NAANTALI AND SURROUNDING AREAS
Today we had a visit to KultaRanta, the "Golden Shore", which is a small island area across the harbor from where we were staying at the Bridget Inn. If ever in Naantali make sure to stay at this cute little B&B, where the owners speak great English, are very hospitable and offer a delish breakfast.
Kultaranta was originally commissioned by the agriculturalist Alfred Kordelin. The 19-room house was designed by the famous turn-of-the-century architect Lars Sonck, and construction work started in 1914. Alfred Kordelin only spent a few summers at Kultaranta before his sudden death. He left Kultaranta to the Finnish University of Turku Society, and it was later acquired by the Finnish government following a Parliament decision to use the house as the President of the Republic's summer residence.
So, since the president hadn't began her stay (yes the president is a woman) for the summer, we had the chance to tour the area. Unfortunately, it was so cold that none of the flowers were in the gardens. It was a nice place, had a huge sauna and one of the great features of the house is that it is set on a hill with a huge rock criss-cross path down the side. This is now just a walking path, but originally was the private bob-sledding path for Mr Kordelin...how cool is that!
Next we were off to a great lunch with Perrti and then onto Mylly, which is the largest mall in southwest Finland. There we shopped a bit, had a presentation from the Pekka the mall operator and Rotary friend and then were treated to Belgian chocolates by him.
Rotary Meeting-Raisio-Jokilaakso on the island of Ruissalo
Lastly, we joined a very kind dinner group for a Rotary meeting. During the meeting the new Rotary president was officially given her title, it was a woman. That was fun to know, since most Rotary clubs in Finland do not accept women as members yet. Then we gave our presentation, had a great dinner provided by one of the restaurants at the mall, and then went for a sauna and jumped in the sea. It was the first time the whole team jumped in the sea after a sauna. The water is quite cold, like REALLY cold in some instances. It sounds crazy but it is amazing, and something I will miss greatly. If I lived in Finland I would sauna and jump in the ice and snow year round because it feels so stinking good!
Here is Jill enjoying some of our chocolate!
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