Day 8 Do you wanna build a snowman. (13/12/14)

Though the boys cant stand FROZEN they certainly got into building a snowman today.

Today we moved from Virva and Samuli's(the Latostenmaas) to Sanna and Sampo's (the Paallysaho's).  We had some problems fitting all our luggage into their car despite the fact that it was a large car.  So Virva & Samuli dropped the extra stuff off which was much appreciated.

While in Espoo there was no snow but amazingly only 10km away in Vantaa there was plenty, much  to their delight. It was like moving into real winter.  It was fantastic - snow at last!

Here we have Luke, Cody and Sylvi the youngest of the girls she is 7. She has amazing english which the boys are happy about.  It was instant friendship, with Sylvia introducing them to the Finnish way of rolling snow to make a snowman & of course to have a snowball fight.

 This is them attacking the photographer with such speed it was a blur!!

 Cody fine tuning frosty he is not complete yet.  A master piece in progress.

  

Here he is - introducing Mr Snowman.

They were soaked but not cold and not deterred they carried on making snow angels etc. Luke obviously enjoyed the opportunity of launching missiles. A fantastic playground, especially for our busy boys.

In the afternoon, after a lovley lunch we went to Porvoo.  It is Finland's second oldest town, a beautiful city full of history. The timeless and unique atmosphere in Old Porvoo attracts travellers from all over the world.

In today's Porvoo, the past and the present merge in perfect harmony. The strata from different epochs can be discerned in the structure of the town. Porvoo is a dynamic town centre fostering culture and traditions which offers its inhabitants humane and pleasant surroundings.
Porvoo is located in the eastern Uusimaa-region on the coast of the Gulf of Finland, ca 50 km east of Helsinki.

 

The main street is littered with coffee shops

 We went in to one and had coffee and delicious cakes

 The three musketeers Cody, Luke and Sylvi

 Siscos Anna and Sanna

 Eilian and Sampo.

After this we walked to a Christmas market in the civic centre where there was an abundance of food and crafts.  The boys bought a wood axe each HMMMM How are we going to get that back to NZ

then we returned to the old town where we celebrated Santa Lucia Day.  This is an old tradition where a girl from the town goes through a rigorous selection process to become Santa Lucia for the year.  

The next milestone in the lead-up to Christmas is December 13, Santa Lucia's day. It's celebrated with a beautiful, singing procession led by a girl dressed in white wearing a crown of candles. This observance originally came to Finland from Sweden, where it became linked with Christmas because it happens to fall in mid-December.
Lucia was originally a Sicilian maid who defied her father by refusing to marry the man he had chosen for her. She suffered a martyr’s death. The flames of the candles in the procession denote her martyrdom.

 The girl in the middle with candles is Santa Lucia!!

Then we had the usual tomfoolery from the boys. Smashing snow with their axes throwing great lumps of snow into the river etc

What a gorgeous Santa.

We then returned and had a delicious beef stew that had been in the oven for 6 hours yum.
It was so good even Cody ate it, and that's saying something.

Anna was delighted to see Sannas parents who popped in for a visit.  They were her last family that she stayed with on her year in Finland and this was the first time she had seen them since she left in 1988.  We all agreed that none of us had changed!!  Arja asked whether I remembered the time she washed a woolen jumper of mine and it came out 10 sizes smaller.  It would barley fit a teddy bear! She still remembered it as a catastrophe!

Then Sampo and I had a few beers and a Sauna.

Great end to the day.