These photos were captured using the Sony Mavica MVC-FD91 Digital Camera. All images are © TomSettle.Communications.
Wednesday 28 June
Liisa’s cousin Irma and her fiancee Olli took us to Hamina to do some shopping. Here’s Ron returning bottles at the grocery store. After we finished shopping, we walked through the marketplace and had some coffee. I visited Teuvo and Meeri in the evening.
Thursday 29 June
Raija, Ville, Irma and Olli (seen here with Liisa and Ron) came to our cottage for dinner. Today was the hottest day of the summer to date…over 30 degrees Celsius. I went swimming in Pihlajan Niemi for the first time this year.
In the evening, my cousin Harri’s wife Mirja picked me up and took stay at their home in Lappeenranta. On the way we stopped to visit their friend Jamal, who owns a jewelry business in Ylamaa, about 30km from Lappeenranta.
After we got to their house and said hello to the kids, Mirja and I looked at some pictures and finished off a bottle of Koskenkorva vodka. I think Harri was impressed when we told him the next day…hehehe!
Friday 30 June
I spent the morning hangin’ out with Harri and Mirja’s sons Mikko and Timo. We watched a video of their winter trip to the U.S. (we rented a mini-van and drove down the east coast to Florida).
In the afternoon, Harri took the boys and I to lunch in downtown Lappeenranta. We also stopped at the post office, then went to see Mirja and daughter Minna. They were both helping out Jamal at his shop…today was the first day of the annual 3-day Gemstone Fair in Ylamaa.
Harri had a ship to pilot to Puumala tonight and I was invited along. It was the Russian freighter Belomorsky 21, hauling a large load of timber. It was about a 5-hour journey, so I had plenty of time to capture some pictures, including: 1) a passing motorboat, 2) sunset on Lake Saimaa and 3) Harri posing with the captain’s bottle of vodka. Harri also took a picture of mestanding by one of the ship’s mates. We got back to Harri’s house around 3:15AM.
Saturday 1 July
We slept in today and wound up having the whole day free…there were no ships for Harri today. In the afternoon, Harri & I went grocery shopping, visited Mirja at work (she’s a ship traffic coordinator) and stopped for a beer down at the Lappeenranta harbor. Later, Harri, Mirja, Jamal and I went to a dance along with other people from the Gemstone Fair. After that, we went to a bar back in Ylamaa and eventually found our way home. It was a fun summer night in Finland!
Sunday 2 July
Today was a pretty quiet day. I slept in and relaxed around the house most of the day. Went for an afternoon walk around the neighborhood. Mirja and Minna worked all day at the Gemstone Fair…Jamal brought Mirja home and stayed for tea and sandwiches.
Harri and I went on another ship. This was just a short trip…only about 90 minutes. This time we took a taxi back to the pilot station and were back home around 3AM.
Monday 3 July
Slept until almost noon today. Timo left early this morning for a week-long fire & rescue camp for kids. Jamal stopped by for coffee on his way into the jewelry shop.
Harri and I drove to Ala-Pihlaja to pick up Liisa and Ron…they’ll be staying until Wednesday. Ron brought some snacks for Tipsu the cat, seen here with Minna. We watched Harri’s vacation video and reminisced about our trip.
Tuesday 4 July
Mirja took Liisa to get a haircut this morning. Harri, Ron and I went down to the harbor for a beer aboard a restaurant ship.
In the afternoon, one of Mirja’s old classmates and her family came to visit. We drove to Harri and Mirja’s lakeside cottage to spend the afternoon. We had a welcome drink by the lake, Harri and Liisa seen here.
It was a beautiful day and I took the opportunity to swim in the lake. Harri grilled some makkara and their friends’ 2-year-old twins enjoyed some wild blueberries.
Continue to Week #4
