Saturday, September 02, 2006

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS ABOUT FINLAND, SWEDEN, THE PEOPLE, AND SOME MORE PHOTOS TOO!

(Click on any photo, apart from the very first one, to see a larger image of it...)


Sunset at Santalahti, and the fantastic house we stayed in, Kotka, Finland.



Looking south at our wonderful wooden house, Santalahti, Kotka, Finland!



Map, showing the UK, where we drove from, and took the ferry from Newcastle to Sweden, which we crossed from Gothenburg to Stockholm, then we took the ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki in Finland, to Kotka, 130 km east of Helsinki, near to the border with Russia!


Postcards from Kotka.



* We found Finland to be a very clean country. Litter is hardly seen lying around- certainly between Helsinki- Kotka- Kouvola.

*It wasn't cheap, but then again, perhaps the hype about Scandinavian countries being very pricey is a myth. We overspent what I considered was a pretty generous budget. Food in general was slightly more expensive than in the UK, based on the supermarkets we visited in Kotka. However, there were some great bargains to be had in the clothing sales, in particular when Anna's mum found a pair of Goretex child's boots for 20 Euros, reduced from 75 Euros. They were snapped up for Maxim in St Petersburg.


Very expensive Skoda Octavia!
Cars though, were very expensive! The photo shows a Skoda, like ours, one year old, 11000kms, for the incredible price of 31,900 Euros! Ours, new, cost me around 16,000 Euros...
Petrol costs were similar, but at a Euro a litre (64p), diesel was much less expensive, which was great for us!

*We found the Finns to be very warm and friendly. Almost all spoke at least reasonable English. The Swedes were even more fluent, and very friendly too.

*Around Kotka, we saw many Finns cycling on special cycle tracks, that were literally everywhere. From what we observed, they are certainly a fitter nation than the Scots. Linked to this, when we were at Tykkimaki, the food available there was very healthy compared to what you would find in a UK Amusement Park. No such thing as loads of fast food outlets, chips, and burgers. Just loads of families eating healthily- salad dishes, rice and pasta dishes. What a refreshing change. We have a lot to learn from both Sweden and Finland in this respect.

Sandy's "driving licence", issued at Tykkimaki!

*Despite being warned about it, we hardly encountered any mosquitoes.

*The roads network in both Sweden and Finland was outstanding. It was easy to get around, there were never any queues and the road surfaces were faultless. In Helsinki, at midday on the Friday we were there, you'd have thought you were driving around at 4am- the roads were that quiet!

*Supermarkets were deserted at all times. It made shopping a very pleasant experience!

*The weather was fantastic, much better than I had hoped for!

To sum up, we all had a wonderful time in Finland. Our choice of accommodation was inspired, it was simply beautiful. If anyone reading this is thinking about going to the south of Finland, Kotka, and Santalahti is highly recommended! There is lots to do and loads of places to visit and keep children amused.
The boats were great too. DFDS's Princess of Scandinavia may be an old vessel, but it was perfectly comfortable, and was pleasure to sail on.

Tickets from the Silja ferry.

However, Silja's ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki was amazing- it was simply one of the main highlights of a superb holiday.




Santalahti blurb.

It's now early September 2006, and we still talk constantly about our experience. Anna and I are desperate to return to Kotka, and Santalahti. Sandy still wants to live there, so we have to take that as a positive assessment! I know that Anna's mum and dad, and Aunt and Uncle all had a great time too. For the meantime though, we have loads of pictures and happy memories to keep it all fresh in our minds.