Day 14 - Saturday 19th July

Video above, showing a summary of our brilliant holiday to this magical land of a thousand lakes in 2014!

Our final full day here in paradise dawned like almost every other morning before it has - perfectly, with a cloudless sky and the temperature rising quickly. I sat outside for a while just relaxing in the warm sunshine while the rest of the family slept soundly.

 Looking out to the lake on the final morning. It's a perfect morning once again!

 Above and below- this double swing is perhaps the main reason I rented this wonderful cottage back in 2012- as Anna always wanted a swing like this at a rental cottage. Lucky I did, as it has proved to be the most fantastic place we have ever stayed at in Finland!

Once we were up and had had a good breakfast, we got ready to head east. From here in western Finland, to a place we first visited in 2008, and where we have spent many happy times since - Varkaus, in eastern Finland. There, we had lunch with our very good friends Jyrki and Mari Ikonen and their boys once again.

By the time we arrived, it was another day that is classified as "hot" here in Finland, that is, it was over 25C, and it was very relaxing to chat and eat in the hot sunshine with our friends. Sandy and Olivia played and swam, and Keith had a good swim in Lake Saimaa, in fact he perhaps misunderstood the instructions I gave him not to swim too far in to the lake, as he went quite a bit further than we had intended him to. When he got back, Jyrki and I joked that we had been thinking about launching the rowing boat to rescue him, but Keith simply laughed and replied, "Don't be silly!"

 Jyrki gets the lunch ready!

 The boys play football. 

Down at the jetty area. Below, Keith gets ready to tackle Lake Saimaa! 

On our return westwards, we passed through quite a few very heavy and thundery showers, but it was lovely again by the time we got back here, so we relaxed over a light final dinner for this year at this cottage.

 Final evening, of sunshine again, here at this fabulous place!

Tomorrow, we leave, and it's fair to say we're all sad about that. It's been a really wonderful two weeks here - the weather has been absolutely perfect, and the lake has been super to swim in each day. We head down to Helsinki for a couple of nights, where we'll stay in the same Hellsten Hotel apartment that we have rented a couple of times before. I'll create and edit a video of the holiday once we're back home, and upload it here, but apart from that - this is (probably) the final post on the blog from this year! But we're looking forward to returning again in 2015!

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Day 13 - Friday 18th July

As Keith and I are watching updates from our speedway team's match tonight, it's just a short post about today.

Another hot day, with the temperature finally reaching 27C this afternoon while we were swimming. We spent time in Jyvaskyla shopping earlier, then came back and relaxed. Olivia and Sandy were both keen to go out on the boat, and both had shots at rowing, which they enjoyed. Keith also came out with me earlier.

Olivia rowing the boat back to shore.

Tomorrow, we're off to Varkaus to see our pals Jyrki and Mari. Hopefully more pictures tomorrow evening!

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Day 12 - Thursday 17th July

This is like Heaven on Earth!

Gorgeous! That's the only way to describe the weather and the day overall today.
After breakfast, we headed straight to the Spa and swimming pool at Peurunka, a 25 minute journey along the country roads from here, via the town of Laukaa. Last year, we were unable to visit the spa for several days due to the roads around Laukaa being closed due to a risk of an explosion at the explosives factory close-by. So, it was nice to drive by the explosives factory without any problems this time around!
From the photos here though, there are some interesting sights along the road to Laukaa! Firstly, you pass by a bus stop with a long queue of scarecrows! Then a little further on, a Finnish blonde awaits visitors by her bike, outside a typical country house! We have seen both of these before, but didn't have the time to stop until today!

These show typical Finnish quirkiness at its best.  

The spa was quiet, and everyone enjoyed the swimming- Keith especially enjoyed the longest slide in the Nordic countries which is 130m long- and howled with pleasure each time he came down it.

Back home, after lunch we simply settled down to sunbathe and swim in the lake, which was stunningly warm and calm. The water was reflecting the clouds amazingly in the late afternoon, and I managed to get a few really cool shots of the reflections.

 I can't stop saying it- I love this place!

 Keith chilling out before another session of swimming!

 Sandy sunbathing!

Lily on the lake.

Another one of the reflections.

After dinner, we got the boat out and explored a bit of the lake, as we've been wondering just how many cottages there are along our part of the shore. There are quite a few, but it would appear that many are old and a bit run-down looking. This was done in two sessions- I wasn't at all sure it would be a good idea to have all five of us out at one time! Firstly Keith, Olivia and I went out, then Keith stayed and swam while Anna, Olivia and Sandy came with me. 

 Heading off on the first expedition!

 The chief oarsman.

 I'm not at all sure Sandy was 100% confident with Anna's rowing!

 He looks happier with Olivia leading!

Now it's my turn to relax!

Tomorrow, according to the forecast, the weather will be just like today, so we plan to top up our tans a bit more before we head off to Varkaus on Saturday to see our good friends Jyrki and Mari Ikonen. 

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Day 11 - Wednesday 16th July

This was taken at exactly midnight last night.

This morning we were faced with something new on this holiday- no sunshine to enjoy as we got up! It was still warm though, with the temperature rising as it has done every other day. A quick check of the up-to-date forecast suggested rain and possibly thunder, so we decided to head off to Petäjävesi Old Church, which is a World Heritage Site, and is situated about 30km west of here.

In the village of Petajavesi.

 
Completely made out of wood- Petajavesi Old Church.

Inside the 250 year old church.

There, it was still dry, and at 22C it was feeling quite pleasant, and we spent some time walking around the 250 year old wooden church and looking inside it. As we walked back to the car, it got darker and just as we got in, the heavens opened. Back home half an hour later, it was starting to rain here too but it didn't last long, and the sun was soon out once again.

 At the top of our road, about 1/2 km from the cottage.

Anna, close by our cottage.

These tiny blue butterflies are everywhere by the roadside here.

Anna and Olivia visited the local "zoo" that we have all visited in the past two years, while Sandy and I stayed at home relaxing. I cleaned the sauna out and restocked the wood supply, and also cleaned out the hot-tub while waiting for them to return, and then after dinner Anna and I went off for a wee walk up the road to explore another of the small gravel roads that are all over the place here.

 Another gorgeous evening, another dive into Lake Palvajarvi!

Keith relaxes by the lake after several long swims again today!

Back at the cottage, we all enjoyed some more swimming and diving in the lovely evening sun. Fantastic! Keith has continued to swim for hours each day- he really loves the water and the sauna.

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Day 10 - Tuesday 15th July

Fans of Scottish speedway team, the Edinburgh Monarchs (me included) have been marvelling at our team's amazing run this year; currently the team is unbeaten since the season started back in mid-March and some have begun to suggest on the internet that this run could even last until the end of the season in October!
Here in Finland, we are beginning to wonder the same thing about the weather this year: Could this amazing run of great weather we have had since we arrived back on Sunday 6th July possibly continue until we leave on Tuesday 22nd July? One thing's for sure- it's the best weather we have experienced here at Palvajarvi, and it's the best run of weather we have seen in Finland since our visit in July 2011.

Out for a walk together in the morning.

This morning, after our mid-morning coffee and sunbathing session in the garden, we headed off on foot up the road to explore the area and see what was along one of the close-by roads that branches off further on.

 Time to give a piggy-back.

 Typical Finnish asphalt road.

Strange to find such elaborate graffiti miles from anywhere.

The sun was already hot, so we tried to keep in the shade where possible, and I was busy trying to take some interesting pictures on the deserted road in the middle of nowhere when I was certain I could hear the footsteps of a runner plodding along. I looked around and right enough, there, in the middle of nowhere, was a woman running along, and she was polite enough to shout "Huomenta" (Morning) cheerily as she passed! A bit farther on, and a girl with a dog appeared out of a side track. Maybe it's not so deserted here after all!

 Looking back to the gorgeous house!

Birch and lily leaves together.

Back home for lunch, I was already heating the sauna, as the weather forecast had suggested again that we'd be likely to have thunderstorms in the afternoon. Anna and I relaxed by the sauna, reading and drinking tea and juice all afternoon, while Sandy, Olivia and Keith swam, read and repeatedly took saunas. Once again, the weather stayed good all day, so we simply carried on doing what we like best!

Playing and swimming in the late evening sunlight.

The owner of our cottage, Timo, came round this evening to cut the grass here and chat for a while, and it was nice to see him once again. During the discussions, we were delighted to arrange that we'll be back here again next July for the same two weeks. When we first came to Finland in 2006, we thought we'd found the perfect place to stay in Kotka, but then between 2008 and 2012 we tried a variety of cottages in different areas of the country, including this one in 2012. We've come back in 2013 and 2014, and it'll be a pleasure to look forward to coming here to Palvajarvi again in 2015, so thanks Timo for confirming we can return!

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Day 9 - Monday 14th July

"Thunder. Lightning. Thunder. Lightning"
 I was sitting in the garden at 10.30am taking in the sun's rays as usual, sipping a coffee and eating a delicious pulla bun (Finnish cinnamon bun) and I was looking at the hourly weather forecast for today for our area. That's what it was telling me - hours of rain, thunder and lightning, from 12 noon until 10pm this evening. It seemed impossible to believe, as the sky was clearing rapidly and the few clouds were dispersing. Plus, it was already 24C and was getting quickly warmer.

 Anyway, based on the forecast, we decided to head into Jyvaskyla this afternoon to try to find something nice that Keith could buy as a souvenir. When we set off from the house at 1.30pm I admit there a few light clouds beginning to appear, but as we approached Jyvaskyla 10 minutes or so later, suddenly there were black clouds all over the place and the promised lightning was flashing all over the sky! And, the rain arrived just as I pulled in to the usual car park. That meant we had to hurry as quickly as we could to the main street and the indoor shopping centre, getting soaked as we did!

With Pasi, my friend from several eTwinning conferences!

A few minutes later, it was a great surprise, and pleasure to literally bump right into eTwinning colleague and friend Pasi Siltakorpi, from Porvoo, (about 150 miles south of here) who was in the same shopping centre with his wife for the day! We chatted for a few minutes and then continued on with our shopping, before heading out to find that the sun was back and the clouds had disappeared once again!

Looking out over the lake in the evening sunshine.

Exiting the sauna, with Sandy.

Some refreshment is always needed in the sauna :-)

Anna in the late evening sunshine.

Back home after visiting the supermarket too, we had an evening of relaxing in the sun by the jetty, enjoying swims and saunas as we have every day since we arrived. I asked Keith over supper if he thinks he'll be able to swim every day while we're here, to which he replied, "Aye. As long as there's no more thunder and lightning!"
Indeed!

Below- a wee video showing the cottage and the garden!

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Day 8 - Sunday 13th July

With a round trip of 210 miles to undertake today in what is, in effect, just a van, I was looking forward to a good sleep last night, which thankfully, I got. Nonetheless, I was up pretty early with Olivia, who wanted to swim in the lake before anyone else was awake!

In fact, both Olivia and I were back in our beds for three hours before anyone else even stirred! 

Once the rest were up, it was packing time, as Anna's folks got ready for their return trip to St Petersburg. We left here straight after an early lunch and as we headed south it got very hot outside, with the temperature eventually getting up to 31C for the last 20 or 30 miles as we approached Lahti.

 Anna's dad with Keith, waiting for the train.

Time to board the Allegro.

Bye!!!

The high speed train came dead on time at 3.50pm, and departed after only a minute or two to pick up the Russian contingent, so it was an about turn for us, and we headed back north for the second time in a week from Lahti. We stopped en-route at Joutsa, where we ate at ABC by a beautiful lake, in what was still very hot temperatures of 30C at 5.15pm! By the time we got home at about 6.30pm, I think we were all ready for a jump into the lake and a sauna, so we enjoyed this for a couple of hours. Now though, we're about to sit down and watch the World Cup Final, and we're all supporting Germany :-)

Dinner at ABC Joutsa.

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