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Our luxury accomodations on board the Stockholm - Helsinki ferry. Next time we'll be sure to reserve a cabin.
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The Temppeliaukio Church in Helsinki is carved out of solid rock. This architectural wonder takes your breath away in person.
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Finland is so influenced by Russia that many of the sites in Helsinki have been used as soviet locations in movies. Helsinki's Lutheran Cathedral dominates one Soviet looking square.
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In Tampere we visited one of Kris' relatives and she took us out to her cabin on the lake for the day. We really had to rough it, as you can see!
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Here is Kris with his cousin Ilkka. Ilkka's dad took us around the lake in his boat.
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Our last stop in Tampere was a famous glass factory where we stocked up on the essential gifts and mementos. While we were watching the glassblower work, he let each of us try our hand at it! It was hard work, and unfortunately, we couldn't bring the results home because they take 8 hours to cool.
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Next we headed up North to Kaustinen where the rest of Kris' family lives. Everyone there was so great to us!! We didn't want to leave! Here is a picture of Kris' aunt Sanni and her sister Mape. They were so wonderful to us that we truly felt like part of the family.
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Here is a group of us around Sanni's table. The extra people shown here are Sanni's kids (Kris' cousins). This is a huge part of Kris' family that he never knew he had until just a few years ago.
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Kris entertains the youngest family members.
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Kristina is one of Kris' cousins and one of the only people there that spoke English! She has a beautiful voice and sings opera. We were lucky enough to be in Kaustinen during their annual musical festival, and went to hear Kristina sing. If you think Kristina looks familiar, it could be because she also sang a beautiful opera song for us at our wedding!!
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One of Kris' cousins had a barbeque and we got to meet a whole bunch of new people! I'm not sure which of these are family or not, but it was fun!
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Kris' cousin Timo is a woodworker who creates sauna thermostats and clocks. Here he is working in his shop.
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Here is a sample of some of the work Timo does. If anyone wants an authentic handmade clock or thermostat, let us know!
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We made another trip to the music festival to see Sanni sing and one of Kris' cousins play in this large band.
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