My mom and I went to the Langinkoski Imperial Fishing Lodge this afternoon and as promised, I took some pictures. The place was swarming with Russian tourists and it was a challenge to get pictures with no people in them.
The Imperial Fishing Lodge belonged to Alexander III, or Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov and his wife Maria Alexandrovna.The imperial summer holiday location was completed in 1889 and it became the favorite destination of the imperial family, a place where they could relax and forget the strict court etiquette and the golden rooms of the Winter Palace in St Petersburg. The Tzar would fish and chop wood at Langinkoski while the Tzarina would cook. Proper cottage life!
The lodge is surrounded by peaceful woods the Kymi river.
The lodge has a living area, a kitchen, a study and a dressing room and the bedrooms are upstairs.
Kyllikin ryöstö
Johan Kortman
1890 oilQuickly followed Lemminkäinen,
With his stallion proudly prancing,
Fleetest racer of the Northland,
Fleetly drives beyond the meadow,
Where the maidens meet for dancing,
Snatches quick the maid Kyllikki,
On the settle seats the maiden,
Quickly draws the leathern cover,
And adjusts the brichen cross-bar,
Whips his courser to a gallop.
With a rush, and roar, and rattle,
Speeds he homeward like the storm-wind,———- Runo XI
Kalevala (Crawford translation)
Leafing through a lonely planet
“And if two girls kissing offends you….well, you need to grow up” - Graham Norton on Finland’s Eurovison entry
Virgin’s Dance
Bride’s Dance
There are over one hundred labyrinths in Finland. Many have been found in the archipelago and the west coast and are thought to have been associated with fishing and hunting magic.In the Swedish folklore of western Finland labyrinths were considered a doorway to the underworld.There is one created at the Brage Open Air Museum that is modeled after one found in Valsörarna. In folk traditions there is a game where a girl and a boy are tied together and must keep the rope from touching the ground while traveling the paths.
This morsiantanssiin/jungfrudans (bride’s dance, maiden’s dance,virgin’s dance possibly recalls ancient pagan hedelmällisyysriiteistä (fertility rites) when a young woman stood in the middle of the labyrinth and a suitor had to find his way through the maze to her.
photo credit: betterphotography.in
vaasa.fi
Finnish girl wearing a traditional dress.
Wishmaster By Nightwish
Dash needs more Wishmaster.
(by fede_gen88)
