A shorter post on one of our main activities while in Savonlinna.
Thursday kicked off with breakfast that was served at Lossiranta Lodge. The breakfast rooms were unique and cozy and breakfast was nice.
Kerimäki Church
After breakfast we drove to Kerimäki Church. This church is sometimes cited as the biggest wooden church in the world. St. George’s Cathedral in Guyana is taller (43.5 m) and the Almaty Cathedral in Kazakhstan is even taller (56 m). Built between 1844 and 1847, the church is 45 meters long, 42 m wide and 37 m high and can fit up to 5,000 people. It has been rumored that the size of the church was the result of a miscalculation when it was built (architect worked in centimeters, which the builder misunderstood as inches). Actually the church was intended to be as big as it is, so it could easily accommodate a half of the area’s population at one time. The belfry next to church is 42 m high and has two bells, the smaller bell was cast in 1684 and the larger in 1884.
Traditional vendace meal
The day was very rainy, so after the church visit, we spent a lot of time in our room as we had booked a Ring Seal Safari for the evening. We head out for an early dinner to enjoy a traditional meal of crispy fried vendace with mashed potatoes at Kalstajan Koju. We both had Fried muikku (vendace) with mashed potatoes, salad and the house’s dipping sauce. The fish was unbelievably fresh and delicious and the mash was good. We were very satisfied after the meal. We had bought some snacks to the room to have after the evening activity.
Sunset ring seal safari
The ring Seal Safari set out from Oravi some 40 minutes by car from our hotel. We drove to Oravi and got geared up for the safari. It was a Sunset seal safari. The safari was in an open boat and lasted 3 hours. There were no other customers, so we got the boat and guide all to ourselves. Luckily the rain stopped but unfortunately the weather was too windy to spot any seals. It was still interesting, and we saw swans, fish hawks, rainbows, and beautiful scenery. We took a coffee/tea break with cake in the boat. It‘s funny how things always taste better in nature. I would like to go back in May when the seals are molting and spend time on the rocks throughout the day. In May you’re almost guaranteed to see seals on the safari.
One more Savonlinna post to follow including our excursion of Olavinlinna castle.
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