Last weekend,
to mark our anniversary,
we returned to the same countryside hotel
in Eastern Finland
where we got married many summers ago.
We've been back every so often
for a cup of coffee on the veranda,
when the place was a little deserted
& stuck in an eighties time warp.
Not so any more.
The hotel recently changed owners and names,
and it was opened in all the glory it deserves
earlier this summer.
Despite only spending one night there,
it seemed we arrived in summer
and left in autumn.
And somehow all the images I chose for this post
come with the more autumnal, grey vibes.
There's something about an out-of-season feel
that endears me so very much.
Here, you are surrounded by majestic pine trees,
& lakeviews on every side.
Every cell in the body
seems to slow right down
& breathe in air that is a little lighter, a little fresher.
I could go on and sing songs
about the food
(& how it makes you glow with warmth inside
when you spot a pair in the forest picking mushrooms
and gathering herbs from the kitchen gardens
that you will find in your dinner an hour or so later),
the reading room,
even down to the lovely smell
inside the freshly painted hotel
(they've clearly avoided paint pots
with horrid chemicals)...
I swear this isn't a sponsored advertisement :)
It stems from a genuine respect for people
who have put their love into every detail
& saved something
with so much cultural-historical value,
let alone beauty.
Hopefully we'll get to return
many more times.
Tällaisen kuvasatsin päätteeksi iski laiskuus
kirjoittaa samat litanjat suomeksi,
pahoittelut!
Sanojanne luen siitä huolimatta aina yhtä mielelläni
ihan millä tahansa kielellä :)
x
