Hamina Finland

Out for a wander around the shops of Hamina with Anna-maija and did a little shopping.
Once again it is the fish shops that are the most impressive, so much fish.
We went to Anna-maija's uncle's farm to check the mail, sadly he passed away late last year. While we were there we had a look around some of the farm buildings. Farms in Finland only operate in the summertime as there is too much snow in the winter. There is very little livestock on farms as they have to be bought indoors during the cold months. Most farms used to have 3 or 4 cows but that has become difficult over recent history with regulations requiring animals to be allowed outside whenever they want to. This means the alteration of old buildings to allow automatic doors for cows and a secure area outside.
We had a look through the workers quarters that are used by the summer workers, the building dates back to the 1700's. We also walked around the large barns that once housed the cows and the hay. The construction of these timber buildings is all doweled and morticed joints, originally the roofs were timber shingles, the old shingles could still be seen from the inside.
The walls are solid logs. 

The supermarkets in Hamina are quiet on a Friday afternoon. Even the fish counter. On our last trip they were a lot busier as there were no restrictions on how much food the Russians could take back over the border, the quality of goods is much higher in Finland. However in the tit for tat politics, Russia has changed the rules, Russians have large restrictions on what they can take home now.



After our shopping we went for a forest walk with the dogs. The forests are full of berry plants such as Blueberry and Strawberry. They are free for anyone to gather and you can go onto any land to get them, the only rule is that you don't go too close to anyone's house. There are no fences in Finland apart from a few to keep the vegetable gardens safe, this is to allow access for everyone, particularly in the winter when cross country skiing is popular. Sadly for us we are a month early for the berrys.










There are lots of lakes in Finland.






We found the lookout tower and went to the top, the view was magnificent we could see 4 lakes and way off in the hazy distance we could see Kotka which is nearly 20 kilometres away.

 After our walk we returned home to a wonderful fish dinner prepared by Risto, Anna-maija's partner. We ate dinner and chatted well into the night and then decided to go to the lake for a sauna and swim. Got home at around 1.30am.
A  lovely evening.