Day 2 in Vaasa was forecast to be rainy, so Ronan and Lena suggested we spend the day in Vaasa itself. But before we headed out, I managed to fit in a short swim in the part of the sea that stretches almost over to Ronan and Lena’s property. This water is the Gulf of Bothnia, the body of water that separates Finland and Sweden, with this region of the sea called Kvarken.
Ronan suggested I get into the water at a nearby boat ramp, and it was definitely interesting figuring out the best approach, with all the grasses at the edge of the water.
But once in, it was really nice! This area is quite shallow and muddy on the bottom, and there were a whole lot of unknowns so I didn’t stay in for too long. It wasn’t cold at all and super nice out there in the water. One of the surprises was how not salty it was – I had thought the water would be saltwater since it’s the ocean. Instead it was brackish, which I learned is how to describe water with salinity in between saltwater and freshwater. This made me think of eels, which for some reason I associate with brackish water and the English Fens, and I really didn’t want to be surprised by an eel. I’ve just done some quick reading and found out that the Baltic Sea is brackish (!), and the Gulf of Bothnia’s salinity varies from brackish in the south to nearly fresh in the north. This also explains why pike and perch were on restaurant menus – they are freshwater fish but can live in the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia. Wow!
After getting cleaned up and some breakfast (very good coffee in Finland btw!), we headed into Vaasa to check out some shops and sites. First, we parked like Finns, which means we took this plastic dial out of the rental car, set it to the time and left the dial on the car’s dashboard. This shows when the car was parked (I suppose this is for spots where one should stay only a set length of time. We were parked in a lot with no signs about that, but Ronan suggested we set the dial anyway. All the other cars nearby had dials on their dashboards too.) I’ve never seen a system like this before!
We then walked around and went in and out of some shops (where I got among some other things a Moomintroll mug!) and then went for lunch at a Swedish buffet. There’s an Odd Fellows lodge right next to the buffet building. Who can resist taking a group photo in front of an Odd Fellows lodge? Not this group.
We also went to a really great museum in Vaasa – with a social history floor, natural history floor and an art floor. Here are some of the insect exhibits, and also paintings from the art exhibit.
We got pizza takeout and headed back to Björköby. With such a long evening, some of us went for a walk at 10:30pm – check out how bright it still isn and the super long shadows in the second photo. Also note the boat houses – there is a common use of this barn red for sheds and barns, and ochre yellow for the doors all across this region. And there are a lot of sheds and barns! Seems like a really nice way to allow everyone in the area to share unfinished cans of paint.
These photos above are at the boat dock area about a 5 minute walk from Ronan and Lena’s. Here are some photos of Ronan and Lena’s place, including some very fun late night music sessions! Very talented group.
We also got our first introduction to the world of the Finnish sauna. We went in two groups, the ladies first then the men, with this process repeated 2-3 times: shower, sauna, cool off outside, drink water. It was so relaxing! I felt like a very happy wet noodle afterwards. This ritual that really combines all kinds of mental and physical health good practices, has got to be one of the reasons the Finns are the happiest people on the planet. The sauna here is in Ronan and Lena’s house, and the branches to the side are bundles of birch branch that we soaked in cold water and then hit our skin with while in the sauna, to increase circulation. The fresh leaves in the hot room also smelled really good.
At some point we had to go to bed, even though it never really got dark. There was an even more remote island to visit the next day!
Ask John if he remembers parking discs in Cork… they were paper and you had to use your car key to punch a hole in the paper to show the time you arrived. You had to pay for them tho!
Probably not many people on this Earth can claim to have gone swimming in the Gulf of Bothnia!
The parking discs are interesting, but as far as I can tell they just record how long you’ve been in a given spot. No indication of a time limit or paying. Hmmm.
About the colors of the boat houses, I like Cynthia’s suggestion that people could share leftover paint when it comes time to touch up. If it’s one thing we need, it’s a good method of leftover paint disposal.
Ronan and Lena’s house is lovely, and the sauna looks wonderful!