Full moon trip to Rymättylä

July in Europe has been exceptionally hot but the heat has skipped Finland totally – it has been rainy and rather chilly here. At the end of July we decided to chase the rain from our friend’s cottage in Rymättylä and succeeded in that: The rain ended on our way after the Lohja ridge and started again when we came back in the same region two days later.

We had ordered the tickets to Röölä Meriteatteri. As in the last year, the story was about the people around the herring fishing between the years 1945-1974. The reason it ended was the Island decision to broaden their fishing area, which reduced the possibilities for Finns to fish there. Röölä, the tiny village in Rymättylä, was the head place for the Finnish herring fleet.

We didn’t manage to make the weather warmer though it stopped raining. So we preferred staying near the barbecue fire to stay warm.

Instead of herrings we ate a lot of barbecued salmon.

                                     There was a flaming sunset ....

                                                   …    and full moon after that.

The next day was a bit warmer so we decided to have a little exploration to the islands of Rymättylä. This time we used a car and a ferry for about ten cars to get to the outmost island. There we entered the harbor from where we could have crossed the sea area called Airisto to get to Nauvo.

                                                The ferry harbour

The islands are mostly covered by forests and here and there are some potato, wheat and barley fields. Nowadays Rymättylä is a very important potato producer. The highest points and the coastal line are mostly rocky.

We also climbed to the hill called Karhuvuori (Bear Mountain). 

Our “mountains” are quite honest compared with other countries but the view to the archipelago was really pleasant. There were a little observation tower, originally built for the aerial surveillance.

When we arrived to the cottage we heard the message that Finnish Nazis had had a demonstration in Jyväskylä town and after that they had beaten a left wing activist whom they happened to spot along their marching route. A week before that a member of parliament Olli Immonen (True Finns) had written a Facebook update that seemed oddly like an invitation to “the battle against the multiculturism”.  

The text was in English and resembled oddly the expressions of Norwegian mass murderer Breivik. The text waked attention enormously and there were about twenty thousand people in different parts of Finland demonstrating against his statements.  Later he denied he had meant any concrete battle and he claimed he do not know any Nazis – even though there are a plenty of evidence that he has taken part to some rituals with them and they share some organizations where his in leading position. Anyway some idiots took his message literally and acted.

The incident made us talk quite serious issues that night. Finland is still quite monocultural with rather small number of refugees and immigrants. If we do the things right we could manage to keep Finland warm and accepting and integrate the different ethnical groups in friendly and appreciating manner. And of course we must avoid the clashes between LGBTI-people and immigrants – the thing that Nazis try to provoke.

When we were leaving Rymättylä we still bought potatoes and some other organic vegetables in quite strange shop: Potatoes, garlic tomatoes, kale, a steelyard, a calculator, a notebook and a churn. No people. So we took what we wanted, weighed it, calculated the sum and put the money to the churn!! It seems it is the habit there, because we did it in same way in another place last summer. When we left the shop we dreamed of the world where everyone could trust to each other that way.