Vaasa: A glance at local history

I step into the tourist information kiosk at the market place in Vaasa. I know Vaasa city has published some walking guides but they are not available here; need to visit the Raastuvankatu tourist information for more information. *However, if you don't know Finnish or Swedish language, you can find most information about walks and hikes in Vaasa in English online only, not in print. Lucky me! I can also benefit from the excellent printed brochures and their maps. After the tourist office, I stop at the neighbouring building, House of crafts Loftet to decide where to head next. Someone has marked Loftet with a pretty knit graffiti :)

Loftet building dates back to 1860 and there is a handicraft shop in addition to the cosy café Konsulinnan kahvihuone (The Consul's Wife's Coffee Room) which has an excellent choice of teas available. I can feel the eyes of the Madame herself, Tulla Whittington-Moé as well as those of her sons Dick ja Cyril, on me while I sip my tea. 

In this charming old building there are many fine details, from the decorated glass cabinet by the window to the  neat woodwork. Glancing at the books on the shelves, I'm not surprised to see Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice there. I can well imagine someone reading her novels here.

There are beautiful details in the next room as well. Just look above to the ceiling where there are classical, delicate female profiles as well as partly faded ornaments. In the room itself there is also something more modern to see right now: Tina Nylund has created fantastic, unique dresses (90 % recycled material such as old men's shirts) - which are on display together with stylish photographs of each dress.

After careful consideration, I choose my walk. Vaasa offers something I haven't yet experienced in Finland: Mobitour. There are two "personal guides" available for walks (in English, Swedish and Finnish) and each can be followed with a cell phone, provided that you download the Upcode onto your phone with the phone's Internet browser first. Just note the data transfer fees during the walk! You can both follow the route with your cell phone and read or listen to explanations at the marked stops, as well as see some photos. The code is usually visible also at the marked stops.

I choose to do the short walk first. The walk titled A glance at Vaasa's history begins at the lovely Kirkkopuisto (Church Park) and after a little negotiation with my cell phone, I start listening to the introduction to the church itself. Unfortunately the doors to the church are closed today and I miss the paintings, one of which was painted by Finnish master painter Albert Edelfelt.  The next stop is at the Sea pilots' statue, Luotsipatsas at the very same park. Oh no, the Mobitour commentary worked so well by the church, but it keeps stopping here. Better read the text instead.

After leaving the City hall, I skip Loftet (been there already!) and walk to Hovioikeudenpuistikko street on the corner of which there is quite a jewel: Kurtenia House.

The Jugend style is rich with details, starting from the doors and doorways. A crowned eagle is guarding one of the doors, but in the corner entrance there are lizard-like fantasy creatures on the oak doors. If you are looking for Brasilian Honorary Consulare, this is your door!

I hesitate only for a second before stepping in through the corner entrance which leads me to Il Banco restaurant. The name is appropriate because there used to be a bank right here, but what's more, there is still a bank as well. Ålandsbanken just happens to be behind the restaurant... Just keep walking through the glass doors to the magnificent bank hall with its stained glass ceiling!

Besides the beautiful ceiling, there are lots of fine details on the walls and ceiling above. Unfortunately I don't have any bank business to take care of, so better not linger there too long...

It would be nice to stop here for lunch to see some more of this place, perhaps next time! They really knew how to make a pretty entrance back in early 1900.

After I leave Kurtenia, I enter a wide pedestrian street which is decorated here and there by artwork. The statue of this couple taking a walk (Erkki Kannosto, 2006) is for some reason called Varjoja metsässä (Shadows in the forest) although there are not too many trees right here... I'd rather rename this Walkers in the forest.

The lamp posts designed especially for the pedestrian street are great! They are less than 1 metre tall and resemble lighthouses. It must be a cute sight in the evening (although at this time of the year, there are hardly any dark evenings!).

When I reach the market place, I notice I'm standing on slabs that list Vaasa's twin cities around the world. Morogoro, Tanzania, is 8,000 km from here, the German twin towns Kiel and Schwer less than 2,000 km away... So I'd better pay more attention to the blue signs above which include more tolerable distances for someone on foot. What does Mobitour say? Right behind me there is the great Hartman Business Palace with its grey granite statues. Wow!

Next, I walk diagonally across the market place and ignore one of Vaasa's busy shopping areas, Rewell Center which was named after the Vaasa born architect Viljo Revell. Unfortunately I'm not a great fan of his, even if he designed also the Toronto City Hall... Therefore, I'm happier entering Vaasa's market hall which has kept something from the old days although at first it seems that perhaps the stained glass could be all there is left...

As it is, you don't first meet this type of traditional style stalls when entering the market hall from Vaasanpuistikko street! It is only after navigating through the clothes shop that you find the 'real' market hall with its cafés and delicacies. The sign at stall number 60 is mysterious as it says Ostrobothnia Museum. I wonder if the museum used to have its own stall there...

After the market hall stop, there are only two more official sights to see on this Mobitour to local history. I take the Vaasanpuistikko street towards the railway station (the very last stop) and stop on the way at the classical style hotel Astor. However, I wish there had been a mention of the Wasa Yllevarufabrik (literally: Vaasa Woollen Objects Factory) which I pass on the way. What is the story of this red brick building?


Mobitour?

I think it is great that Vaasa city offers a cellphone guided tour - never been on one before. A Mobitour enables you to walk with a "guide" at your own pace and you can choose whether to read more or listen to the commentary about the places you're passing. However, the application could perhaps be somewhat improved...

Personally, even though really not rushing through the route, I was getting somewhat impatient with the continuous clicking and especially zooming in on every other screen to be able to click the right link or to move forward. So... I ended up using a printed version of the map to lead me to the next place and used only the commentaries or texts of the Mobitour guide to learn about the places.

Restaurant Day walk in Jyväskylä

It's close to 10 am in Jyväskylä and the temperature is freezing -30°C. No idea if others are dying to go out for a walk unless they have to but for me there's no choice: have to leave the house as soon as possible to be among the first in the city center for the Restaurant Day. I've got one sure destination in my mind and don't want the last yummy cookie to disapper right in front of my nose.

I don't know how many pop-up restaurants are set up in Jyväskylä on this Saturday, Feb 4, that marks the 4th ever Restaurant Day in Finland. The Restaurant Day concept originates in Finland, and the idea is that anyone can set up a restaurant or a café for a day!

We take a brisk walk across the deserted-looking town to get desserted - at Poppeli, a wool shop at the back of which a round table will serve as a café table today.  Poppeli is located at the first pedestrian street in the history of Jyväskylä (more of a residential than shopping street, but with some shops), at Keskustie 18, between Gummeruksenkatu and Kilpisenkatu streets. The Restaurant Day café at Poppeli is run by Hooked On Sweets.

Normally, the choice of yarns, knitting needles, and crocheting hooks etc. are the main thing here but now there is heavy competition: the wonderful smells from the back of the room draw us to look at the baked goodies. The first café customers look very pleased...

There are different kinds of cheese cakes (e.g. blueberry), three kinds of banana bread, cookies, muffins, domino truffle balls. Wow!

This must be the best display of North American baking in Jyväskylä. The Canadian baker Dominique has done a fantastic job in baking all this. It's difficult to choose what to taste - you can't possible sample them all - but luckily we are three and can share a plateful. I'm especially happy to bite into a Santa's cookie (dried cranberries, dark and white chocolate, crushed almonds), among other delicious things. So glad there's also takeaway!

After visiting Poppeli, I try to find the locations of other Restaurant Day places in Jyväskylä by going online, but unfortunately that's exactly what others are trying to do as well, and I can't access the restaurant list due to the overload. I manage to get only one exact address, and besides that know that there should be pop-up restaurants on two streets not too far.

However, no matter where I look at Väinönkatu street, there are no signs guiding to a Restaurant Day restaurant. Next, I walk to the quiet Yrjönkatu street a bit further, but the result is the same. Apparently they don't have a need for advertising for casual passers-by? Also, silly of me not to write down the addresses before I left.

Finally, my luck turns at the corner of Yrjönkatu and Kyllikinkatu streets where Ravintola Sovinto (Restaurant Reconciliation) is set up for the day, and dares to advertise itself outside. Welcome! Who's the guy in the poster? Well, this pop-up restaurant is run by the local Green youth and students, in support of the presidential candidate Pekka Haavisto.

Inside, the atmosphere is peaceful, and the musicians are setting up their acoustic equipment. There's also a free concert for us customers. The restaurant menu is simple: two kinds of tortillas, fruit salad for dessert, tea, coffee, juice. Simple but good.

The restaurant tables are decorated by the presidential candidate's campaign material - after all, the election is only one day away on Sunday, Feb 5. I enjoy my tea and Seitan kebab tortilla, listening to the folk music singer.

I've already given up hope of how to find more Restaurant Day destinations by accident, and the temperature doesn't allow spending too many hours outside... When I see smoke coming up a chimney on Pitkäkatu street, my only thought is: wish I had stumbled also on a pop-up restaurant with an open fireplace!

P.S. Hooked on Sweets bakes for Poppeli once a week - visit Poppeli wool shop on a Friday to see what's available...

Evening of the Day of Light

A regular cold February day in Jyväskylä. I walk to Ruusupuisto park, home of the town's two Alvar Aalto-designed museums, in the hope of catching the last rays of sunshine. A newspaper story has mentioned that one of the museums has a lighting installation but of course it's still too light to see that; the terrace of Museum of Central Finland is... Well, just a terrace.

However, the sunlight is already fading fast and the blue moment is approaching. The walls of the Museum of Central Finland are already coming to light.

The lamps outside the museum are also waking from their snow-covered slumber.  At first their light is reddish but soon calms down to fit the mood of the museums and becomes white light. I'm beginning to feel the cold and decide to go indoors to warm up.

I enter the Alvar Aalto museum next door. The museum has free entrance on Fridays, but a notice on the wall announces that today is a special day: architect Alvar Aalto's birthday (born Feb 3, 1898) so the museum is offering all visitors a free cup of coffee and mint chocolate cake at Café Alvar downstairs. My lucky day! After warming up with this treat, I'm ready to step upstairs to see the exhibition.

There is a group with tour guide visiting the Aalto architecture section (which I've seen before anyway) so I'm quite happy to explore photographer Jouni Kaipia's exhibition Tiloja ja tilanteita (Spaces and situations) which naturally focuses on architecture, but not only that: also people, and in some cases, animals, play their important part in the lovely photos. There's no need to be an architecture enthusiast to enjoy this exhibition. Kaipia's photos make you feel good, and the hanging is far from boring!

You can use the exhibition space very cleverly if you think about it at the time of the hanging...

OK, time to step out into the -20°C something temperature. But what is this museum piece of a bus doing here? It must belong to the group of Scandinavians who are right now touring the Alvar Aalto museum. Oh, the good old days? This bus has character compared to its modern cousins.

However, I wonder what kind of heating there is... Hope the travellers aren't freezing. At least some of them seem to have prepared for the worst, or maybe they just like to go skiing every now and then - there are two pairs of cross country skis tied to the back of the bus. Apparently this is where the skis used to be transported!

The night has fallen and it is finally possible to see the lighting installation by Annukka Larsen, designed in the honour of Museum of Central Finland which is celebrating its 80 years of existence, and of course architect Alvar Aalto who designed the building. However, it is funny that the lighting installation is temporary and lasts only few days. I don't remember how it looks normally (don't often walk here in the evenings) but am sure these lights make a great difference to it. So, it is kind of sad that these lights will soon be turned off.

I climb back up the wooden steps to the terrace of the museum to look down at Alvar Aalto museum.

The lights and the evening atmosphere make this so different from what it was like a bit more than an hour ago. It pays to see the same place at different times of the day.

The lighting installation seems to include also the tall pine trees next to the museum building. I doubt if the side entrance to the museum with its wooden doors - not in regular use for the public these days - is normally lighted in the evenings.

I cross the Keskussairaalantie street to the University of Jyväskylä campus area. Although the weekend has begun, there are still some people about, but mostly indoors. 

This Aallonpuisto park area is appropriately named after the architect Alvar Aalto; the buildings around it were designed by him. The row of windows at the top of a building glows through the darkness, on the other side of the sports ground. That's a sports hall named U2, with no reference to the band; each of the university campus buildings happens to have a a short name and 'U' most probably refers to 'Urheilu' which means sports.

The student cafeteria Lozzi offers no meals at this time of the night but there is still something going on there. The wooden ceiling of Lozzi is really beautiful and you can best see it with the lights on.

The neighbour building Lyhty is mostly used for meetings. Lyhty stands for lantern so it is quite natural there should be lights on to show it at its best, to give the large windows a chance to shine.

February 3 is a Day of Light in Finland. Having done a lot of work for lighting installations, Jyväskylä has named itself a City of Light. However, I wonder how many people will dare to go for a guided walk to explore the lighting installations... The temperature is really freezing and I again feel like getting back inside. Time to head for home.

Thanks to the moon for keeping me company. Holding the camera, my frostbitten fingers are telling me that I have seen enough lights for this Day of Light...

A small stroll at Oulu

Oulu, a rare destination for me. Leaving the major shopping area, I take Saaristonkatu street towards the market square by the shore. On a Friday afternoon at this time of the year there are hardly any stalls. Somehow I don't feel like buying ice cream from the trailer parked by the side of the market hall... Where to go next? Should I turn right, past the old, red ochre painted warehouses?

Or choose to go left where the route would take me past the modern houses by the canal? To buy some time, I go straight to Kiikeli island and check out the blue and white signs that stick out of the snow. Siisti ympäristö, mukava olla (free translation: Clean environment, a nice place to be). A friendly way to say "No littering"!

I check out the Oulu city map by the shore. The map suggests a nice walk round the frozen waters, the Oulujoki river delta - about 4,5 km. A great idea but today I prefer to saunter on my own, without a map or a planned route.

OK, let's go right, past the warehouses some of which date at least to the 19th century, perhaps even to 18th century. Restaurant Uleåborg 1881 is proud to operate in one of them and there's no forgetting which year the warehouse was built originally!

On my left, across the water and within easy reach via a footbridge, are the city theatre and main library - grey concrete buildings which are hopefully at least tolerable, if not pleasant, inside. Can't say I admire their architecture from this angle... Straight ahead there is yet another island, Linnansaari on top of which stands a lovely wooden villa. Much nicer! I cross a footbridge and and once at Linnansaari, notice a round sign. Leverkusen? Is this park dedicated to select football teams?

No, Leverkusen (probably best known by its football team) is simply one of Oulu's twin towns, and Linnansaari is a friendship park, dedicated to all of them: Boden (Sweden), Alta (Norway), Leverkusen (Germany), Halle (Germany), Siofok (Hungary), Odessa (Ukraine) and Bursa (Turkey).

The most striking thing about Linnansaari (linna = castle) is the pinkish wooden Tähtitorni house that was built as an observation tower in 1875. It was renovated as a café as early as 1912 and it still serves as one during the summer. And what is there beneath it? The observation tower was built on the ruins of Oulu castle that was destroyed in a fire, followed by the explosion of the gunpowder warehouse in the late 18th century.

I return from Linnansaari via the footbridge and turn right, following the shore to Pokkisenpuisto park. A narrow stream seems to appear from the snow, creating icicles as the water falls down the man-made steps. Plaanaoja, or Kaupunginoja is headed towards Oulujoki river delta.

Rantakatu street offers a lovely view of old wooden houses and I just can't resist them; back towards the market place it is. The brass plate on the wall of the corner of Ojakatu and Rantakatu streets tells me that the bishop's residence and cathedral chapter were moved from Kuopio to this building in 1900. The light blue wooden building (above) was home to editor and writer  Erkki Kivijärvi. There are many more brass plates on old houses in Oulu, but to read them you'd better learn some Finnish!

After examining the old houses I again cross the quiet market place and arrive at the red brick market hall, kauppahalli, which has stood there since 1901.

The interior is made of wood, with a lovely checquered floor. I admit, it's nicer to do your shopping indoors on a cold, windy day. There are lots of things on offer: fresh fish, meat, vegetables, cheese, spices, bread, handicrafts... If only I could buy some fresh whitefish to take home with me!

The fat bloke right in front of the market hall is no ordinary guardian of law and order, but Toripolliisi, or Market Policeman. (Note the spelling: not poliisi but polliisi). He is rather popular with us tourists! If you drop a postcard in a postbox inside the market hall, it will be stamped with his picture. Toripolliisi is also a name of a new restaurant (behind the statue on the left) - very cleverly out of sight of the sturdy policeman.

I leave the waterfront behind and take Kauppurinkatu street towards the city centre, but very soon find myself on the side streets, looking for a cosy café. There seems to be a suitable one at Pakkahuoneenkatu street...

The windows of café Kofeiinikomppania are decorated by cute stickers, nice, but a peek through the glass tells me there is much more inside. Once inside, the selection of teas and coffees is quite impressive.

Teatime! Actually, a bit early for that, but a pot of tea will do just fine. There are so many different kinds to choose from, and when I've narrowed down my choice to two, I get a sniff from the tins. Green tea with sour apple or green tea with vanilla?

The order is placed at the counter but after that you simply choose your seat and soon you are served a pot of freshly brewed tea, timed exactly right and in the right temperature. The white china cup does justice to the tea - you can see the colour so well. The walls of the café are painted in shades of gold and brown and right now there is an art exhibition by local artist Lauri Ahtinen. Soft jazz is playing in the background and an electric samovar is bubbling on the antique sideboard. The bathroom is well worth a visit; it is beautifully lit, including a small chandelier, and you can write or draw a message on the blackboard. Crayons provided. A great idea!

Above the window sill of Kofeiinikomppania, there is more artwork: a long and winding road (to my eye...), made of crocheted shapes in different colours by Irina Kylmänen (2011), but it is really called Kaikki kuut (All Moons).

Time to get off the plush sofa and step back onto the streets of Oulu. After a couple of turns I arrive back at the pedestrian zone and Rotuaari square (a local word for trottoir). The simple stage is surrounded by rusty, star-decorated metal walls but lies there deserted. Right next to it the square is crowded, thanks to the Finnish presidential election 2012: the 8 presidential candidates have their own stalls there, offering a chance for a cup of free coffee, a brochure and a chat with the candidates' volunteer supporters  - or with fellow voters. There's time to think about who to vote for when you're on a walk...