On Monday it was off to Lappeenranta. My parents took me here on the RV, and then had some vacation of their own driving back to the west side of Finland. I’ve been staying with my dear friends Hanna-Kaisa and Tapio, whom I haven’t seen in just too long. Hanna-Kaisa took me on the “usual” tour around town, visiting book stores and other places (like the new phenomenon called Lidl). And after a long (or short) day at work, Tapio would be in the kitchen (or by the barbeque) with Hanna-Kaisa, putting their secrets about Italian cuisine to work.
Otto also took me for a quick visit to the university to see a telecomms closet (the home of irc.lut.fi, no less). It happened that everyone I was planning to visit at the university turned up at that closet. Go figure… it is not next to the cafeteria or anything.
Well, that just left more time for a relaxing drive around the nearby islands of lake Saimaa in Otto’s vintage Cadillac. I took some pictures about another ferry being obsoleted by a bridge.
Another frequently visited spot in Lappeenranta is the marina, with its floating beer bars. Lahi took me there — not for a beer, but for ice cream — on one evening. Next time I have to remember to go there for lunch to enjoy a vety (and perhaps a beer).
“Not for a beer, but for ice cream.” Yes, in Finland and other Scandinavian countries, especially in Norway, better to eat ice cream either drink beer because of high prices. I know that Norwegians prefer to drink at home bought drinks in shops, and only then goes to PUBs for only a couple of beer glases :)
Bill — 14.12.05 @ 1:13
I guess drinking in the bars is not that cheap in Finland — I actually haven’t done that yet since I moved back recently, so I can’t really say. But I’d say it is quite common to start drinking at home before hitting the bars later at night.
As for the restaurant/bar boats in the Lappeenranta marina, they are also quite a nice place to relax during the day or early evening. But so is the marina market place as well, with the ice cream, coffee and salty snack stands.
As it happens, I was there a couple of months ago again, and ran into a number of friends while enjoying an ice cream cone…
Kimmo Suominen — 17.12.05 @ 16:43