A Day in Pori
Tuesday 07/31/2007 2:57 PM (In Finland: 9:57 PM)
Today, Antti and I traveled to Pori with Juha. Juha has lived in America for two years earlier in his teaching career, so Antti was very glad to have him along as my translator (though Antti has been doing a great job at this on his own -- he speaks and understands English much better than he says he does). Our first stop was the Market Hall in Pori. It wasn't as busy as the one in Helsinki because it is a weekday and (I think) because it was raining all day. But this allows you to see what's actually in the market a little bit better -- and that would be Antti in the market, among other things:
The next stop was the Pori art museum, and here is Antti outside of it:
From there we went to the park where the Pori Jazz Festival is held. The festival brings musicians from all over the world, and many (rich) people come just to be seen there. It's a very pleasant park, even in the rain and even without the jazz:
This is a church in Pori and the back of Juha's head (don't worry: there are more photos of him a little further down this page):
Next they took me to the Sigrid Juselius Mausoleum in the Pori cemetery, built by Fritz Arthur Juselius as a final resting place for his 11-year-old daughter (Sigrid) who died in 1898 of tuberculosis. Antti called ahead to arrange an English-language tour of the mausoleum (kiitos!). We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the mausoleum, but here is one of the outside:
And a close up of the doors ... if you can see the images on them, the left side represents life and the right side represents death:
We drove to Reposaari, on the southern peninsula of "Sea Pori" (Meri Pori) on the Gulf of Bothnia (Antti tells me there is "Land Pori" and "Sea Pori" -- two parts of Pori separated by about 12 km) ... I'm not sure "southern peninsula" is exactly the right geographical description, but it will do. The important things to know for these purposes are that it is a fishing village:
... and that there are many windmills here ...
... and that there is a restaurant called Merimesta (this is Antti and Juha at the restaurant) ...
... with an excellent seafood smorgasbord (which Juha informed me is a Finnish concept, even though Americans think it is German).
There is also a lookout tower at the restaurant, which we climbed to the top of before lunch. It was extremely windy and starting to rain again, but here is Antti at the top of the lookout:
And here I am at the top of the lookout (kiitos for taking this photo, Antti):
After lunch, we headed to the lighthouse on the northern peninsula of Meri Pori ... it looks quite peaceful, doesn't it?
It does, but the wind was fierce ... and I mean, hard-to-stand-up fierce. Here is a photo of waves crashing into the rocks on the usually serene Gulf:
And Juha on the same rocks (Antti wisely stayed close to the car, and then waited in the car, while Juha and I tried to get as many pictures as we could before we were entirely soaked):
It was an excellent day, and just like all the others since I've come to Finland, one which makes me forever grateful to have such hospitable family and friends here. I never would have even known to come to places like Pori or Hvittrask without the guidance and generosity of Antti, Juha, Mika, and family. Oh, and after saying final goodbyes to Juha this afternoon, he rode his bike to Antti's (through even more rain) this evening to give me a CD-ROM with the photos he took today and several pins he designed (one for the town of Nakkila, one for Kokemaki National Park, one with a "moose crossing" symbol, and one (though he didn't design it) with a key and the Finnish flag) ... so stay tuned for more photos of this day from Juha.
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