Savonlinna - the beginning

Considering this is going to be the longest stint I've spent in a place on this trip, I'm going to devote several posts to this city...



At any rate, Savonlinna is absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous. One of the most notable things I've found on this trip is Finns are very concerned with the care and maintenance of their environment. Trash is sorted by biowaste (biodegradables), recycling and normal trash, plastic bags are reused at the store (and it's so much simpler to bring your own cloth one anyway...), they ride bikes everywhere... it's fantastic compared to the US, where we're still rather behind on this sort of thing. And it pays off - the nature here is just beautiful. Thick forests, sparkling lakes, wildflowers everywhere...

This is the view from one of the main walking bridges going towards Olavinlinna, the medieval castle. Lots of lakes and boating here.

Same bridge, looking at the other side towards the city. This was taken on one of the few solidly sunny days - the weather changes quickly here, so we've all learned to carry umbrellas everywhere, even if the sky is perfectly cloudless.

Olavinlinna - the medieval castle. Built by the Swedes as a fortress against the Russians (considering for a long time Finland was a piece of Sweden...)

It's an absolutely breathtaking building, built into the rock of one of the islands here - the rock is actually incorporated into the floor itself in some places. I'll post more pictures of the inside at another point - these were preliminary pictures taken within the first couple of days of getting here.

Savonlinna is the site of a huge opera festival every summer, conveniently exactly at the time of our course here... which means we went to see an opera! The operas performed take place inside Olavinlinna itself, in an expansive hall. Now I can say I've watched an opera in a castle. We went to see Lucia di Lammermoor, thankfully subtitled in both Finnish and English...

The kids I've been hanging out with - from left to right: Wil, Mike, Kendra. Wil and Mike are from Michigan but attend Indiana, and Kendra is from California but attended Columbia. Madcap adventures ensue.

So far things're pretty fantastic. It's neat to meet people from around the world - life story comparisons are so varying and intriguing.

That's about all I have for now, but I'll add more when I can.

Tavataan taas!