A Medieval assault on the senses

It's time again for the Medieval Market in Turku. I love this market... It encompasses the historic atmosphere of the city all in one long weekend. From Thursday to Sunday, at the beginning of July each Summer, the are around the Old Town Square, the Cathedral School and Aboa Vetus/Ars Nova is transformed into a Medieval Market. All the stalls are carefully selected to reflect the era and all the stallholders, and many others, are in traditional costume. There is also a wonderful area in the park devoted to the Artisans of years gone by and as well as selling their wares, they demonstrate their traditional crafts. There are a potter's wheel; people boiling huges pots to make soap and dyes; blacksmiths; weavers; horn carvers; felters.... and lots more, too. I even met a Druid from Yorkshire, who lives in Rovaniemi (where Father Christmas lives) and sells incense and infusions!

Glass Jewellery designed and made by my friend, Sirkku.

Brass work - Mouse was fascinated by the bells. It was the cross/anchor/heart door knocker that originally caught my eye

One side of the Old Town Square - so glad we weren't pushing a buggy over the cobbles this year...

an ex-piggy!

Would you believe the lady in the middle is tanning fish leather?

Felting

Estonian Felt

...and today the sun was shining; it was lovely and warm; not too hot! 

We sat for a while and listening to some musicians - one lady who sang & played a "jouhikko" or stringed bowed lyre and a Swedish trio of ladies called KRABAT who played and sang. One of their instruments was a keyed fiddle! Wonderful sounds to accompany the tempting scents... not the soap I must admit... but the food cooking all around the market; salmon, pork, sausages, pancakes, candy apples, sugared/spiced almonds.. all yummy! And the smoke from various fires... the blacksmith, the dyers, soap-makers. The horses from the jousting arena added their own aromas, too!

Namedays & Pizza!

Several European countries, including Finland, and some Latin American countries, too, celebrate namedays. At this time of year, three of the four of us have our name days and as they are not celebrated in UK, I thought I'd mention them today!

Originally, they were celebrated on Saints' Days and if you were named after a saint or a martyr, then you celebrated your name on their festival day. Today, the Almanac Office at the University of Helsinki hold the rights to the nameday calendar in Finland, which includes both Finnish and Swedish names. Every 5-10 years, the list is updated to add new popular names and remove old names that have fallen out of favour. 

Our most recent family nameday was celebrated with really good Italian pizza! A new place has opened up in town and I've been there a few times with my school friends. Their bases are made with imported Italian flour. The chef is a real Italian, married to a lovely Finnish lady; they met in Rome - how romantic! 

The restaurant is PIZZARIUM in Kultatalo, 3rd floor of Hansa just by the Market Square in Turku. I HIGHLY recommend it!

The pizzas are delicious and the bases are deep and light and full of bubbles with a crispy bottom. All the ingredients are fresh, not canned, and the menu is not fixed but is based on what is available fresh. 

Riverside Markets

Every April & October in Turku, we are treated to a riverside market.  In April it is the Saaristomarkkinat and October is Silakkamarkkinat. Saaristo is the Archipelago so everything has a link to the local islands. Silakka are herring... so October is the fish market. In theory each has it's own speciality but in fact we often see the same stalls at both; but we enjoy it, anyway. 

Monkey took some of these pictures... learning about photography! They are from April's market.

Boats!

Mum went home and Dad came to visit (they rarely travel together) so we move from textiles to water. Dad loves boats. There are Tall Ships in Turku this weekend, so Dad is here to see them, in addition to his grandchildren (oh, and me!).

We had a lovely sunset dinner cruise on Rudolfina, to Naantali & back and we also spent a whole day wandering along the river seeing the beautiful ships and soaking up the atmosphere of the buzzing riverside - 300,000 people are expected over the weekend. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apologies for the picture quality - my beloved Canon EOS has ceased to be and I am relying the camera in my Nokia 8500. I have always used my Nokia for those everyday, random shots but would much prefer to use a "proper" camera for events like these. When funds permit, I'll get something new.

Rugging & Weaving

For as long as I can remember my Mother has been fascinated by rugs & weaving, so it was only natural that she would want to see the Story Rug Exhibitions  - three of them - that are part of the City of Culture. More information here

Two are pictured here: firstly the Children's exhibition on the Brinkkala Ullakko Gallery, Old Great Square.

willow woven names

the children's favourite - a car rug!

 

I liked this - it includes pencils, a rule & computer cables!

It's a lovely space but a bit warm and no natural light

and secondly Saga - The Exhibition at Galleri Campus (Gullkrona near Aboa Vetus)

 

Monkey & Mouse liked this studded rug

These are the studs!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The third exhibition was in the Lobby gallery of Taitokeskus Juselius where as well as the completed rugs on display, we also watched some people weaving on beautiful large wooden looms. Hopefully we've inspired Monkey to have a go herself! No pictures of that, though, sorry!