TampereCathedral

Another thing I have always wanted to see is Tampere Cathedral.

In July 2026 I finally had the change to walk through its gates.

It was hard to choose which gate so I tested them all.

When stepping into the cathedral I was happy to find the miniature of the cathedral.

You know I am a bit church freak. In Finland many things were destroyed during the wars. That's why the churches and cathedrals are excellent, and mostly the only places -like the local museums- to see the art and artisan work of Finland. They include a lot of national and local art and craft treasures. Churches receive funding, local museums don't.

Tampere Cathedral is famous because of its paintings but it has a lot of excellent wood and stone carving art also.

Also its windows are decorated. Not all and not full, which is understandable because of the dark winter seasons. In this way more light gets through the windows.

The art is everywhere in Tampere Cathedral, even its several staircases.

I have always wanted to see Tampere Cathedral mainly because Hugo Simberg's famous paintings.

The iconic The Wounded Angel is placed there, painted in the wall.

There's more art I ever expected to see. When you just sit there with eyes wide open and look around you begin to spot actually a lot of angel theme. There are many angel wings. To me it seems like The Wounded Angel is the point of Simberg's art of the cathedral despite it is not at the altar.

Also, he painted a lot of children there. He used local children to model. He painted normal working class children at the time when child labor was common. 

He never explained his work with The Wounded Angel. Lately, it is often decoded to describe his personal suffer when he was at a hospital or having a long term head ache because of syphilis he suffered. That's why he painted demons and angels, they say. In his work, I personally have always seen the statement of children's abuse and children's rights, because he painted children in the time when child labor was very common also in Finland's industry, and when adults started to wake up to see it is not right. Art is great, because we all can decode it up to our own thinking and understanding.

It is quite interesting he paint also a magpie. A bird you actually don't see in churches, cathedrals, fine art for kings and queens... You see eagles and other birds considered to be nobel. Magpie is very rarely described in church art like normal working class children. Usually the only child painted in a church art is baby-Jesus. Hugo Simberg painted ordinary children instead of baby-Jesus. Perhaps he understood something very deep.

If you visit Tampere cathedral you can spot The Wounded Angel at the up-right corned when stepping in. But there are so much else to see too.

It is interesting that there grows Rowan Trees which is considered a pagan tree. There are many interesting things. I spent there an hour and that was enough if you want to investigate it all with time. There are toilets too, so you don't need to hurry anywhere else.

I like church yards too. At Tampere Cathedral the church yard is small but enough for a break. I had my gluten free lunch pack with me: bread, peanuts and ice tea. I enjoyed a small break after visiting the cathedral.

Tammerkoski

It seems that this year I have been telling you what you can see under the snow in Finland. It is mainly because we work hard over the winter season and the warm snow-free season is something very special to us. In July I had an over night train trip to Turku and back. This is one stop on my journey. This is something I have always wanted to see. It is something I have only heard to been talking about. It is not in Turku.

It is the rapids Tammerkoski in Tampere. I was very lucky to happen to be in there exactly on the moment when they need to let it run free through the mills because of the rains and floods. Usually it is not let run free and wild like this because of the hydroelectric power plant. And usually you can't get this close to see it. In Tampere they had built a temporary pedestrian bridge over the rapids. So, if you travel there, don't expect to see it like this.

The rapids Tammerkoski was born over 7 500 years ago between two lakes. It runs 2 km from lake Näsijärvi to lake Pyhäjärvi, that locates 18 meters lower. Originally Tammerkoski had 4 separated rapids with backwaters after each. In 1916-1937 they built 4 hydroelectric power plants in Tammerkoski. In this video you can sense what kind of it might have be when running free and wild. 💙

TraditionalForestSámiMen'sCostume

Here is what I've been up to lately. I have made a traditional style Forest Sámi Men's costume. This design bases strictly on the oldest historical facts about the traditional woolen fabric costume Forest Sámi men used over the times in central Lapland area in Finland. This is a costume for daily-life-use. This is my personal thank you gift for our fabulous Niko Rytilahti who leads our volunteer linguistic team with great success without any funding. Despite of his busy life and duties, he has found time to help me with my upcoming Forest Sámi costume history book.

I sew this costume with Anne to create more authentic expression. Also, we used the authentic material. The grey woolen fabric is recycled military blanket. Why we used a military blanket? Well, Niko had it and he wanted to use it. It was in excellent condition so there was no reason not to. Military blankets were  manufactured in the mills that don't exist anymore, and from where also Forest Sámi people bought thick wool fabrics for their national costumes especially for men. It they didn't weave it at home.💚

The costume is very thick and warm. When Niko starts to wear it, it begins to adjust on his body form. Wool is great and alive material!

ForestSámiSummerExpo2026

This year ForestSámiSummerExpo was in Sodankylä, Finland. That was actually today. We had a long day because this year we made a day-trip there.

It was a long but happy and empowering day at the expo that gathers together ForestSámi people and the politicians and activists who do a hard work to make the difference what comes to the legislation and funding. On this picture you can see 2 of them: Sara Seppänen and Kari Kyrö. 

ForestSámi face discrimination in Finland. You can read more about the problems here. We still have no funding, neither any kind of plan from the authorities to support our culture in any way. Still, we have gain many breakthrough just on our own. It doesn't mean we don't need support. We do need very hard. People do all this volunteer work on their free time meanwhile other Sámi groups in Finland are financially supported.

Our culture has always been there. We just have not been showing it because of the discrimination. We can't be silent anymore. Today we show it more open. Like this special men's brooch of my friend. He made it himself. You can find on the brooch the symbol of the sun. You can spot also other dots on the brooch which are not connected to the sun figure. Actually this brooch -without the sun- is his reindeer ear mark. By that he fastens his ForestSámi costume. And by his permission I can show it to you today.💙

The Reading Challenge 2026 - Part 3

This year in July I've read 1 novel and 2 two nonfiction books. They are all mine. The nonfiction books I've received as a gift.

Victoria Hislop's The Island has been on my "want to read" list for a long time. It was published in 2005. I read my own copy in Finnish. Despite it tells quite a hard story about Hansen's disease (leprosy) and the history of Spinalonga, Crete, it is a very beautiful book. This is for you who want to read a warm spirited Mediterranean story without murders but with hope and history.

Simo Örmä & Kaj Sandberg (Institutum Romanum Finlandiae) 's publication Villa Lante (in Finnish, mine).   This small publication introduces Roman villa Villa Lante where Young Lady spent some time during her studies. It was published in 2007 but is still valid and makes you want to travel to Rome and see the villa by your own eyes.

Giorgio Bonsanti's Caravaggio The Great Master of Art  (In English, mine). This book was published in 2014. It tells interesting history and facts about Caravaggio's life and work. The book has perfect quality printed pictures about his master pieces. It's bee a long time since I read this kind of art book. It was a pleasure and a great way to get familiar with Caravaggio.