These are just a few of the photos I took when I was with Hans and Ingela in Vaasa. I have loads more and will put them on a Picasa slideshow when I get home, but these few all say something about what struck me during my visit.
The windmill..well, I suppose that's obvious. It's just so cute, and the fascinating thing about this type of mill is that the whole thing turns to face the wind direction, not just the top part. Given my personal provenance, I just had to take a pic for comparison purposes, but the cuteness factor came very high on the list too.
The boat and boathouse...well no prizes there for guessing why I needed pics of those, but Hans and Ingela in front of their own boathouse..well, that's special. It's all so charming, and so safe, they do lock it, but the key is left in full view of anyone with eyes to see!
Then there is the water tower behind the other little wooden house (by the way, the whole village has wooden houses this colour and even the church is the same..talk about colour coordinated!). The water tower, though, is for Koos, as is the final picture of Hans and Ingela's wonderful wood burning stove. It is really amazing. The house is warm, but you hardly notice where the heat is coming from.
I'll post more about my trip soon, but when I get back to Rotterdam. For now, I am, as I said, Fin-ished...and I'm off t sleep my last night in Finland..Nighty night all! xx
Lovely pics, I really like the windmill, as always, you must have had such a good time!
ReplyDeleteGreat pics, Val. Safe journey home.
ReplyDeletexx
AM
The first thing I recognise, other than the colour-coordination, is the fact they lock the boathouse, but leave the key outside.
ReplyDeleteFunny thing - I don't lock my house and still leave the key outside... hmmmm
it's quite interesting seeing old, familiar stuff through new eyes.
ReplyDeletelike i said - come again anytime you feel like it, we can always use a weekend off ;)
Thanks everyone, and Ingela, the same goes for you and Hans in Holland. You would be very welcome to share our watery life for a while!
ReplyDeleteMaria has written a great blog about the first day of my visit, so if you'd like to know where we really went, it's here:
http://el-wisty.blogspot.com/2010/05/ah-its-may-again.html
I'm packing my bags now to leave the hostel, so will catch up again when I get home. See you all later! xx
A great posting VallyP your pictures especially & the boat whose lines (curves) I appreciate it looks to be very seaworthy.
ReplyDeleteThe houses on the small islands are a modern reminder of the ancient Irish Crannogs might have looked.
A safe journey home to you 'Slan Abhaile'
Hi Val,
ReplyDeleteI hope you had a good nights sleep.
One small correction though, the tower in the background is not a water tower, it is an observation tower built recently. It was built to give tourists a better view over the De Geer-moraines so typical for the area which is a part of the UNESCO World Heritage, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/898 the High Coast/Kvarken Archipelago.
I think the tower is very ugly and not conforming to the architecture of the area. It looks like a cooling tower at some power station or like something out of a sci-fi movie. They could have built it like the windmill in your picture for heavens sake!
:)
Hans
It looks like a great place. You must have had lots of fun.
ReplyDeletehi Hans, thanks for the correction. Silly me, I really thought it was a water tower...duh! You are right though, it should have been built in the same style as the windmill and church. That would have been perfect!
ReplyDeleteHeron, I can imagine the whole village must be reminiscent of the old Irish settlements. You should take a visit to theses villages on the islands. They are so special and so picturesque. I've never seen anything quite like it and it did remind me of pictures I've seen of ancient saxon settlements in England.
stu, it was great and very beautiful!
Lovely photos, from a lovely trip Val. I love the windmill! And nice one of Hans and Ingela.
ReplyDeleteHi Val,
ReplyDeleteI read you had a great journey. This is very good. Can't wait to see more pics. I'm very busy since some weeks and I'm sorry for my little writing at these space.
Best wishes from Germany
Stefan xx
Sounds like you had a wonderful time - love the pics - beautiful :)
ReplyDelete