Finland a retrospective look

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We had come to Finland to visit our son, wife, granddaughter and family.

Esse is a village near Jakobstad, which is about 300 miles north of the capital Helsinki opposite Sweden, across from Umea.
First impressions were of vast areas of forest with cleared areas of farmland. I was to learn about the 188 thousand lakes and the interesting weather, it can be -30c. in winter and +30c in summer. What I was totally unprepared for, were the mosquitos by the million, when we went to the lakeside for a picnic, summers are spent outside as much as possible, I should have guessed with so much water. The picnic area was fully prepared with seating, a log pile and kindling. We completed the evening fishing in the lake with a makeshift rod to catch the cats supper.
Finland offers so much for the traveller, nearly every month has a festival, there are excellent museums, shops, markets, historic buildings, music, theatre, you name it and it's there and of couse it's home to the electronics and paper industries.
Traffic is light due to the size of the population 6 million or 1 person per 17 square miles. The language is a mixture of Finnish, Swedish and English depending on the area. I learn more on each visit.

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Photos

River at Esse
This is the view from the road at Esse

The lake at Esse
This is where we had the picnic

Ians' fish
He was so proud

a rock from the ice-age
we walked the plank

The Church in Esse
Beautiful churches everywhere, this is typical of the area

Comments

[Janet Tordoff]

Well done !
Have just visited the site for the first time and am looking forward to more of your travels