Saturday July 11th Oulu

     This was an 'eat all day' day. Not complaining!

     This was the first night I think I was affected by the lack of 'night'.  I just didn't feel like it was bedtime and had trouble unwinding.  I took a photo from the window at 11 p.m., midnight, 1 a.m., 2 a.m., and 3 a.m.  I'll put them together for a comparison sometime, but it seemed lighter at 3 a.m. than 11 p.m. just checked--sunset was 11:47 p.m. and sunrise was 3:01 a.m.

     So, we were out of the apartment around 9 this morning when we meet Riina's parents and middle sister at the Oulu City Market.  We walked along the waterfront to get to the market square. The Market building reminded me of the Indianapolis City Market, but on a smaller scale.  We ate breakfast from a little coffee shop in the market, then Tuula bought fish from a vendor inside the building and potatoes from a vendor outside the building.  Hese and Tuula left and Riina, Ella, Karl and I walked through the shopping district to return to the apartment.  I was suffering from my lack of sleep so I wanted to rest for a couple of hours before eating my way through the rest of the day.  Karl, Riina, and Ella walked around Oulu some more.

     Soon it was time to go to Riina's grandparents' house in Oulu for lunch.  (Not the grandparents whose apartment we are using).  Riina's grandparents were anxious to meet Karl and me.  They did not speak English because it was not taught in their schools.  Riina or her dad acted as a translator.  Tuula and her mother had spent the morning preparing a delicious lunch .  There was raw fish, pan fried chicken, boiled new potatoes, tossed salad and rye bread.  Then we had berry soup as a pre-dessert, I guess.  It was very good...strawberries, blueberries and red currants cooked with sugar.  It was still warm and we ate it with a vanilla cream and a little additional sugar. After our berry soup we had dessert--a baked blueberry pie-ish thing, and coffee.  After dessert we went out in the garden. Riina's grandma is very proud of her beautiful yard.   Ella took a photo of Karl and me with Riina and her parents.

     We said our goodbyes, then Riina took us to an open-air museum near Oulu.  It's called Turkansaari.  It has old buildings from that area of Finland that have been moved there and restored.  Hese joined us there.  We spent about 1 1/2 hours there, then it was time to go to Tyrnävä for dinner.  (See, I told you we ate all day!)  We had grilled sausages and Finnish pancakes with jam and whipped cream.  Several friends of the family joined us for this cookout.  It was fun, but rather chilly.  We went back to Oulu and went to bed.  It takes about 40 minutes to drive from Tyrnävä to Oulu.

     Photos are here.