Savolinna Castle

In search of Prince Charming, crossed finger, we joined the quest to the Savolinna Castle. The location is pretty close from Kerimaki, just about 30 minutes drive. The city itself is much bigger than Kerimaki, with lively downtown full of shops, cafes, and malls. We arrived at Savolinna at about noon, so we decided to get some food before continuing the trip. We had lucnh in some burger shop and then headed to the castle afterwards. 

The castle is easy to find thanks to the helpful road signs. The view of the castle was so beautiful: it surrounded by huge lake with a long bridge and curve gate. There are trees everywhere and ducks were flying around the lakeside. The castle looked ancient because of its brick wall, but still looked splendid due to its spacious frame.From the entrance gate, we walked through a dark lane which connected to the inside part of the castle. There were stairs, bridge, and a small stream underneath.

The castle was opened for tour with an entry ticket of 6 euro per student. The tour guide will escorted the visitor to see the inner part of the castle. I personally did not enter inside, but two of my friends did. They said it looked like a museum with bunch of antique historical collections. There was also a souvenir shop that sell mini gifts and postcards.

In the end, we did not meet the Prince Charming because it was late and the castle was about to close.  But still we had no regret and very glad to make it here. Before going back home, we stopped by Chinese Restaurant to have some dinner. Then, we headed back to Lappeenranta by train.

Kooky Kerimaki

This is my first trip since I arrived in Lappeenranta. One day, my friend Vlad who loves traveling suggest to make a short trip to Kerimaki to see the biggest wooden church in the world. Kerimaki itself is not far from Lappeenranta, only about 3 hour trip using train. We went on Saturday morning and gathered at train station by 9:00 AM.

As soon as we arrived at the Kerimaki train station, we opened the maps to find the route to the Kerimaki Church which is said to be the biggest wooden church. Unfortunately, the church is too far away from the train station, so it is not possible for us to walk there. It started snowing and wet, so we tried to find any sign of bus stop. However, the Kerimaki station itself is quite small and there is no guard inside the train office, so we left clueless. Desperate to find any sign of life (read:people), suddenly an old man was approaching to us with his giant white dog -which looked pretty much like a fox. We hurried asked him for the direction to the Kerimaki Church, but the answer was disappointing: the bus is not run in Saturday, so we need to get a car to go there. 

Run out of solution, now our only hope was to call the tour guide from the church and asked him if he could pick us up. So we waited and waited and again waited for the guy. It was almost one hour since we got off the train, and since then we stood outside in the middle of heavy snowing. When the guy finally came with his car, we were so happy but yet there was still another problem: his car was too small to carry six of us. There is only 4 seats (1 driver and 3 passengers) on the car but we were six people. So we tried as hard as possible to squeeze our body to fill the seat. One person sat on the front with driver and the other four sat on the back - looked just like sardines in the can. Unable to move any further, my friend Vlad decided to wait for other friend who was still driving on the way to Kerimaki. 

The guy from the church was so kind, he was telling us the history of Kerimaki city along the trip. He even stopped for a couple minutes to let us enjoy the view while he was telling the background story. He sounded so vibrant every time he told us the story of his hometown Kerimaki. We could feel his passion in his voice even though sometimes we did not understand his English quite well. After about 20 minutes driving, we arrived at the church. The building was big and the wall was painted bright yellow with white ornament. From the entrance, we could see that the building was divided into two parts: the bigger part for summer church and the smaller part for winter church. Apart from its size, the only difference between the two was whether it had a heater or not. Apparently the summer church was so cold like a refrigerator. Couldn't stand the temperature, we decided to stay on the winter church a bit longer.We stayed here for about one hour before we went to our next destination: Savolinna castle.

On the way to Kerimaki

Summer Church

Winter Church

Outside view of the church

Time for Tea

A Secret Recipe for a Perfect Cup of Tea:

Willing friends who love to sit and share
Grateful hearts to have a friend that listen and care
Wonderful memories of times shared to adhere
Bunch of crunchy cookies and more for spare
Large room to enjoy play truth and dare

For special friends sharing a cup of tea truly makes this a perfect recipe.

An evening tea party

Get Married on Valentine's Day

So what is so special about celebrating Valentine's Day in Lappeenranta? Well, if you are a bride or groom-to be, this news might just perfect for you.

Not so long ago, I received this email from International Affairs in my university which comes at my surprise. Frankly speaking this is the first time I heard that a university accomodates such a wedding event for the students and employees. I personally think that it is a creative idea and also unique because, after all not many, if there is one,universities offers such special treats. 

 Here is the original anouncement letter from the International Affairs:

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Get married on Valentine's Day!

Lappeenranta University of Technology  and Saimaa University of Applied Sciences offer a possibility to get married on Valentine's Day, the 14th of February 2014. The ceremony is part of the Day for Wellbeing that is held at both universities for the students and personnel.

The reverends, university and college chaplains (Evangelical-Lutheran) Sari Kosonen and Sakari Kiiskinen offer to marry the couples, who wish to get married on February the 14th . It is also possible to ask blessings for the already existing marriages.

The couples can choose the place for their wedding in the university area. The marriage ceremonies can be held in English, German or Finnish. Also blessings are given in these languages.

There is a band playing love songs at the main lobby of LUT and the university and college chaplaincy of the Evangelical Lutheran parishes of Lappeenranta will provide coffee and cake for the newly wedded couples.

The couples wishing to get married on the 14.2. will have to have documents proving that there are  no impediments to their marriage. For a blessing of an already existing marriages no documents are needed.  

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From Lappeenranta with Love

Warm Greetings from Lappeenranta <3.Well, as you can imagine that here the weather is freaking chilly, just stand outside on the backyard and you'll get frozen immediately. Anyway, in order to keep you warm and enlightened, I would like to share 10 things you need to know about Lappeenranta, Finland. Okay, here we go!

Fact #1: Location
Lappeenranta is located in the South Karelia region of Southeastern Finland. It's approximately 225 kilometers northeast of the capital city of Helsinki and just 30 kilometers west of the Russian border.

Fact #2: Area
Lappeenranta is approximately 1,723 square kilometers in size. It is the 41st largest area in Finland, but it ranks as the 13th largest in population.

Fact #3: Age
It was chartered in the year 1649, by Queen Christina of Sweden. Lappeenranta is also known by its Swedish name of Villmanstrand, meaning "wildman shore." Hence the wildman image in the city's coat of arms

Fact #4: Airport
Of all Finnish airports, Lappeenranta has the most international profile, as it mainly serves passengers travelling to European destinations and offers no regular domestic routes. A recent customer survey conducted by Finavia found the check-in and security control services at Lappeenranta to be the best in Finland
 
Fact #5: Population
 There are approximately 72,000 people reside in Lappeenranta.  

Fact #6: Popular
Lake Saimaa, Finland's largest lake, is a popular tourist draw in Lappeenranta.  


Fact #7: University
Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) has been a pioneering scientific university, bringing together the fields of science and business since 1969. Starting in the autumn of 2012, almost 33 per cent of the new students are from foreign countries.
 
Fact #8: Tasty
The Lappeenranta region is renowned for its delicacies such as Karelian rice pasties, unleavened rieska bread, and pretzels. The famous Karelian hotpot has been adopted as a traditional dish throughout Finland. Vendace from Kyl&auml, the Greater Saimaa whitefish, not to mention bream and perch fished from the smaller lakes, are all on offer at the market place in Lappeenranta.
 
Fact #9: Spa
The history of the Lappeenranta Spa goes back as far as the 1820s when the Pikkala spring was found. Today, Lappeenranta Spa offers accommodation in the old spa building called Wanha Kylpylä, as well as sumptuous facilities for luxury and health treatments. The Spa Hotel on the other side of the street offers modern, comfortable and spacious rooms, saunas, pools and a fitness training room.
 
Fact #10: Ice Hockey
The 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship tournament will be held in Lappeenranta and Imatra on 17-27 April. First games of the tournament will be played on Thursday, April 17. The Championship period includes 10 game days with 30-31 games depending on the number of relegation games needed, as well as Easter Holidays. Medal games will be played on Sunday, April 27.

Saimaa Lake View during winter at Lappeenranta, Finland