Hame castle

I was a little nervous that the kids would be tired of seeing old buildings, but Hame Castle was different enough from Suomenlinna that it wasn't a problem at all. It was open enough that they kids could explore on their own without too much of a guided tour.  My mom also found castle bingo cards that the boys could use to find objects hidden around the castle.  It was a great way to keep them engaged.

Happy kids :)

Let's start with a drawbridge.  Every great castle needs a moat and a drawbridge.

We were greeted in the front hall by this incredible sculpture.  There was a special exhibit at the castle by a local artist, and there were three of these scattered around the property.  All of them were made from materials found in the forests; pine cones, leaves, branches, etc.  The detail was exquisite. 

The cathedral

The original entrance and drawbridge door

The balcony surrounding the main yard.

Armor, swords, games, and relics.

The sword in this case was found by two boys playing by the pond near their house.  What an awesome find!

Ring toss

Pick up sticks in the queen's room

Hide and seek in the king's hall.

A weather vane from the top of the castle.

Save me sister!

There was armor for the kids to wear which was so much fun.  They realized pretty quickly that it was heavy, bulky, hard to maneuver in, and hard to see.  When it came time for them to battle they just started running into each other.

The gun tower had incredible views of the river.

Cambrie explored the entire castle by herself, and much more quickly than we did.  While she waited for us to finish she found a spot to relax and start sketching.  She finished painting it after we got home and it looks fabulous.

Just trying to capture the windows in the courtyard.  This castle went through a lot of different lives, one of them including being a women's prison.  These kids look happier than the pictures we saw of the inmates.

As we walked around the grounds we found this other angle of the castle.  It just looked so pretty with the sun, the grass and the clouds.  I'm glad the boys like sticking around for pictures!

We had a picnic lunch afterwards at a nearby park.  The most memorable part of lunch, besides avoiding the sheer number of bikes on the paths, was the fact that McKenzie made her own signature sandwich: pickles and potato chips on bread.  What a winning combination!

Suomenlinna

Not knowing anything about Finland, I reached out to some friends asking what some of their favorites places to visit were.  First on the list was Suomenlinna. We had to make sure we were to the ferry on time so that way we could spend the whole day on the island.  It was originally a military fort as Finland has a long history of being fought over by Russia and Sweden.  On our ferry ride over there was passed a handful of other islands that had also been occupied...by a single house.  The island was literally just large enough to fit the footprint of the home and a row boat.  Something about that solitude appealed to us but it was hard to envision what a life out there really would be like.  

Once we debarked on Suomenlinna we picked up a map and started wandering.  We didn't know what we really wanted to see so we enjoyed the old buildings, the old houses, and old alleyways.  It looks like the island is still home to people and we tried not to venture where we weren't supposed to.  

One building that impressed us was the church.  It used to be Russian orthodox, gilded, opulent and beautiful.  But the Protestants decided they didn't want any of that and stripped it down.  Now the building is simple with a lighthouse right up top.  At one point a huge bell hung from the belfry but was moved down to ground level.  We all really, really wanted to ring it.  

As we kept exploring we found more of the old forts we were expecting.  There were plenty of places open for exploration and we walked through every tunnel we could find.  

We made our way to the other side of the island and enjoyed a little shoreline time.  However, we had lost Cambrie at some point (remember how she liked to wander solo?)  So we couldn't relax until we found her. 

 

We split up and kept working our way to the return ferry dock.  One of the areas we passed was the cannon embankments.  I've been to Normandy and seen something similar, but seeing the mounds, the cannons, the bunkers was so cool.  I ended up paired with the boys and they loved pretending that they were the cannoneers. 

 When we finally caught up to Cambrie it was right after the embankments.  My mom and Jeremy went back to explore while I hung out with the kids.  I thought this location was so perfect for capturing the Finnish flag in the background.  I am loving this trip with my kids already!  

Final tunnel explorations.

Our final stop before loading back onto the ferry was the king's gate.  Looking back towards it, it was definitely more decorative than dock on the other side of the island.  I could totally picture a grand welcoming party here.  

Ferry rides galore.

We had just a short time to spend back in Helsinki before making the drive up to Lahti.  There was a marketplace where we found lunch (meatballs and salty fish) as well as most of our souvenirs for the trip.  Why there were giant tortoises on the dock at Helsinki, I really have no idea.  

I was surprised by how much Russian influence there was with the architecture though.  I have never spent time studying Finland and it's been fascinating!