Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Just another redbrick building
Looks pretty ordinary, doesn't it?
Don't you believe it.
This morning T & I were taken on a quick tour of some of the local scenery and historic sites in and around Hämeenlinna. The forests and lakes are certainly balm for the soul, and we got a very good view of both from the tower in the nearby Aulanko Park. My knee prevented my from climbing right to the top but I did get to the mid-way viewing gallery.
From there we went to Hämeen Linna, the local castle. This confused me a little at first as it is described as a mediaeval castle but is clearly made of red bricks. This is because it's made of mediaeval red bricks, one of only three such buildings in the country. It has been, in its time, a border garrison, a fortified bakery (and grain store), a local seat of power and a women's prison but part of it has recently been restored to its mediaeval form. As I walked through some of the upper rooms I kept thinking this would be a fantastic place to hold an SCA event.
Not only was it an interesting castle, but in the gift shop it had a number of garb pattern booklets - published by Sophias Ateljés Förlag - full of excellent simple patterns for male, female and children's clothing, including hats and shoes. Okay, so the instructions are all in Finnish but the diagrams are very clear. Needless to say I bought one or two... or six. :) I decided that the glass winebottle was perhaps a little fragile to take back with me so instead I treated myself to a bracelet that will work well with early mediaeval garb.
During this I was, I admit, a little bit more enthusiastic than I tend to be about computer science. The upshot of this was that we made an unplanned detour to the Church of the Holy Cross at Hattula. On the outside it's an unassuming little place whose red brick construction makes it look much later than its true construction date (it's one of the other two mediaeval red brick structures). Inside, however...
It's amazing. The inside of the church is covered with the original 15th century paintings. I was positively gobsmacked by this one. At school we learned that before the reformation in England churches were decorated all over the inside with paintings depicting bible stories as the people could not read the bible for themselves, but then these were painted over or ripped out as idolatrous and papist. I suppose I'd had mental images of the Sistine chapel, or maybe some delicate renaissance frescos, but nothing like this. The walls and ceiling are completely covered with bright bold images. It is absolutely stunning.
I have lots more photos, both of the landscape and the mediaeval sites, which I'll upload at the weekend (being in a hotel I have rather limited internet access) together with the Revel and beyond photos.
The afternoon was spent focussing on eLearning and collaboration possibilities, which have left my mind nearly reeling with the possibilities. It's going to take a lot of work and we're not going to be able to do it overnight, but we could do wonderful things with this. If, that is, there is the political will in Akureyri.
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Don't you believe it.
This morning T & I were taken on a quick tour of some of the local scenery and historic sites in and around Hämeenlinna. The forests and lakes are certainly balm for the soul, and we got a very good view of both from the tower in the nearby Aulanko Park. My knee prevented my from climbing right to the top but I did get to the mid-way viewing gallery.
From there we went to Hämeen Linna, the local castle. This confused me a little at first as it is described as a mediaeval castle but is clearly made of red bricks. This is because it's made of mediaeval red bricks, one of only three such buildings in the country. It has been, in its time, a border garrison, a fortified bakery (and grain store), a local seat of power and a women's prison but part of it has recently been restored to its mediaeval form. As I walked through some of the upper rooms I kept thinking this would be a fantastic place to hold an SCA event.
Not only was it an interesting castle, but in the gift shop it had a number of garb pattern booklets - published by Sophias Ateljés Förlag - full of excellent simple patterns for male, female and children's clothing, including hats and shoes. Okay, so the instructions are all in Finnish but the diagrams are very clear. Needless to say I bought one or two... or six. :) I decided that the glass winebottle was perhaps a little fragile to take back with me so instead I treated myself to a bracelet that will work well with early mediaeval garb.
During this I was, I admit, a little bit more enthusiastic than I tend to be about computer science. The upshot of this was that we made an unplanned detour to the Church of the Holy Cross at Hattula. On the outside it's an unassuming little place whose red brick construction makes it look much later than its true construction date (it's one of the other two mediaeval red brick structures). Inside, however...
It's amazing. The inside of the church is covered with the original 15th century paintings. I was positively gobsmacked by this one. At school we learned that before the reformation in England churches were decorated all over the inside with paintings depicting bible stories as the people could not read the bible for themselves, but then these were painted over or ripped out as idolatrous and papist. I suppose I'd had mental images of the Sistine chapel, or maybe some delicate renaissance frescos, but nothing like this. The walls and ceiling are completely covered with bright bold images. It is absolutely stunning.
I have lots more photos, both of the landscape and the mediaeval sites, which I'll upload at the weekend (being in a hotel I have rather limited internet access) together with the Revel and beyond photos.
The afternoon was spent focussing on eLearning and collaboration possibilities, which have left my mind nearly reeling with the possibilities. It's going to take a lot of work and we're not going to be able to do it overnight, but we could do wonderful things with this. If, that is, there is the political will in Akureyri.
Labels: finland
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