Friday of Finland West

We met at 8am to head out on our second day of the excursion.  Our first stop was the Villa Mairea, one of Aalto's most well known buildings.  It was constructed for the thrid generation of one of the most wealthy families in Finland, historically speaking.  The comments regarding their goal of not showing off too much while hanging amazing pieces of art and paying through the nose for their family friend to design the home was interesting.  Currently, the family could not afford to keep the house which is why we were able to tour it, but the foundation allows them to keep the second floor private and they come for a couple weeks in the summer on holiday.  In order to promote book sales, photographs are not allowed inside the house.

Perhaps it's just because I am a little burnt out on Aalto, but I feel like most of his buildings are experimental in a way.  He had a summer home that was officially designated as "the experimental house" which he tried to get written off as a work expense for taxes, but I think that he used most of his buildings to try out new materials or ideas. 

Michael saw a slight incline and decided rolling down the hill would be a good idea...

There is not an explaination for this curious awning which reminded me the the Paimio Sanatorium from the day before.

The house had 3 fireplaces

My favorite elements of the design

The separate sauna building

If nothing else emphasizes that this family was upper class, the notion of having a pool in Finland certainly does.  I sat on this hill for quite awhile just enjoying the sunshine.

Aalto was highly influenced by the Japanese architecture he had seen at world expos when developing the design of this villa.  Saori purchased a book on the Japanese elements of the design.  She particularly enjoyed the Villa Mairea because it reminded her a lot of her grandparent's house.  Apparently her father is a big fan of Aalto and particularly this house and he designed her grandparent's house with some similar notions.

This is the Petajavesi wooden church.  I think I remember correclty that it was built in the 18th century.  What really impressed me about the structure was this community's dedication to having a church.  The exterior was errected in one year and then the next year all of the indoor carpentry work was completed by 13 men.

This part of the church is the bell tower which was completed later than the main sactuary.  The bell tower contains four small rooms: stairs up the tower, a storage room for gifts brought for the priest, a gun room, and the room for bodies waiting for their funeral.  The best part of the church, in my opinioin, is the smell.  The church is covered in a pine resin to preserve the wood which makes it smell wonderfully.

This was our tour guide

Saori and Kenny snapping away

The wine for communion was stored in the cellar.  While we were not allowed to scale the steps up to the bells, we were allowed to enter the cellar.  Apparently the entire church is cavernous underneath - the pews can be rolled out and the floors lifted.  This design choice was so individuals could be buried in/under the church and a few were - usually priests and their families.

A lonely last patch of snow in Finland

After the church, we headed to Juvaskcula (sp) for the night.  On the way we stopped at a gas station where I managed to forget my camera.  Thankfully, the Finns are wonderful so when I realized my mistake 10 minutes down the road we were able to turn around and pick it up again.  Peter whined a little about my mistake.  We dropped off our bags in the hotel (I highly recommend the omenahotelli here...it's a hotel without any staff but clean and nice enough accomidations), and met up for dinner. 

Dinner was fine and then we started wandering for our end of the evening amusement.  Around 11pm we went to what was advertised as a jazz club.  It was not a jazz club but was actuallly one of my favorite nights in Finland so far.  Initially I was concerned because we were forced to check our coats.  Apparently it is law in Finland that if a bar is open until 4am, guests may not keep their coats.  As we were walking in the band started to play.  They were a cover band who primarily sang songs in english!  Musical selections ranged from "I Love Rock and Roll" to "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga.  A few Finns danced and it was all quite entertaining.  When the band took a break, the guys found a backgammon board and started to play.  I watched and think I'm 80% sure how to play now.  It was a fun night.