«Our Scandinavian August» (the notes of an adventure seeker)

Our group left the Loma-Koli camping at 8.30 in the morning. We must cover 355 km to reach our final destination for these 2 days – Oulu. The intermediary stop is in Nurmes. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Pielinen. The students visited Hyvarila. It is a hotel complex with huge sport opportunities. Then we came to the “Bomba house” centre. Here you can find good examples of Karelian architecture. It also offers accommodation for visitors. And we found some cabins and cottages busy. It should be said that “Bomba house” is owned by the Russians. The business is controlled be the Bombins. And it is no wonder this place attracts lots of our compatriots.

But there is no need to wait. We continued our trip. In 16.00 the bus entered Oulu.

Oulu is quite a big city. It has around 130000 inhabitants. The city is located on the shores of the Bothnian Bay, by the Oulu River. It was founded by the Swedes in 1605. And now Oulu is a desirable and globally recognised technology city.

Unfortunately we lost a half of an hour trying to find the easiest way to reach the Hietasaari Island where the Nallikari camping is. We arrived in our destination-point, got the keys from accommodation in the check-in and took our baggage to the cabins. But we also wanted to go to the swimming complex at the Holiday Club Oulu Eden which is near the camping. Considering the total amount of the group and the status of its members (students and teachers) we got very good discounts and spent 3 hours of relax there.

Oulu is famous for its university that is why we decided to visit the campus where all major buildings are. The bus “delivered” the group to the university. It was a large area of different buildings and parking places. But nevertheless the most popular kind of transport around Finland is a bicycle. And it does not matter whether it is a student or a pensioner – everybody likes it.

At the beginning we went to the faculty of geology where our main object was - the Geological museum. I was impressed by the rich collection of minerals and rocks. According to the information given in the museum’s brochure the number of catalogued samples was 12400 of which about 3000 were exhibited. The collections were mainly from Fennoscandia but the mineral and rock collections in particular were of world origin. Actually we needed more time to see everything and I paid my attention for such rocks and minerals as malachite, azurite, anthracite, gold. There were the illustrations around the walls, giving the overall view of geological process. Properly speaking it is hard to tell about it, it must be seen!

On the faculty we found the map of Precambrian ore-bearing areas on continents. What a pleasure to see the traces of Russian science in a foreign country!

Then we moved to the Botanical museum. There were 2 buildings each of it shaped like a pyramid. There are more than 1500 species of plants from around the globe. The houses are segmented inside into 4 parts (rooms) – concerning the typical geographical environment. In each part certain temperature and humidity are supported according to the climatic belt. I liked the succulent room with different species of cacti, among them there were those I had never seen before I visited the museum. Also I was surprised to meet many beautiful plants of tropical and subtropical origin, coloured with all the colours you just can imagine.

As we left the Botanical museum we returned to the main building of the university. There was the Zoological museum. But after everything we had already seen this day the new exhibition could not be accepted with the same emotions. As for me I was not touched by the stuffed animals.

The group was much impressed by the campus. I thought it could be nice to have a similar university campus in Tver.

Our group leader Alexandr advised us to spend the rest of the time by walking over the city.

At the beginning I needed to go to the local Tourist centre. I got there quickly as the city was small for me, the dweller of the 400000 inhabitants’ city. I received many guide brochures and maps for free. It is actually common for all Scandinavia. I could find many sights with the map of the city.

First I went to the Central market square. It attracts many tourists because of its bronze statue of a policeman. It is a symbol of Oulu. Everyone aims to take photo with this policeman.

My next destination was the Oulu Cathedral. It is another symbol of the city. The Cathedral was built in 1777 by the Swedes. It presents neo-classical style. I liked the glass-paintings on the walls, portraying Christ on the cross and other Bible episodes. There were little dolls put in front of the windows and describing stories from the Old Testament. There were also some Romantic organs. It could be nice to listen to these musical instruments.

Then I devoted my time to the walk on the streets. I saw many beautiful buildings dated to the 17th-18th centuries. The people were nice and friendly. Finally I came to the Central market square. This part of the city is connected with the Pikisaari Island that itself links the Hietasaari Island with the rest of Oulu. Passing through the bridges I kept my attention on the industrial “silhouettes”. It is the buildings of the paper mill “Stora-Enso”, one of the main plants of Oulu. My trip for today found its end.

The bus departed from the Nallikari camping at 7.30. This day prepared for us almost 500 km of travelling. Our final destination is Kiruna.

We took road E8. It lies along the shore of the Bothnian gulf. The group reached Tornio soon. It is a Finnish town on the border between Finland and Sweden. Its “neighbour” is Haparanda, which is on the other bank of the Torniojoki River (the Swedish name of the river is the Tornealven), that separates 2 countries.

The place of interest for us was the Lapin Kulta (the gold of Lapland) Brewery. It is the oldest industrial establishment in northern Finland. Even I am not a beer-drinker I wanted to see the technology of making of this alcohol beverage. We actually did not expect to get inside the plant. But we succeeded.

The woman that was familiar with all the processes and stages agreed to make an excursion for us. We got new information about this industry. Nevertheless, I did not change my attitude to beer.

But now – get on the bus, we are about to leave! Our route keeps the line of the Torniojoki River (and the Finnish-Swedish border relatively) in the northern direction. The further we were going, the colder.

Our next stop is Juoksenki. This settlement is significant because of its geographical latitude – it is 660 30'N, the latitude of the Polar Circle. To the north of the Сircle there is a so-called polar day which lasts a half of a year, and then it is changed by a polar night. It is connected with low position of the sun in the sky in these latitudes.

We cooked our dinner almost on the line which was marked as 66.50N latitude, so everybody could be beyond and in front of the Polar Circle simultaneously. For many of us it was a historical moment – we crossed this latitude for the first time.

After dinner our group continued the trip. We crossed the river at a bridge near Pello. That meant the bus had opened the Swedish part of the journey. We were in Norrbotten lan that occupies fully one quarter of the country’s territory. It is the Swedish Lapland.

Approaching to Kiruna we needed make a stop at Junosuando. It is a place with a rare physiographic feature of the Tornealven River. Usually a river has some tributaries that join it. Such joining produces larger stream. This stream can join a river of the higher order or flow directly into a basin (such as a lake, sea, or the ocean). In case of the Tornealven River near the area I have already named above, we have another situation. The main stream is divided into 2 rivers: the Tarendoalven, which then joins the Kalixalven as a tributary, and the Tornealven itself, that finally flows to the Gulf of Bothnia. It is called bifurcation. The similar feature has the Orinoco River in South America. It is best known example. That is why we should be proud of the fact we saw bifurcation.

We arrived in Kiruna at 6 p.m. The group was provided with cabins in the Ripan camping. The weather was cold and the sky was much covered with clouds that made the surrounding dark. We were absolutely exhausted and after dinner everybody fell asleep.