Those summer days in Savonlinna

This summer I had the delight of being invited to a friend's wedding in Savonlinna. It proved out to be one of the most fun weddings that I have been at and the trip made me fall in love with the Savonlinna area. 

To get to Savonlinna, I took the local train, and that in itself was an experience. As the two carriages moved across the South Savo landscape, I felt happy and light, like a tourist, in the best sense, just excited for the next adventure that may come. As the train stopped at a station surrounded by beautiful nature and quirky art in Punkaharju, I felt an urge to just get off the train and go and explore. But I left Punkaharju for another time, as I had a date with the rest of the wedding party in a fish restaurant at the market place of Savonlinna. It was a good choice too, as the rest of the wedding party, some of whom I met for the first time, turned out to be a really fun bunch. 

The local trains carry some old time charmLisää kuvateksti

After a plate full of fish and helping the bride decide on some wedding flowers I joined the rest of the gang in front of the medieval Olavinlinna castle, where we lay down for a bit of a rest from the afternoon heat. The Olavinlinna castle is the major tourist attraction in Savonlinna. The castle hosts the annual Savonlinna Opera Festival, which my parents adore. I have never been to the festival, but I want to visit some time, as the opera acts are world class and the castle location is stunning. The castle is also a historical museum which is open almost all year round. I remember when I was a child I was majorly impressed by the toilet in the castle tower, which was just a hole on the floor overlooking the moat. But this time we chose to admire the toilet from the outside and did not set foot in the castle. After spending some time admiring the castle we went back to the local market place and I bought some "Lörtsy", a local delicacy, basically a gigantic flat jam doughnut.  One Lörtsy is plenty to share with a couple of new friends from abroad.

If the warm summer day gets to you, just have a brief nap next to the castle

From the market square we headed by car to our acommodation for the night at Kartanohostelli AnnaCatharina. AnnaCatharina is a pretty little gem of a hostel tucked away in the South Savo countryside. The hostel was quite affordable, which was nice as often being a guest at a wedding can end up being quite expensive. Luckily, this wedding trip proved to be quite budget friendly. The charming hostel has been converted from a building that has previously housed the poor and the elderly. Long before that though, the land has belonged to the local gentry. The hostel building is beautiful, and most importantly it is surrounded by tranquil farm lands. The neighbouring fields are fenced in a traditional way, and there are several traditional wooden building nearby making the location a  perfect summer idyll. Best of all, the estate has a large sauna, that we could visit with an extra cost of 10 euros. Could there be a better way to relax and get to know the wedding party the day before the wedding? The sauna was set up in a very quirky way too, having separate bathing chairs to sit on, instead of the traditional sauna benches. On the sauna patio we shared our stories of trials and hopes in love, and got to connect with each other a little bit more.

The AnnaCatharina hostel building has historically housed the poor and the elderly

A clean, simple bed is what hostels are all about

Some of the wedding planning continued late into the night so a good night light was a saviour

The estate was surrounded by traditional countryside

The following day, we ate breakfast, which was generously included in the room price of 38 euros, and gathered our lipsticks and high heels and headed back to Savonlinna, ready for the big celebration of love. The ceremony was held in the beautiful Savonlinna cathderal and was quite touching. Afterwards we headed for Hotel Hospitz for some great food and heartfelt speeches about love and friendship. The day went by really fast and after hosting most of the wedding entertainment as a maid of honour, I was finally able to kick my shoes off and dance a couple of songs before just sitting down and deciding that I was ready for bed. We were kindly housed in Savonlinna by the wedding party in a guest room, and as the building had a communal pool, couldn't resist a dip into the pool early the next  morning.

The next day I went sightseeing on a boat cruise around Saimaa with another lady from the wedding party, and although the cruise was very interesting in itself, serving lots of interesting historical facts about the city, we just ended up talking about our lifes and connecting. Sometimes, that's all you need. After having our hair swept by the wind for almost an hour it was time to eat, and we headed over to a local pizzeria that was praised to us by more than one local, and not without reason. The food was delicious. I tried a lingonberry and reindeer pizza, and oh boy, it was delicious. You can't make a pizza more Finnish than that and of course I shared some of it with my new foreign friends. After a goodbye meal, it was time for each of us to head back home. I took the bus back to Helsinki thinking that this is what weddings should be all about: meeting new people and having fun together. Hanging out together with the wedding party for several days was a totally new concept for me, but I loved it. We really had time to get to know each other before the actual wedding, and that made the actual party so much more relaxed. And we got to explore a whole new town together. What could be better?

A cruise around lake Saimaa takes you on a historical tour of the landscape

Every now and then it's good to take in the views

A trip to Savonlinna proved out to be relatively affordable:

Kartanohostelli Anna Catharina: Room for 1, 38e/42e + 10 e/sauna

Olavinlinna castle admission: Adults 10 e

You can also admire the castle for free from the outside, like we did.

Boat tour of Saimaa: 15 e

Reindeer pizza at Pizzeria Capero: 13,70 e

Train ticket Joensuu-Savonlinna: 18 e for students

Onnibus bus ticket Savonlinna-Helsinki: 22 e

The sand Groke of Savonlinna sends you greetings!

Have you been to Savonlinna? What are your favourite places there?