From the sea to the lake

It was such beautiful weather - exactly what I had planned. I stayed on the Gulf of Finland for another whole day, with 20 degrees and sunshine. The laundry dried quickly and I walked through the dunes and lay in the sun on the beach. A day of real summer vacation! But I don't want to complain. I actually prefer it to be a little fresher than over 30 degrees heat.

The warm weather ended again overnight. At 14°C and thick cloud cover I left Kalajoki today and drove towards the Finnish Lake District. To do this we had to drive around 360km. At the beginning I chose the big roads so that things could move forward. After more than half of the route had been completed, I drove along smaller and smallest roads. The change was noticeable. The last few kilometers were so nice. Slightly curvy, downhill, uphill, hardly anyone on the road, forests, meadows and fields, shining gold ears of corn, and now and then cow pastures.

Speaking of cow pastures: they came into view again from Oulu. There are hardly any reindeer left in this southern area.

The goal was then reached at the new Valamo monastery on Lake Juurikkasalmi. Today I'm sleeping in the white guest house, here on the monastery grounds.