Saturday, August 19, 2006

DAY 9: FROM KOTKA, NORTH TO KOUVOLA AND TYKKIMAKI AMUSEMENT PARK!

Today, we awoke to something we hadn't seen previously in Finland- rain! It dried up a bit during breakfast, but was looking very grey.

During breakfast, I'm not sure how it happened, but we got onto the subject of Russia, and in particular, President Putin. I asked Anna to ask her folks for their opinions of him, to which they heartily endorsed everything he has done since coming to power. I pointed out that under his leadership, things appear to have moved slightly further away from democracy- total disagreement!
I asked why places like our holiday centre at Santalahti don't exist in Russia- the reply was that they do. I suggested it would be difficult for us to stay in such a place- the reply was that, well, Russia's folks could stay there, so why would others need to! Anna told of how the landing cards you need to fill in when arriving in Russia by air have since last year been printed solely in Russian, instead of in Russian and English as they were previously, making things rather awkward for visitors to the country- shoulders were shrugged, but no-one would hear a word against Putin's policies or ideologies.

That was interesting! We discussed how former Soviet states such as Latvia, Estonia and Poland have become much more open, with stronger economies and increasing revenue from tourism since their breakaway from Russia. It made no difference to especially Anna's mum and Uncle Boris. Putin's policies and ideology certainly appears to be working: Make your subjects strongly patriotic, and dismiss any criticism from outwith of the system!!

By 10.30am, we were ready to leave for Tykkimaki Amusement Park, north of Kotka. As we drove there, I realised that the road was almost perfectly straight- all the way from Kotka to the town of Kouvola, where the Amusement Park is situated. Just as we arrived there, the heavens opened and the rain poured down! We sat in the car for a while, but then went into the Park and immediately bought plastic covers to keep ourselves dry.


Yes, on arrival at Tykkimaki it was actually raining!

However, after a few minutes, perhaps a quarter of an hour, it was dry and getting rapidly brighter. Sandy loved all the rides (his ticket cost 17 Euros) and he spent four and a half hours on all sorts of different rides and activities. (See the pictures below)


Anna and Sandy see the park by pedalling hard!


Sandy about to go on the carousel.


Sandy loved driving the John Deere tractor!


Tykkimaki is a very beautiful place.


It wasn't long before the weather was brightening up, and it was becoming much warmer.


"Perhaps it would be fun to drive one of these when I grow up..."




"This driving on the right can be quite confusing!"






Behind the water slide, which is behind us, you can see the lovely setting for the whole park.



The drive back to Kotka was pretty quiet, along this picturesque road.

At 5pm, we were on our way home, in beautiful weather, temperature 24C, as usual!
Anna's parents met us back at the house and we had a lovely chicken curry outside on the veranda for dinner. It was a lovely evening. Sandy told me again that he loves Finland and wants to live here!. Well, it's easy to see why! We'd certainly love to come back, that's for sure....


Back at Santalahti, Sandy decided to start jumping off large rocks into his grandad's arms, much to his surprise!

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