uusikaupunki + munkki

by Mary

Hi,

I am happy that I get to write this blog because I love the name of this town. Uusikaupunki. Kaupunki means city and it was a favorite word to say in our Finnish language classes.

Uusikaupunki means new city- that is realitive. It was founded by King Gustavus Adolphus II in April 1617. In a sense, the town is new because there were two fires in the 1800's that burned the majority of the homes. Houses are built of wood and fire is a constant threat, even now.

This morning we were picked up by Raimo and Antero and brought to the center of town. We had a tour of a home built in 1870 for a man who was a tobacco merchant. Then we walked through the town and up a water tower for a view of the town and sea. We walked by a bakery a smelled our favorite pastry, munkki. But no. They hadn't scheduled a munkki stop. Darn.

We then went to the Old church, built in the 1600's. The church is shaped like a boat, perhaps because carpenters built ships and could apply the same techniques to shape the ceiling. The church was very simply decorated with painting on the walls that looked like rosemalling. There was a model ship hanging from ceiling that was a thank you from someone rescued from sea.

A lunch outside on a sunny patio was next followed by a tour of the Bonk Museum. This is a crazy place that is all fantasy. The Bonk Company ( which never existed ) built machines for the processing of anchovies for the obvious purpose of oiling machines, but then through advanced research, they were able to use anchovies to light entire countries. They also used a vacuum to collect endorphines to aid family communication. There was a surf scooter, a machine that looked like a snowmobile but could be used on earth, water or snow. The idea for the Bonk Company came from an artist who started to build all of these crazy machines and ideas in the late 80's.

Then- munkki break. (They are like fried donuts. )Our dissappointment must have been really obvious earlier.

We were home for a hour or so and then left for a Rotary meeting in Laitila. We gave our presentation tonight. It was good to see Erikki, his wife Sari and their daughter Enni. And once again, we had to say good bye to good friends.

A highlight for Kari was a quickly arranged meeting with a fire fighter from Uusikaupunki. Kari is a volunteer fire fighter in Eagan. She mentioned on the way home that she hadn't had a chance to exchange t~shirts with another fire department. A phone call was made, a man came to our guest house with a t-shirt for Kari and another cool pin. We have all decided to join fire departments. Kari is having a especially good time in Finland.