I moved with my daughter to Finland, Tupos in 2018. It was summer time, the best season of the year, so I was quite inspired and positive. I didn’t know yet how long winters can be in Finland.
I was born in Saint-Petersburg (Russia) and had lived there almost all my life, except few years in Moscow. This meant, that I am used to be a citizen of big cities with its drive and fast rhythm. I was spoiled in a good way with numerous amounts of cosy and tasty places in Saint-Petersburg and wide range of different cultural events. Besides, I liked to travel a lot and we were traveling with my husband regularly to different running events in Europe.
That is why I was bit sceptical in the very beginning about Liminka and its surroundings. First few years I used to say to my foreign friends that I live ‘not far from Oulu’ and didn’t follow so much what was going on in Liminka. Besides, it is not easy to follow local news and events if you don’t know Finnish language or you are not fluent enough in it. In that time, official website of municipality of Liminka existed only in Finnish.
In the spring 2020 my second daughter was born and we were isolated from the world due to Corona realities. So that is the time when I have started to explore Liminka and its surroundings properly with my family.
During summer and autumn, we were making short bicycling trips to Liminka, Kempele, Rantakylä and Liminka Bay Natural Centre. It was easy and fast, as the district of Liminka has good network of mountain biking routes (over 150 kms) and cycling routes and the terrain is flat. Next year the range of trips extended to Tyrnävä and Oulu. For summer 2023 I am planning trips to Lumijoki, Hailuoto and who knows where else.
Those cold awful winters go surprisingly fast due to family skiing trips; the most memorable for me are skiing trips to Liminka Bay. Magic of cold winter day with sunshine, snow and beauty of local nature — you just have to experience it! It was nerve-wrecking in the very beginning to think that I am skiing on the sea ice, but you get used to it.
My husband always reminds me, how lucky we are to have skiing track almost in our backyard. It provides variety to skiing routes and saves time and money as we don’t have to drive anywhere.
After 4 years of living in Finland I noticed, that I started to mention Liminka as my residential place. I even corrected our relatives in WhatsApp family chat, when they were asking “How things are in Oulu? Is it cold?” that we live in Liminka. I probably started to feel, that I belong to this place and that Liminka is my home. And I am really glad to notice positive changes in Liminka and small persistent steps to big projects.
My favourite places in Liminka
If you ask me what are my favourite places or events in Liminka, these are my answers:
I am charmed by Old Liminka hidden treasures, such as Vilho Lampi museum and Aappola museum. It is good to feel atmosphere of old days and see on display things, that belonged to local famous people many years ago. So, if you are fond of culture and history, Old Liminka is waiting for you during summer.
Best place in Liminka to visit every month of the year is Liminka Bay Visitor Centre. It has variety of activities for kids and interesting things to learn for parents too. You can always choose to be indoors or have a small walk to Virkkula birdwatching tower, enjoy tasty and fresh pastry in the cafeteria or grill sausages and marshmallows on campfire. Not to even mention seasonal migration of the birds during spring and autumn.
I try not to miss main summer and winter events: the greater Liminka market days in August and Christmas Market in November. They are fun for everyone plus a good chance to buy local products and support small business.
As my daughter is growing I plan new adventures and trips in Liminka, so soon it is time to visit Escurial Zoo and check wooden castle of Liisanlinna and ceramic-studio TiinaMari. As we are saying here “tekemistä riittää!”.
The writer is Evgeniia Pekkarinen who has been working in municipality of Liminka’s Business Development department as a Tourism Coordinator for the past year.
