Member Since: 10 Aug 2017
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 6767
Trip report: short four day tour of western Finland
Routing: Helsinki - Turku - Naantali - Pori - Vaasa - Ähtäri - Virrat - Tampere - Helsinki
Duration: 4 days, 3 nights
Getting to Turku is easy, take the highway and drive 100/120 km/h all the way. There are 7 tunnels on the route, otherwise business as usual.
We skipped Turku since we’ve been there plenty of times but continued driving to Naantali which is an idyllic small town. It is mostly famous for two things - the president’s summer residence and... Moomin World. as we didn’t have an invite to from the president we had to settle for the latter. Perhaps just as well...
Moomin world is intended for 0-14 year olds ... and Asian tourists aged 0-99 years. I’m just going to assume everyone knows what a Moomin is - is not, google it. the theme park is full of things from the stories like their house, swim house, nature trails, etc. well worth spending the day there. For a theme park the food outlets are priced conservatively and there are both healthy and unhealthy options available for everyone. Any allergies / diets are taken into account extremely well in our experience.
Continuing from Naantali north, we drove to the Olkiluoto nuclear plant. There are two reactors in production (can’t see them, visitors can’t get that deep into the area) and the third one competes with the cathedral in Barcelona on which is being built slower.... what visitors can see is a nice visitor center that explains what uranium is, why/where it is mined, nuclear reactor technology, etc. also shown is a final placement facility of nuclear waste in the bedrock.
The first night we stayed at Scandic in Pori. Scandic is a reasonably priced chain of hotels prevalent in Scandinavia. Kid friendly and breakfasts are excellent.
On the fairy trail in Moomin world
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Build your own topography map in a sandbox in the Moomin word. The computer projects either hills or water depending on how high or low something is. Really neat.
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Doesn’t look like any cake I’ve seen before... 8)
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Albert seems to be in the need of a facelift
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Nuclear waste storage final placement simulator, pretends one is 420 meters under the surface
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A big bolt designed for the reactor
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Fuel rod
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Current electricity production figures
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The best place for a picnic
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More to follow.
8th Jul 2019 4:23 pm
Brian_DL13
Member Since: 25 Aug 2013
Location: Teesdale
Posts: 1418
Hmmm, never heard of Moomin till now. My education is obviously lacking
8th Jul 2019 5:04 pm
kajtzu
Member Since: 10 Aug 2017
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 6767
At least in Northern Europe (Scandinavia) everyone knows. In Asia, Japan in particular and China to some degree are Moomin crazy.
I bought a business associate in Japan two ceramic cups with Moomin characters on them and he went completely nuts over over them
From an educational perspective the moomin are pretty chill and there is usually a common sense story hidden. They’re also not violent at all which is rather rare nowadays when most childrens’ series tend to be the opposite.
8th Jul 2019 5:14 pm
Disco dazboy
Member Since: 02 Dec 2013
Location: Leicestershire
Posts: 1782
Finland is definitely somewhere I need to make a return visit to! Sautéed reindeer yum yum D3 x2 now gone
Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace 4motion
8th Jul 2019 5:55 pm
kajtzu
Member Since: 10 Aug 2017
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 6767
Today we made it up to Vaasa from Pori.
On the way we stopped in Kristiinankaupunki which is an idyllic town of 6500 inhabitants and 3-4 museums worth seeing (ones kids like, too) - a merchant’s house from the 18th century and a maritime museum.
In Vaasa, we checked out and drove over the longest bridge in Finland with a length of 1045 meters. Not exactly the bridge between Sweden and Denmark or the golden gate but hey..
The rest of the day was spent in Tropiclandia which is a nice water park.
A helmsman I believe
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Old school diver
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A sailing ship
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Raippaluoto bridge
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The best snack restaurant as always
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Staying at Scandic Wiskari which is immediately adjacent to the water park (and offers rebates for hotel guests).
Tomorrow we will continue onwards to Ähtäri zoo. We have pre-arranged a meeting with the panda bears there..... turns out they’re really popular and busy animals
Last edited by kajtzu on 10th Jul 2019 3:12 am. Edited 1 time in total
9th Jul 2019 5:37 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73121
Most excellent road trip rep. I must confess to missing that part of the world this summer, plus sitting on the tailgate watching the world go by next to a little lake. And Scandic breakfasts, really miss those as now on strict diet.
PS Knock the numbers out of the “[img:300:400]” bit and that’ll sort out the monster sized pics in last post.
10th Jul 2019 3:07 am
kajtzu
Member Since: 10 Aug 2017
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 6767
Yeah, the numbers thing is a bug - if you save them as normal first and then edit the message to when you remember to remove the normal_ parts they stay. Fixed.
Due to popular demand I’ll post some Scandic breakfasts really soon
10th Jul 2019 3:38 am
kajtzu
Member Since: 10 Aug 2017
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 6767
Another popular attraction
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Four different great starts to the day
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10th Jul 2019 3:57 am
nigethecat
Member Since: 11 Sep 2016
Location: Marnoch
Posts: 4252
Obviously Moomin World was "just for the kids"
Such a beautiful country... hopefully be back there soon (maybe with sump guard !!) I want to see the sweets before I get into your windowless van... I'm not stupid!
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10th Jul 2019 8:17 am
ianm27
Member Since: 02 Jun 2016
Location: Hertfordshire
Posts: 2154
Great pics and kajtzu and lovely to see the versatility of a split tailgate
Brekkie pics look delicious and total torture for Del Uncle Ray's spare wheel protector
Limo Tint
Blackvue front & rear dashcam
Cruise control switch pack
Bodsy's remote for FBH
10th Jul 2019 10:17 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73121
This is my version of the Scandic breakie, followed by a few bowls of yoghurt & fruit compot.
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And yes, it is torture as on a strict diet at the mo. Famished.
10th Jul 2019 10:45 am
kajtzu
Member Since: 10 Aug 2017
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 6767
Today we made it all the way to Tampere but let’s not be hasty. The top attraction - the part which “everyone” have begged for all winter and spring - were the panda bears in Ähtäri zoo. There are three theme parks next to each other - zoo, farm and flow. The flow is some kind of adventure park, one can walk among the trees using safety lines, etc. the zoo is a zoo and the farm has animals us city dwellers don’t tend to see quite so often except on the meat counter in the supermarket.
To keep up the suspense for a while, there are only 27 zoos in 21 countries that have friendship pandas. I’ve understood they’re on loan/lease from PRC for a certain period of time. The Chinese also need to certify/endorse the conditions the animals live in, etc. Somehow someone managed to snag two to Finland.
After the zoo went to Tuuri which is western/central Finland’s (only?) full stop shopping experience with hotels, tivoli, groceries, speciality stores and tackiness.... the place is a mix of Cesar’s palace, Venetian, jumeirah mall and who knows what else but with much smaller budget
As it was late in the day we just drove through Virrat and did not stop at a traditional village. It would have depicted how people lived 100s years ago in the countryside. The city living was seen in Kristiinankaupunki at the merchant’s house.
In Tampere we’re staying at Scandic Tampere Station which was a PITA to get with any navigator as the city has restricted driving on several streets and other have construction on them. The hotel is really nice, of recent construction. Summer rates, too.
Last edited by kajtzu on 10th Jul 2019 8:02 pm. Edited 1 time in total
10th Jul 2019 7:06 pm
kajtzu
Member Since: 10 Aug 2017
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 6767
What you don’t want to encounter when in a “hurry” - road construction where we had to wait 10 min for the road to clear.
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One of the two pandas had its 6th birthday today!
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Life is pretty sweet if you’re a snow panda
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Some kind of totem pole or spirit animal thing in the parking lot
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Life continues to be chill as a snow panda - you’re hungry enough to eat but lazy enough to not bother moving so all you do is move bamboo with your left on yourself...
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It looks like this after a while
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Meanwhile all your friend does in the other pen is asleep or meditate..
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Last edited by kajtzu on 10th Jul 2019 7:41 pm. Edited 1 time in total
10th Jul 2019 7:30 pm
kajtzu
Member Since: 10 Aug 2017
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 6767
Other interesting animals encountered were a snowy owl ...
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And a really “happy” Shetland pony (I’m surprised if the mods don’t swoop down like owls at the sight of this one
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10th Jul 2019 7:39 pm
kajtzu
Member Since: 10 Aug 2017
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 6767
Next, an interesting experience in Tuuri (the shopping mall-hotel-entertainment complex)
Looks weird already on the outside
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Probably the only hummer limo in Finland, too
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The RR did get some nice comments
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If you’re wondering “WTH have those crazy Finns mixed angels, unicorns, horseshoes for” - my sincere apologies 8) “Tuuri” can be translated to English as “luck” and the two guys owning the “village market” milk that word for everything they’re able to.
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as we didn’t have an invite to from the president we had to settle for the latter. Perhaps just as well... 
the theme park is full of things from the stories like their house, swim house, nature trails, etc. well worth spending the day there. For a theme park the food outlets are priced conservatively and there are both healthy and unhealthy options available for everyone. Any allergies / diets are taken into account extremely well in our experience.
what visitors can see is a nice visitor center that explains what uranium is, why/where it is mined, nuclear reactor technology, etc. also shown is a final placement facility of nuclear waste in the bedrock.
bolt designed for the reactor
