Weekend, 27 and 28 Jun

It was a hot weekend in Finland. Temperatures were near 30 C (86 F). After securing a couple more bicycles, and buying some tickets on-line, we cruised into Suonenjoki Saturday morning and boarded the 9:06 train to Kuopio. The trip to Kuopio is actually faster by train than by car, and by 9:36 we were walking toward the center market area, right next to City Hall. As I mentioned earlier, they have food vendors, craft people, folks selling produce, and on this particular day, a large rummage sale. At the far end of the square is another building containing a variety of other vendors, including folks selling cheeses, meats, chocolate, and souvenirs. Inside, we perused a bit and then enjoyed a cup of coffee before heading out for more investigating. After a morning of shopping we ended up on the outdoor patio of the Kummisetä restaurant . After a nice meal, more shopping, including some fresh Suonenjoki strawberries that are coming into season (not quite as big as the one in the photo). Niklaas thought it was pretty funny to see a Tex-Mex restaurant in Finland. By 15:00 we were pretty much done sightseeing and shopping, so we took seats near the square at an outdoor coffee/beer house (in the shade, thankfully) and watched Kuopio walk by. We saw a lot of very white people whose legs and arms had probably not seen sun in a very long time. We also noted a lot of black clothing. Deb and I both commented that we also saw a lot of pregnant women, not that we were particularly looking for them, which makes their sheer number that much more significant. I guess we know what the Finns do on the winter solstice. We waited about 40 minutes for the train, got in the wrong car (oops, who would guess that the first car behind the locomotive would be car 6, and the last car would be 1?), and in 18 minutes were back in Suonenjoki. We sent Niklaas off in a flash to get some supplies in the 6 minutes before the grocery store closed at 18:00. Deb and I took a leisurely ride back to the station.

Sunday was warm, very warm. We all slept in and then lazed around the cabin. After brunch, Deb decided to take a walk in the woods and Niklaas and I made our usual and customary run to the grocery store for a few supplies. We figure if we buy just a little each day, it gives a good reason for Niklaas to peddle to the store everyday and keep those soccer legs in shape. We picked up some more Suonenjoki strawberries from the local girl, and cruised back home.