[ 11:31 PM ]
Seurasaari Open-Air Museum
On Saturday I set off for a trip to Seurasaari :)
The Seurasaati Open-Air Museum offers the visitors a chance to get acquainted with the Finnish traditional culture and the way people have lived before. The buildings from the different provinces of Finland, their interiors and their artefacts present the lives of crofters, peasants and the gentry from the 18th to the 20th century.
Crossing the bridge to Seurasaari (it's an island)
Fantastic view
Spotted a little friend while waiting for the rest to get tickets
First stop: Antti farmstead from Säkylä, SW Finland. The houses here really belonged to people and all the furniture etc are authentic. They literally moved the houses from all over Finland to this little island here!
Wool
Kitchen
As you can see, the ceilings were made of shingles and hence caught fire very easily. When they have a successful harvest, they have to bake many batches of rye bread as flour can't keep. A kid will be sent up to the ceiling to look out for sparks (which can burn the whole house down). There's also a superstition surrounding the table they make bread on. You have to turn it around in a clockwise direction it will seem like you're throwing bad luck out of the window (the table was next to the kitchen window). Once, a new maid did it the wrong way and the house caught fire. They say her spirit still haunts the house :(
Spinning yarn (I thought of Sleeping Beauty who pricked her finger)
Apparently each family member has their own spoon and they will put it back to this shelf upon licking it clean after every meal! *horrified gasp
The eldest daughter gets her own room. The rest of the family squeeze in a small room. This is because it's the eldest daughter's top priority to get married so she needs her own space to display her knitting, dowry etc and a venue to meet possible suitors.
One of the quarters
They were a rather well-off family (as can be seen from the sheer size of the house)
I forgot the name of this tower.
This is my favourite house cuz it looks like it belongs in a fairytale :)
Niemelä tenant farm from Konginkangas, Central Finland. This family is poorer than the Anttis as can been seen from the shabbier house. I promised pictures of pretty Finnish ladies :)
Karuna church (the oldest building)
Courtyard
I was very spooked by the arm :( Bit of trivia regarding the church: It was built by a man who married his cousin and back then this was frowned upon by the church and the community (but of course, it's incest for goodness sake). Hence, he was forbiddened to sit in the front pew. Apparently, he was very upset by this and so he built his own church. When you have your own church you can basically sit anywhere you want haha.
Karelian village. These are their store sheds.Telephone booth
Digging for potatoes. I tried my hand at it and found some! (We get to bring them back). Swinging the hoe reminds me of days in Huay Khao Lip Tai :)
Windmill
Lapland food store. It's on stilts to keep hungry bears and chihlins away from their food while they go hunting.
Doesn't it look like the dwarf house from Snow White? It's from Lapland as well. By the way, Lapland is a.k.a Santa Claus land :)
Hello birdie (ok it's kinda huge to be called a birdie)
Island view
Quack!
This is a magical shot cuz there were hoards of visitors on the bridge but somehow at that exact moment when I jumped none of them were captured here! YAYYY :)
