At 8 AM today morning, I awoke to bright light streaming through my blinds. It had been cloudy and rainy for the past week, so the Wendelins and I were relieved to have a reprieve from the dreariness of the unusually cold Finnish summer.
It took a while for everyone to wake up and get organized, but by 11 AM, we were off to Pori! We stopped at a little town in between Rauma and Pori, for it was the site of a grand manor constructed in the late 18th century.
The exterior of the Eurajoki Manor
The interior- the chandeliers are dazzling.
Marja told me something extremely humorous about manors that were built during this period, in particular, the Eurajoki manor. Because symmetry in buildings was architecturally stylish during the 18th century, some of the doors in the manor and many of the windows are fake! Several doors we opened led to a wall of bricks and many windows adorning the manor were simply PAINTED ON. If you can see in the first picture I posted above, the windows that are pitch black with some strips of white are completely fake!
In front of the manor
With my host parents Marja and Kari in front of a river behind the manor
Before heading to Pori, we stopped at one of Kari's many firms (http://www.messin.fi) so that he could conduct a business deal. Because Messin makes and sells bed frames and mattresses, Camilla, Marja and I spent the entire time there "trying out" different beds (aka sleeping on the comfortable mattresses). My favorite bed was one that looked very princess-like, with a diaphanous canopy and white swirls adorning the bed frame. I also liked the modern-looking bed, which comes equipped with a remote control that tilts/elevates the upper half of the bed so one can read/eat in bed!!
After arriving in front of Pori's town hall, the sky slowly darkened and ominous clouds emerged above us, and we rushed into an Italian restaurant called Rosso (how coincidental that I'm also taking an Italian Studies course this summer!)
Town hall in Pori, Finland.
The menu at Rosso. (which means 'red' in Italian)
My food--it was delicious!
Profusely thanking the chefs and waitressed for a wonderful lunch, we headed off to Rastula, which is a department store located in downtown Pori. Marja told me that there would be major sales at all the department stores this week because the week immediately proceeding Midsummer is when most shops start discounting their products.
More of Pori
A few blocks away from the department store, I discovered an Angry Birds-themed play structure! For those of you who don't know, the entire Angry Birds franchise was developed and created in Finland. After much struggling and trying to stuff my 5 foot 7 inches body through rings and spaces designed for children under 4 feet, I finally managed to reach the top and slide down!
Angry Birds-themed play structure!! My younger brother would have loved this.
As per Finnish custom, we stopped for some coffee and snacks! Camilla and I ordered the same thing- sukklaakakku (chocolate cake) with an iced latte.
Camilla and I in the Ebla Cafe. The design and texture of the wall was creative--shelves and shelves of leather-bound books.
Approximately 30 kilometers northwest of Pori was a beach called Yyteri Beach, where I pranced about in the sand. Although I tried to convince Camilla to take her shoes and socks off, all my persuasion was to no avail.
Yyteri Beach- almost indistinguishable from beaches in Northern California! However, the numerous spruce trees give it away.
Wading through the water.
There is something so special about being next to the sea--it must be the way the air feels against your nostrils when you breathe in enough to fill all the space your lungs, or the grainy sand oozing between your toes ,or the freezing water gently lapping at your calves, or the intangible, infinite horizon in the distance? It's almost indescribable. I love the sparseness of people on Finnish beaches; they are so much less crowded than ones in California, where every square inch is occupied by an umbrella or a towel.
We drove a few more minutes to a village called Reposaari, where we visited another church. Unfortunately, the church closed at 6 PM and it was already 7:30.
Church in Reposaari, a village near Pori.
More of the church
A memorial for fallen Finnish soldiers during World War II and the Winter War against Russia.
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