Finally getting a hang on the names - just in time to leave!

I remember when Riikka stayed with us as an exchange student 24 years ago, she explained that in Finnish every letter is pronounced in every word. And suffixes are used instead of adverbs and adjectives meaning that there are some v-e-r-r-y long names in Finnish. We have struggled with the pronunciations for the almost week we have been here. Today when we turned on Google maps to guide Riikka into the centre of Helsinki, she burst out laughing at the pronunciations that the Google girl was using! She actually chortled!!There is no electricity in the church, and therefore no heating. So while weekly services are still held in the summer months, winter time services are no longer

held in this Church - how soft we have become!! 

And so we turn south for the drive to Helsinki.

We began this morning with the breakfasts to beat all breakfasts. We had slept very well at Riika and Runo's and the boys, supposedly p early on weekends had slept in also. Breakfast was grand - a delicious range of breads and

meats, cheeses, eggs, salad ingredients, juices, tea and coffee and chocolate! Got to have chocolate when the Aussies are visiting!

Today, Runo will stay at home with the boys and Riikka, Donna and I are heading to Helsinki for some girl exploring time. Runo will do some chores around the yard with the help of the boys also want to go fishing in the lake that is literally down a short path from their back garden. I ask whether they ever catch anything

and they say yes, but too small to eat, and they have to throw them back in.

First stop will be the Petäjäveden kirkko, an old timber church that we have been wanting to see. The church itself was built between 1763 and 1765 with the bell tower added in the 1820's. There were no windows in the Church until

1765.
These buildings are the ones that are so hard for us to comprehend in the sense that there is nothing like this anywhere in Australia. The church has been in constant use since the time it was built. The floor boards are, in some places up to 2 feet wide. There is no consistency in anything - joins are mis-matched, the boards are uneven sizes and some are very unstable. The

pews rest on huge logs, planed straight from the surrounding forests. The Church was

actively in use only for about 100 years when it was constructed as a new Church was built nearby.

Entirely constructed of timber, the out rooves and part of the walls are regularly tarred to preserve them. As you walk up through the surrounding farmland, you smell the church as much as see it! In the interior, the builders have left there mark in the way of painted initials high in the otherwise rather plain dome over the apse. The windows are plain, without decoration or ornamentation, but the old glass is very interesting and filled with impurities. The pulpit is one of the more interesting that we have seen - it is carved with a figure holding up the pulpit itself.

There are candle holders set into the timber of the front pews, and another set of timber candle holders in one of the windows - I would be terrified that the building would burn to the ground. The graveyard in the grounds outside and was used until 2009 with more than 9,000 people buried there over the hundreds of years. The more modern gravestones remain, but the oldest ones are lost.

Marveling over, we hit the road again Jack, this time heading for Serlachius Museum Gösta - an art collection housed across two buildings and their grounds.

The manor was completed in 1935 as the mill owner Gösta Serlachius' private residence. The first floor of the building designed by Finnish architect Jarl Eklund has served as a museum since 1945. The entire building was opened as an art museum in 1984. The exhibitions at the Manor showcase the Fine Arts Foundations' own collections and artworks from the Golden Age of Finnish art. There are paintings dating back into the early 18th Century including some well known works - even a Monet.

The contemporary Pavilion was added in 2014 and was the result of a design competition. This part of the complex complements rather than copies the earlier structure and houses contemporary collections and changing exhibitions. It is a very interesting visit that demonstrates that art patronage has been alive and well in Helsinki for a long time. We finish our visit with a light lunch in the gardens.

While we are on the road, Riikka's phone is going crazy with calls coming in. we stop for fuel and she connects with Runo and the boys who have all phoned her. Turns out that our good wishes for the fishing have paid off - not only did we bring the perfect weather, we brought them their big fish! A large fish, species unknown, weighing in between 7-8 kg! Very exciting all round, although Runo is a little daunted at having to deal with it without being able to consult Riikka also. He does OK because by the time Riikka gets to speack with them,it has been cooked and eaten!

On Runo's advice, we are staying at the Albert Hotel which is about 1 km from and on a tram route to the City Centre which is sited around the harbour - think Sydney as the layout is very similar. Riikka is staying with Runo's sister, Taro, who live three blocks from the hotel in inner Helsinki. We ask her advice for somewhere to have dinner and she suggests that we head into the waterfront and have dinner at Kappeli, a Helsinki landmark restaurant.
As we approach it, it warms the view lit up beautifully. There are beautiful artistic stained glass pieces hanging in the windows and we can see chandeliers, LOTS of chandeliers hanging inside. Bling, plenty of bling - right up Donna's alley!

The wait staff are all dressed in black and white and we are seated in front of one of the front windows. Just perfect. We are handed menus and OMG just how in the heck are we going to choose? There are four set menus, and Riikka selected one of these, but Donna and I want to mix and match. Each is listed separately on the menu, so we have to choose a la carte - oh well - the little joys!

Our selections are:
Starter (all three): SUOVAS REINDEER Lightly salted and smoked reindeer, cranberries and truffle cream
Mains: Riikka - BRAISED PIKE-PERCH IN MUSSEL SAUCE Almond potato purée and roasted cauliflower
Donna - SMOKED ATLANTIC SALMON AND CREAMED WILD MUSHROOMS Summer potatoes and fried early season vegetablesMaria - BEEF FILLET PEPPER STEAK AND ALMOND POTATO CROQUETTE Kappeli’s own creamy pepper sauce and tomato compote
Desserts: Riikka - MILK CHOCOLATE GANACHE AND WHITE CHOCOLATE SORBET Dried raspberry cake and raspberries
Donna - MILK ICE CREAM AND FRESH BERRIES Toasted, crunchy meringue
Maria - RHUBARB FRANGIPANE AND RHUBARB SORBET Rhubarb compote

We accompanied it with a Prosecco to start and a bottle of Spanish white and finished with Coffee. Oh, what a night. It was fabulous!

A tram ride back to the hotel and we call it quits for the day after midnight,so I am knackered.