My dad had to drive up north for a meeting today, so I tagged along to keep him company for the long drive. I had Sayaka and Avis with me and my camera + various lenses but on the way our schedule was really tight and the way back was a race against the setting sun. But I don’t know when I’ll get to visit the area again because we no longer have relatives up there… Maybe if we go see our patch of land all the way in Kuivaniemi? I don’t know.
Anyway, I got to take Sayaka out on two different occasions: once on the way and once on the way back during the sunset. I had a third chance too, but it was cold and I felt lazy -besides it was already dark. Avis stayed in the bag the whole time, poor thing.
First spot: The Center of Finland.
I succumbed to tourism and Saya is showing the plaque, awesome. The actual spot is some 7km off this place, but they built it here along the road in the late fifties to make it into a tourist spot.
Her eyes were wonky here, but I didn’t have time to fix them, my driver/dad was already in the car, ready to go continue the trip. x_x
Goddamn, the sun stays so low all day this time of the year that I was making huge shadows on the stone myself while trying to manage a decent photo. It was taken about 15 minutes before Noon and the light looked like something you’d see before a sunset.
Next spot was on the way back during the sunset:
We were at the artificial lake at Uljua and the sunset was pretty much behind us, but it reflected somewhat to the sky and the lake surface. I didn’t have time to concentrate here either because this time my driver was complaining that it was cold and he wanted to head back. =__=;;
Up the stairs.
And scenery to the lake.
And back home Saya presents the one thing we bought:
Mammals of Finland book with lovely drawn illustrations (so rare nowadays) that was on sale. :’D
All in all the trip took pretty much exactly 12 hours. It took us a bit under 5 hours to get to Kempele and then 6hrs to get back because we stopped a lot, lol. Probably the slowest trip back we’ve ever made, but hey, I didn’t go with him just to sit in the car non-stop. x_x My shoulders and neck are all stiff now because the seat isn’t super comfy in my dad’s car. u__u; But at least the day was different~
I adore those illustrated books ~ are the images done with traditional medium as well? :3
Beautiful scenery and beautiful girl, the first pic is super tourist-y which also makes it super awesome xD;
Yes, they’re all traditional media illustrations. There was another mammals book as well, called “Mammals of the North” that had really gorgeous full page traditional media illustrations with backgrounds and everything, but the info wasn’t as well arranged and clear, so I went for this Finland one.
I looked for a birds of Finland book as well, but unfortunately those are ALL photographed nowadays. I have this really old book with all sorts of animals, but it’s outdated so it doesn’t have all the current birds and there are extras that have never been seen here either. u__u I had to buy a photographed one a few years ago but I’m still on the lookout for a drawn one as well.
I would’ve totally taken more touristy photos of Saya showing the spots all “see this sign, I was here!” but we didn’t have enough time to stop a lot and wait for me to dig her up from the carrier bag and pose her for photos. Darned short days! Lol, I only do touristy stuff with my dolls.
Your Saya-san is as beautiful as always! <3 I would love to visit Finland one day. I'm going to Sweden and Iceland (possibly Norway as well) next summer.
Well, nature wise Finland isn’t much different from Sweden. Just more lakes. :P I’d love to visit Norway and Iceland sometimes too, but my trips usually take me to Asia…