This morning we travelled to Savonlinna in south eastern Finland, which is located quite near to the Russian border. The journey takes just over five hours by either train or coach. In previous years we have travelled by train but this time we opted to travel by coach as Onnibus have started to operate this route and offer some very inexpensive fares. Our bus left at 10.30 am and we were lucky to be able to sit on the front seats of the upper deck for the best views. The journey was smooth, traffic was light and the free Wi-Fi worked well.
Our Finnish friend had come to meet us by boat and after donning our life jackets we motored around the bay and found a mooring near to Savonlinna’s market place where we enjoyed a snack of the tasty small fish ‘muikku’ and cups of coffee looking out across Lake Saimaa.
The market was starting to pack up for the day but we had just enough time to buy some fresh berries to take back to the cottage. Back on board the boat, we motored past the beautiful fairytale like 15th century Olavinlinna Castle which has three towers and is a joy to behold.
The afternoon sun shone brightly and with a warm, gentle breeze there was no need for coats on the hour long boat journey to our friend’s secluded summer cottage hidden away on a remote island.
It’s the fourth time that we’ve had the pleasure to be invited to our friend’s summer cottage and we always love our time there, experiencing life in a mökki. Our evening was spent eating a tasty barbecue dinner on the terrace, sipping wine, chatting and enjoying a Finnish ‘white night’ until well after midnight.
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That terrace looks so peaceful. A great place to hare conversation and wine. Stay well Marion. Allan
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Savonlinna is a delightful small town in the Finnish Lakeland that is exceptionally beautiful during the summertime, Thank you for taking an interest in this post Allan and enjoy your Sunday. Marion
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wonderful story – ha ha dogs are keen on the lookout! beautiful photos – thank you for sharing!
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It’s a pleasure! Thank you for taking the time to read and respond!
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Love the picture of the dogs! Sounds like a perfect thing to do, sail to a summer cottage and enjoy all that daylight.
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It really is idyllic! I wouldn’t want to stay more than a few days as I’m more of a fast paced person, but for a few days in the warm sunshine it’s lovely. And yes, the dogs are so sweet in their life jackets aren’t they!
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Thanks for checking out my blog! I also like to travel
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That’s good to hear! Thank’s also for taking the time to read some of my posts.
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Sounds like a wonderful trip! How nice to be able to spend time in a Finnish summer cottage…that is still on my list of things to do one day 🙂
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Hello ! Thank you for taking the time to read and comment on my blog and I do hope you get an opportunity to stay for a few days in a Finnish summer cottage. It’s a really lovely thing to do in a beautiful country!
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It looks like a lovely trip!!
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It really is! Thanks for taking the time to read and comment on my blog
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My pleasure
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I loved your K-9 Captain and First Mate. Brick
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Thank you, it was good to spend time with the dogs. We had a Westie but she passed away some time ago now.
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Lovely post. I was planning to go back to Finland this summer and attend the Savonlinna Opera festival, but work pulled me off. It’s so nice to see your post. Thank you!
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It’s a pleasure, thank you for taking the time to respond to my post. Hopefully you will have an opportunity to attend the opera next year!
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Looks beautiful! I would love to visit Finland someday. Jade x
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Thank you,I hope you get an opportunity to visit soon!
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That does indeed look like a blissful life! I’ve only met one Finn so far but he was extremely friendly, and gave us beer 😊 The fresh fish looks delicious too – pining for Scandianvia right now.
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Hi Hayley, Do try and visit one of the Nordic countries – both the scenery and the people are lovely and in summer it rarely goes dark! Thanks for reading and commenting on my post.
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Already have 😊 Visited central Sweden last Summer, and took my fifth trip to Iceland in the Spring. Planning another Scandi trip for next year but haven’t decided on which country yet. Will start plotting after Christmas.
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Haven’t visited Iceland yet but definitely want to go there, and I also want to see Denmark, too.
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Iceland is my spiritual home, so we’ll keep going back. Don’t know about Norway, Finland or Denmark yet, but it has a very different vibe to Sweden. Loved Sweden as well though.
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Beautiful pics 🙂 Enjoy!
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Wow. How glad I am that You visited to Savonlinna. You cannot imagine how many time I have visited it. Did You visit Olavinlinna castle? Probably yes, I guess. Can we wait Your post about it? I have visited it even in winter one year, when our Miss candidates were there and made ice carvings. Guess, if I have a post about it. 🙂
One question about Your bus journey. Did You pass via Mikkeli or via Lappeenranta? If via Mikkeli, then You went very near to our home.
Thank You for this post full with beautiful photos. Happy Wednesday!
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Good morning Sartenada! Thank you for your positive thoughts on my recent post. We’ve visited Savonlinna several times now and I think it is such a beautiful town with its delightful setting on Lake Saimaa. The bus did indeed go via Mikelli and one year we stopped off there to look around when we had a hire car, so we were not too far from where you live. It’s a lovely morning here, hope it’s the same with you. Kind Regards!
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Very nice. Mikkeli, its marina and Kenkävero are its main sights, but generally, its old town is forgotten.
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How lovely that you got to get out on the water too! We had a summer cottage when I was a child but I didn’t really know to appreaciate it then. These days a quiet night by the water is quite wonderful. Savonlinna is lovely too. ❤
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I love Savonlinna and it was nice to visit our friend who also had two other house guests visiting, one from Oulu and the other from the Lofoten Islands so it was good to spend time with them as well.
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