Monday, April 11, 2005
A Weekend in Jyväskylä
Hi Everyone,
This weekend Roy and I traveled 6 hours by train to Jyväskylä (pronounced Yee-văs-kee-lă) to see Finland’s Lake District. The mostly flat landscape of southern Finland boasts over 188,000 lakes – more than any other country in the world. In the Lake District there is more lake than land, caused by the continental glacier during the last Ice Age. (And in a related “gee whiz” statistic, once the immense weight of the glacier melted, Finland’s landmass started to rise. The land around the Bay of Bothnia where we live has risen over 36 inches in the past 100 years, and overall Finland adds about 2.7 square miles of landmass every year!)
On the train, we never traveled more than 2 or 3 miles in the Lake District before coming upon another beautiful lake surrounded by pine and birch forest and sparsely dotted with summer cottages along the shoreline. Unlike Colorado where lake front property is at a premium, Finland has more than enough shoreline to cater to second home seekers. Indeed, nearly every Finnish family has a summer cabin handed down from generation to generation, but the Finns’ idea of a getaway is quite different than ours. Most Finns prefer to rough it on their summer vacations and cabins usually have no electricity or running water. (But nearly all have a wood fired sauna!) People pack in their provisions, pack out their garbage, and leave the surrounding wilderness pristine.
Jyväskylä is located on both sides of beautiful Lake Jyväskylä, with most of the city of 75,000 on one side, and the university and suburbs on the other. One bridge for cars and a sculptural pedestrian bridge connect the 2 sides, and of course in the winter folks can take a short cut across the lake by skis, snowmobile, or on foot. We didn’t see anyone on the ice while we were visiting, so it probably isn’t safe for travel anymore. A lovely walking path curves along the lakefront, and on our strolls from the hotel to city center we saw the beginnings of spring in pussy willows and buds on the bushes and trees. During the summer months the lake must be alive with water sports from the size of the marina and the swimming areas we passed.
We were especially impressed with the vibrancy of the city. The walking street in city center was teeming with shoppers on Friday and Saturday, and even though we didn’t eat lunch until 1:30 we had to wait for a table at a restaurant.
High on our list of Jyväskylä “to do’s” was a visit to the National Craft Museum of Finland where there was a special exhibit of the last 100 years of Finnish crafts. Explanations were given in both Finnish and English, and the variety of crafts included in the exhibition was astounding! Traditional crafts of weaving, pottery, basket making, and stitchery were extended to include wood carving and gilting, barrel making, fly rod construction, shoe and clock making, ship building, metal work, and even creating prostheses for artificial limbs.
The museum also displays regional costumes from the Iron Age to modern times and documents the changes in costume design and materials over the centuries. Finland has even named a panel of historians, seamstresses, and designers who oversee and approve changes suggested for costumes so the authenticity of each regional costume is preserved. As an aside, we have only seen one “costume” that was displayed in the museum worn day to day here in Oulu. It surprised us to learn that there is a Roma or gypsy population of about 6000 here whose ancestors came to Finland during the 16th century. We’ve seen several gypsy women in traditional dress both on the bus and in stores here. For some pictures of Roma dress, click here.
The museum’s permanent collection features modern crafts including the beautiful curved wooden furniture inspired by the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto; felting done for clothing and decorative arts; rya rug making, photography exhibits; and of course dolls! We came away visually overwhelmed by the scope of beautiful craft work we saw. As an added bonus, the museum shop was featuring my friend Eija’s dolls in the window. Very impressive! I’ve included a picture but must apologize for the reflections.
After a great conversation with 2 Americans we met at the restaurant where we had lunch on Saturday, we started home. The Victorian train station at Jyväskylä is so typical of the stations across Finland that we took a couple of pictures to show you. Alas, the city has outgrown its old station and has built a modern cement and steel structure adjacent to it, but thankfully they have preserved the gracious reminder of bygone days.
A regional train chugs through the Lake District, stopping at many of the villages along the way. As we passed small farms we wondered how long ago the custom of stopping to pick up people along the route had to make way for greater speed and a computerized time schedule. Instead of resenting the frequent stops, we loved seeing the tiny, well-kept stations and old steam engines that had been lovingly preserved on local sidings.
On the way home we were especially impressed by the number of log carriers and piles of logs we passed. Logging is Finland’s most important industry, and forests cover 65% of the country. Both birch and pine are harvested, and the logs are shipped to lumber mills and paper plants scattered throughout the country. But the Finns are very careful with this renewable resource, preserving most forests in their natural state, and replanting for maximum growth potential on the plots designated for harvesting. As the trees grow on these plots, the bottom branches are pruned, making for ease of cutting and beautiful straight trunks.
While we were gone, Oulu celebrated its official 400th birthday on April 8th, although the celebrations are wisely being postponed until the summer tourist season. To read more about the history of Oulu, click here.
And while we were dodging April showers both in Jyväskylä and walking from the train in Oulu, Denver was receiving a 10 inch snowfall! It was so impressive that the BBC reported on it complete with footage of spinning wheels and stalled traffic! That kind of storm with blizzard conditions and huge snowfalls is unusual here, we’ve learned. Instead, it snowed a little almost every day during the winter. But because it doesn’t get above freezing, the snow builds into the impressive heaps we’ve sent you in pictures. But now all of the walkways are clear (as Denver’s will be soon with the 60 degree weather predicted for the coming week!) and we have officially abandoned our down jackets. Ah, spring…..
Next up, a journal entry of “Finn Facts” that we’ve collected. Stay tuned…
Sarah
