Today we will be going to my parents cottage somewhere in mid western Finland. The length of the stay will be dependent on the workload I have there but it shouldnt be any longer than 2 weeks.
As it is a cottage in the middle of the forest I might have problems checking upon the blog and posting new things. However, as my father has thanks to his great 2nd son (me) a 3G USB internet connection stick, I will be able to give at least some insights about the beautiful nature and what our son is doing.
Some of the plans we have in mind for little Nathan:
play at the lake
having is first sauna session
getting hunted down by giant mosquitos
play finally with our bunnies
The trip will take us about 5 h by car and I hope everything will be alright as this will be the longest trip in the car for our baby thus far.
After all those blog posts about my Crazy Chinese Family I want to share with you some place I love to visit. It is the cottage owned by my parents somewhere in the woods of Finland.
In another article I wrote about the weird place called Kammi-Kylä which is just a short distance away from the cottage.
View upon the lake
Now then, let’s start with that lovely place. According to urban legend stories told by some of our neighbors the main part of the building used to be a pharmacy in another little village and was brought to the lake some when in the 50’s or 60’s. It is estimated that the main frame was built in the end of the 1890’s but no one is sure about it anymore. The building is actually a log house but due to years of different owners with various taste the outside and inside of the building changed a lot. Nowadays there are at least three layers of different wooden planks of various colors added over each over in addition to at least two layers of planks in the inside of the building, resulting in a stunning 80cm (~31.5in) thick wall in the first floor. Thanks to these thick walls it is also pretty soundproofed, few years back few helicopters flew around the lake and over our cottage due to a rescue mission but my parents didn’t hear a thing. I bet I could be outside and shout my lungs out and no one would notice it inside. The upper floor is a bit different and has no longer a log house structure (damn you unknown previous owner) so the walls are considerable thinner.
Main building and sauna
Anyways, my parents bought the cottage when I was about six years old and renovated everything over the years to make themselves a new homely home. The lake where the cottage is situated is called “Nummijärvi” which belong to the city of Kauhajoki. Great names for foreigners and I advice you not try to pronounce it because it will most likely sound very very wrong and funny.
In my youth I spent a lot of time there (each summer at least six weeks and several winter holidays) but in the last years I have been just too busy to go there and especially now I have barely visited it with my wife. However this changed last year as we went to China for holidays and we needed a place for our two little bunnies. My parents advised us to take them to the cottage so they would take care of them and even better we would finally be able visit that place again.
XiaoTuTu and TuBaoBeiXiaoTuTu’s favorite activity: EatingTuBaoBei curios as always
My parents-in-law were amazed by the place, the nature, the peace and I bet also by a little boat ride around the lake. They really liked also the possibility of going just into the woods next to the cottage and pick wild blueberries (they seem to love picking berries in Finland). According to them they would love to visit the cottage again but this might take some years as we will move to Germany and it is no short trip up to that house.
This year we will be going again but for longer time, once again because of our bunnies but also because my wife wants to relax a bit as my parents can help out with our baby (and I need to do some repairs on my car, D’oh!)
Do you have any place you love to visit now or in your youth?
Last year summer my parents in law were visiting us for the first time in Finland. The main reason behind it was that they could attend our “big” wedding in Finland and see where we currently live. As we had a whole month with them we tried to show them as much as possible without straining our financial situation too much. In a previous post I wrote about their first visit on a strawberry farm, well now I will write about their first visit in a truly weird place.
Welcome to Finland
This place is located near our summer cottage in Nummijärvi which is near the city of Kauhajoki. I guess these names mean nothing to you but anyways I wrote them down just as some reference if you ever get interested and want to visit there. So as I mentioned this site is near the cottage my parents own and we were there for a few days prior to our wedding. We wanted to show my parents in law more than just the beautiful nature there and the idea of visiting that weird place came just at the right time. We only had a 20 min car ride through forests and swamps till we arrived.
One of the many Saunas
First of all the whole place is located within a swamp and the owner of this particular place had some years back the idea to build on his own several buildings in this swamp. I think all materials except the windows and some water drains are natural materials found all over his property.
After many years of building he had created a little village for himself, including several sauna buildings, a building for parties and dances and a little swamp spa. Swamp Spa? Oh yes, it is hard to describe but I have uploaded a picture with a part of it. Basically it is a circular trench with a little island in the middle on which can be found a few benches and a fireplace. The trench itself can be used to swim around. Did I mention already this whole thing is located in the middle of a swamp? This means that you swim in the swamp when you feel like it. You got to remember that there are some fancy spa’s worldwide where you have to pay a hefty sum to take a swamp mud bath so this “free” version has its own positive aspects.
The Swamp Spa
Sadly I just don’t have the words to describe this place in its entire beauty and weirdness. It is just one of these places you have to visit to get to know its value.
look at that craftsmanship
My parents in law were also fairly impressed by this place but they said they would never go to swim there, fair enough, I don’t know if I would do it either without the sauna being on!
View from the 2nd floor
Fine details everywhere
What wonderful and weird buildings here are
Here are some picture and a very short description in English and hereyoucan find everything more described in Finnish. Also here the official website of the Lake and, yet again, a Finnish description.
Crazy Chinese Family 