and cakes, before returning and picking a good crop of porcini mushrooms by the roadside. I'd already been reading that this season's mushroom crop is going to be a bumper one here, and they said it only took a few minutes to gather this lot below!

 Fantastic porcini crop!

The sun was splitting the trees this morning!

This was taken after midnight last night, with the moon's reflection on the lake!

 Olivia, Arnold and Sandy (taken by Olga)

Me, Olivia and Captain Arnold! (taken by Olga)

A last swim for Olivia this evening!

After lunch, we set off for the 100 mile trip down to the train station at Lahti, where Anna's folks caught their train home at 1647 this afternoon. It's been a pity that the weather was so lousy for the first few days they were here with us, but they all enjoyed themselves nonetheless.

Once back home this evening, we lit the sauna and jumped into the lake for a wee swim and were delighted to find the water warmer than at any point yet - it was a real pleasure to swim in this evening. It's been a cracking day here, though it was cloudy down at Lahti, and the forecast for the next few days (while not brilliant) is better than it was a week ago! 

Day 7: No better place to be than right here!

With the lake like this, it's hard to drag yourself away!

Occasionally over the years, I've wondered if it's worth the bother of adding all these photos day by day to new blogs each time we visit Finland, but days like today make me certain that it's a great thing to be doing. Looking back through some of the posts I have written, and some of the photos from earlier years brings so much back, so many lovely memories that can never be forgotten.

 Relaxing up by the church this morning.

 A spot of rock climbing!

 Beautiful floral displays are all over the centre of Jyvaskyla.

Looking down the pedestrian precinct.

And today brought the opportunity to take lots more wonderful photos. The day turned out to be the best of the holiday so far, with warm, then hot sunshine from the word go, and lasting right until a few minutes ago as the sun has finally come lower in the sky. It won't go down for quite a long time yet, and of course, it'll be back up again very shortly after that, as there are no real nights here at the moment. Incredibly, the temperature of the water has risen to 21C, which is a rise of 4C since yesterday morning, meaning it felt so much more agreeable!

We headed into town this morning, and wandered around here and there in the warmth, while Anna's family spent the last of their money in various department stores. It seems difficult to believe that it's actually considerably cheaper to shop here in Finland than in Russia, but with various sanctions being waged against Russia over the past year, and with things set to (more than likely) worsen what with the stationing of thousands of NATO troops close to the Russian border being agreed just a few days ago, it would appear that bargains are easier to find here in Jyvaskyla than in St Petersburg.

 Heading back to our place - wonderful scenery!

 Sandy's way out in the lake, Olivia is much closer. Keith was in the sauna!

 After much persuasion, Anna finally swam out to the platform!

And she couldn't be kept off it once she was there!

Once back home, we simply sunbathed and swam, enjoyed the sauna for hours on end, and repeated the process again and again. I barbequed some pork this evening which was delicious, and we swam and sauna-ed more until a wee while ago when we decided to stop to get ready to watch France take on Portugal in the Euro final.Tomorrow, we have the morning here, before we take Anna's folks back down to Lahti for their train home. The week has gone quickly!

 Dragonfly by the sauna.

Olivia dives in well to the lake.

Down by the jetty.

My turn to dive in once again!

A side view of the sauna, with Anna's dad fishing.

Relaxing in the evening sunshine.

Day 6: Sunshine Saturday!

Long awaited sunshine means time to relax!

Happiness became widespread this afternoon as the weather finally improved and the long-awaited sun appeared, transforming the lake and the surrounding area back to what we have known for the past few years - a place of outstanding natural beauty!

However, even this morning, it wasn't quite like that, as rain fell first thing and prompted us to head along to Jyvaskyla Karting Centre for a session on the indoor track. Olivia, Sandy and I did about 40 laps each and had great fun along with a few Finns who were on the track too.

Olivia on track.

Olivia about to be swallowed up by Sandy and me!

Once back to the house though, the sun was appearing and so the sauna was heated, the lake was warming and we spent the afternoon swimming, diving, sunbathing and relaxing! The pictures tell the story today.

 Olivia takes charge on the boat!

Diving into the lake!

 Relaxation.

 Lake's much warmer to dive into when the sun's out!

 More relaxation!

 Steps to heaven!

 Birch leaves by the jetty.

Arnold's growing up.

That's Keith, diving from the platform!

Olivia took this unusual shot, showing the jetty behind the flowers.

The jetty looking lovely in the sun.

I swam out to the platform with the camera to take this. 

The house, the sauna, the BBQ area and the boat!

Looking along the lakeside.

Auntie with nephew!

Another of Keith diving.

Trees around the jetty area.

What a beauty!

What a view!

Olivia still swimming as the sun begins to go down.

Relaxation again, this time on the trampoline!

Writing this at 11.15pm, Olivia and Sandy have only just come out of the lake, having been in repeatedly this evening to dive and swim. Keith came out earlier and watched the speedway GP with me, but he too spent a good, long time in the water today, swimming for much longer times than any day previously. Long may the sunshine continue...

Day 5: Quiet day by the house

A family of swans on the opposite side of the lake this morning.

I'm beginning to lose faith in the weather forecasting abilities of the Finnish Meteorological Society. For several days now, they have been saying that the following day will be bright and sunny, and when we get to the late evening on the day before, the forecast suddenly changes to show that it will continue grey, damp and cool. For today, they said it would be sunny, right up to last night. Then they claimed it would be sunny from noon, then from 3pm, 4pm, and finally at 4pm they said it'd be sunny from 6pm. It's now nearly 7pm and they are still saying it's to be sunny this evening, but the grey, completely cloudy conditions continue. At least it has stopped raining and got very slightly warmer, but at 15C, it's hardly what you'd call summery weather.

It's all a bit of a depressing state. Never, in all our visits, have we seen anything like this. I've been telling myself it's bound to be better each day, but it simply refuses to improve much. As my friend Jyrki in Varkaus said a couple of days ago, "The only hot place at the moment is the sauna!" And he's right.

Today, we simply rested after our long trip to Savonlinna and back yesterday. Anna, Olga and I shopped at the S-market supermarket this morning in Vaajakoski. It never ceases to amaze me what an incredible selection of things they stock, compared to supermarkets in the UK. We're talking about a supermarket (one of several) that serves a population smaller than Dunbar where we live, yet it has literally hundreds of cheeses, including Scottish cheddar, massive long aisles of yoghurts, an array of different fish that no supermarket I have ever seen in the UK stocking, and indeed, it's the same with almost every product they have. The meat selection is simply amazing, and we bought some fantastic salmon earlier in the week, and today some superb marinated chicken and pork. I have to say that the big supermarket giants in Britain really do treat their customers very poorly, as it's a real pleasure shopping here, browsing so many wonderful products. Perhaps I'll take some photos later in the stay to illustrate what I'm saying. Can you imagine if I showed them to the management in Asda or Tesco where we live? They care so little they'd simply shrug their shoulders!

Planning their leaps from the diving boards!

I only just caught Sandy!

A better capture of Olivia in the air!

That's easy, isn't it?

View of the diving board structure.

This afternoon, Sandy, Olivia and Keith went with me to the diving board lake along the road about 5 minutes from where we are. Both Sandy and Olivia did some jumping from the boards, then we came back and I heated the sauna, where everyone spent a couple of hours late afternoon before dinner this evening. It's quite surprising how the water temperature in the lake here is holding up - despite the terrible air temperatures, it's still not unpleasant to swim in! How long that can continue without sunshine to heat the water though remains to be seen...

A bit blurred, but that's Sandy from the top board!

This evening after 9pm, Anna and I went for a walk, up the road towards the top end of the lake and doubled back along the far side of it. These are gravel roads, and as we walked, we could see the clouds finally clearing and the air felt quite a bit warmer. We discovered countless houses hidden away in the woods and around the far side of the lake, along with a couple of small farms. We must have walked a good couple of miles before doubling back. What a peaceful and pleasant stroll it was!

I've  been in touch with the local karting centre, and I'm taking Sandy and Olivia there at 12.00 noon tomorrow for some racing sessions. No doubt the whole crew will go along to spectate and shout us on!