Thread by @jbenedictbrown

Well hello #traintwitter. Nice feed you’ve got there. Be a shame if someone filled it with six days of Interrail adventures in search of… (hasthtag drumroll) #GroundLevelAalto 🇫🇮

The journey starts today. 🥳

#GroundLevelAalto is the Twitter story of the week-long field trip of a new summer course I’m delivering at Umeå University. It’s a 7.5ECTS course studying the work of Alvar, Aino Elissa Aalto in Finland. Over six days we visit six major buildings, and we travel at ground level.

The journey begins at the Port of Holmsund, and the Wasa Line ferry terminal. We sail with the new M/V Aurora Botnia, launched 2021.

This is my third trip from Holmsund 🇸🇪 to Vaasa 🇫🇮 , and each time a bit more building work has improved or expanded the terminal. The car and truck lanes are still a bit of a mess.

Like so many ferry terminals, there is an electrified train track right here, outside the terminal. We can hope the planned extension of the Vännäs-Umeå commuter train to Holmsund town could be extended here.

Some views of the interior of the terminal at Holmsund. A shuttle bus brings passengers from Umeå about an hour before the boat sails. Boarding for foot passengers is entirely self service with QR codes.

There’s a brand new extension to the terminal for foot passengers, with inclined travelators and a boarding bride to the boat.

Reminder: this is how close the Wasaline Terminal is to the railway. Build a goddamn station. 🇫🇮/🇸🇪/🇳🇴 rail travel would be improved instantly.

Boarding the M/V Aurora Botnia.

And we’re off. Sailing Umeå - Vaasa takes 3.5hrs. This is the world’s northernmost year round passenger ferry, and it claims to be the world’s cleanest as well. We’ll dock in Vaasa at 12.30 EET (11.30CET).

I’ve already sampled the new ship before, but here are some more pics. Very well appointed and high quality interior experience.

https://twitter.com/jbenedictbrown/status/1447852642877775872

On decks 7, 8 and 9 of the Aurora Botnia are spacious sun decks. The sun is shining, the Finnish flag is flying, and the Ostrobothnian archipelago is coming into view. This is the only ferry across the Gulf of Bothnia north of Stockholm.

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On deck 7 is a large shop, bar, conference suite for hire and lounge. But also of use are these lockers (€4 small or €6 large) and a lounge for travellers with pets.

In the “pub” there’s usually live music. Today there was a kid’s disco. Weekend and nighttime crossings are a little livelier.

So what’s #GroundLevelAalto about? Well, as a teacher of architectural design and history, it’s an embarrassment I haven’t seen any Aalto buildings first-hand. So we’re going to Finland to see the following Aalto projects…

Villa Mairea, Noormarkku (1939)
Paimio Sanatorium, Preitilä (1932)
Aalto House, Helsinki (1936)
Studio Aalto, Helsinki (1955)
Church of the 3 Crosses, Imatra (1958)
Säynätsalo Town Hall (1952)
Muuratsalo Experimental House (1954)
+ Seinäjoki town centre (1960-87)

Arrival into Vaasa… where again there is an active freight railway, but no passenger service. A 35kr / €3.20 bus suffices.

Descending into the passenger terminal at Vaasa. The ro-ro design of the new Aurora Botnia allows vehicles to drive straight on and off, saving time.

Here’s the shuttle bus, which 13 architecture students have just filled. Apologies to everyone else. Conclusion: build a train station.

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My lunch tip in #Vaasa 🇫🇮- Raawka, Pitkäkatu 34. Daily soup, salad and sweet options, all vegan. caferaawka.fi

Vaasa ( Vasa in 🇸🇪) is a lovely city. I’ve been here before and it’s a charming day trip or overnight visit from Umeå. It’s also approximately 50:50 Swedish/Finnish speaking, so I don’t feel completely idiotic when communicating…

Save the trees.

Cutest postal service name.

Vaasa Matkakeskus (travel centre). Lots of roadworks going on in Vaasa. The shuttle bus from/to the Wasaline ferry terminal comes here.

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Train number one of our #GroundLevelAalto trip through Finland. VR train 50 towards Helsinki, which we’ll ride as far as Tampere. An Sr2 electric locomotive pushes six double decker carriages.

VR Intercity trains are, in my opinion, works of exceptional industrial design. Big, spacious, accessible and comfortable…

…plus there’s a restaurant car. More about this later in the week.

While the train is empty, here’s a glimpse of the cabin above the restaurant car. These seats are sold at a premium. First class is elsewhere, sold as “Ekstra” class. Note the pairs of swivel seats that let you dine or work and still focus on the view out of the window.

Tervajoki.

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The view from the train for most of #GroundLevelAalto this week. 🤨

M. G. Ball’s regional railway atlases (both printed and digital) are incredible companions on a trip like this. Here’s a small snippet showing the first part of our journey today, from Vaasa to Seinäjoki and onwards to Tampere. Buy yours here: europeanrailwayatlas.com

Partly as a result of the pandemic, VR restaurant cars now offer at-seat delivery. This more limited selection from the menu includes an extra €1 service charge. SMS thé train number, car number, seat number, number of portions and letter to order.

Ostrobothnia: land of big skies. 🇫🇮

Arriving into Seinäjoki. We’ll be back here next week, en route to Vaasa, and will look at the civic buildings designed by Aalto.

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Here’s a big problem of using @Interrail in #Finland. @VRmatkalla require seat reservations on Intercity & Pendolino trains… unless you use an Interrail pass. But without reserved seats, we’re already playing musical chairs as regularly ticketed passengers board and move us…

…VR customer service (☎️) haven’t been super helpful. They can tell me which trains are likely to be busy or not, but they can’t reserve seats for us without a ticket purchase. Interrail sell seat reservations, but they’re very expensive.

In Seinäjoki we glimpse a ČKD/Škoda Dm12. This basic diesel rail car provides service on lightly trafficked rural routes - in this case, Seinäjoki - Jyväskylä, which we’ll ride in the opposite direction next week.

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To the restaurant car. I’ve been up since 3.45AM, so time for a pick-me-up. The cold draught beer, served in half litre glasses, is mighty tempting. Not just yet.

Not when they have my favourite kind of tea. 🤨

Parkano station. Opened on the mainline railway in 1971 about 5km from Parkano itself, replacing Kairokoski station on the branch line to Haapamäki.

Arriving in Tampere (Tammerfors 🇸🇪)

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Tampere station.

Since my first (and last) visit to Tampere in October 2019, the city has finished the first phase of its tram system. The claret red is rather classy.

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Hej allihoppa. No more tweets today. Serious incident affecting another passenger at Tampere station. All students and myself are safe, but I won’t say anything more today. Thanks for your understanding.

An update. We were deeply saddened by the death of a person on IC471 at Tampere today. We commend the incredible work of the volunteers and paramedics who responded quickly and professionally, and VR staff who controlled a difficult situation. We think of the bereaved tonight. ❤️

#GroundLevelAalto, a six-day train (and bus) tour of some of Finland’s Aalto buildings has reached its first destination: Villa Mairea, Noormarkku.

Private tours are available by appointment. Thank you Saida and Susanna for the wonderful tour of the house and it’s art collection. Photographs aren’t possible inside so it’s a good chance for all of us to practice fast sketching. villamairea.fi

The north and west elevations, overlooking the pool and garden, are my least favourite. The lesser seen east elevation, where the housekeeper’s entrance is, is much more appealing.

Villa Mairea - tick. Now we head to Turku and onwards to Paimio Sanitorium.

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Villa Mairea practicalities - and Google Maps isn’t entirely accurate here, mixing up bus stops on opposite sides of the road. But Poran Linjat bus 66 from the main square in Pori runs every hour to Noormarkku in about 25 minutes. €3.50 single or €5 for a 5hr ticket.

Porjan Linjat buses don’t take contactless payment cards (just a local transit card) so you need cash. There is limited information online in English (and the fare info was hidden in a less-easily translated PDF). But service is reliable and good value. porinlinjat.fi

The view of Pori kauppatori, the urban bus station in the main square. Bus 66 (on the right) gets you to Villa Mairea every hour.

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It’s a beautiful sunny day in western Finland, 16° and warm in the main square of Pori. The density of old men chatting suggested this stall was a good stop for coffee and pancakes. My South African colleague was greeted by the vendor, wear a SA ballcap.

Pori (Björneborg in 🇸🇪) has a population of 83,000. Like Vaasa (67,000) yesterday it feels much more urban than Umeå (140,000) because the twentieth century urban development favoured much taller and bigger apartments and officers. Sweden proffered miljonprogram suburbs.

We returned to the VR station in Pori, but here we leave the railway network for a while. There’s a large intercity bus station in front of the station. Note the pretty accurate pictogram of a VR Pendolino on the signage.

Pori railway station was opened in 1919, designed by Thure Hellström, who also designed Hämeenlinna and Kuopio. It has a lovely ticket hall but a depressing lack of facilities. No ticket office. Toilet doors can only be opened by calling a premium rate Finnish phone number.

This is the only part of the trip where we take an intercity bus instead of train. Firstly, it saves a travel day on our passes; secondly it is much quicker than backtracking to Tampere. M. G. Ball’s railway atlas is helpful again. Buy yours here: europeanrailwayatlas.com

Finland’s sparse population (5.5 million) and low population density (16 per sq. km) favours buses over trains. It’s a country of comprehensive and largely independent bus operators, many of whom sell through the national association Matkahuolto. matkahuolto.fi

Today we’re on a slightly older bus belonging to one of these smaller operators, although the driver’s tablet lists our tickets and there’s a summer employee who loads our bags for us. Bus and truck drivers who know each other wave to us often.

Like Sweden, most European highways in Finland are alternating 2+1 divided roads. We’ve picked up a few passengers along the way, but we’re by far the largest single group on this bus.

Insightful student observations during #GroundLevelAalto trip. Twice the shelf space in supermarkets in Finland for porridge oats versus cereals. 🤨 🤷‍♂️

Turku. I’m sure it’ll look amazing when it’s finished. 🤔 Thanks @VirpiFlyg for all the local tips by DM. 🙏

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Turun Sanomat (Alvar Aalto, 1928-30). Props to @PeroldRudolf for spotting it first.

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Turku puutori, and our next bus, one of the Föli 70X buses that go beyond Turku’s city limits. Because of this, no-one at Föli has been able to tell me the fare to Paimio, and if it’s only cash or card. We board and the driver shrugs as well - machine is offline, ride is free.

I know! We have about three hours of unnecessary and inconvenient bus travel because @VRmatkalla has closed this (and many other) small town stations.

https://twitter.com/TrainTracksEU/status/1537065711700434945

It’s about 45 minutes by bus from Turku to Paimio, if you catch a fast bus via the E18 highway. To add insult to injury, minutes before reaching Aalto’s Sanitorium, we cross the Turku-Helsinki railway. We will have to double back to Turku by bus tomorrow to get to Helsinki.

But… I’m not complaining. Tonight, we stay at Paimio Sanatorium, Preitilä (built 1929-32).

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Paimio Sanitorium.

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We have accommodation in the nurses’ quarters. Dinner in the restaurant, €20/head for salad, main course and desert.

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The #GroundLevelAalto group has been on the road for two days now. Dinner at Paimio’s restaurant is a nice moment to relax.

Almost the last ones in the building.

Evening at Paimio. Sunset 23.00 / Sunrise 04.00 (about two and a half hours more “night time” than Umeå).

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The #GroundLevelAalto group is in shared accommodation in the staff annex. Facing west, my room is flooded with beautiful evening sunlight. Given the sun “only” rises at 04.00, I’m going to try sleeping with the curtains open. Goodnight. 😴

Good morning from Paimio, in south-western Finland. We have a gentle start, with a late breakfast in the Sanitorium cafe then a tour at 10.30. Later this afternoon we’ll take a bus back towards Turku and then a train to Helsinki.

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As discussed previously, Interrail in Finland is a bit stressful, especially with a group, since we technically don’t need seat reservations and they’re quite expensive to buy. Tomorrow is derailed because our preferred train to Imatra is now sold out.

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Breakfast at Paimio Sanitorium, €12.

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Our tour of Paimio begins with the original model made by the Aalto office in the 1930s which toured the world. A newly-formed foundation is responsible for the preservation of the building, which was a working hospital until 2015.

The canteen.

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Adjacent to the canteen is a room, intended for socialising and TB breathing exercises. The lamps are all enclosed with glass to minimise dust accumulation. The fireplace (bottom right) had a low level flue which never worked. Patients used it to store elicit cigarettes.

In the reading room (suspended above the canteen by red columns) see an example of the completely superfluous detailing Aalto’s office got away with. His budget on this building was almost limitless, funded by municipalities competing for the most number of TB beds.

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Balcony from the 5th floor nurses’ accommodation.

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The famous Paimio door handle, recessed so as not to catch on doctors’ and nurses’ gowns.

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The seventh floor, and the passageway out onto the famous roof terrace at Paimio Sanitorium.

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The forest, of course, has grown significantly since the building was built. Originally the treetops only reached the height of the third floor, so the view was even further.

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#GroundLevelAalto not quite at ground level any more. 🤢😱

Paimio Sanitorium tour concludes with recreations of the hospital rooms from the 1930s and 1970s.

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South elevation of Paimio Sanitorium, with its sun deck on the seventh floor.

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Alvar Aalto apparently spent lots of time on site during construction of Paimio Sanitorium, testing details that weren’t included in the drawings. Apparently he walked up and down staircases incessantly, checking proportions. No word if he tried out these evacuation ladders.

Paimio Sanitorium: tick. Next stop: Helsinki.

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The closest bus stop to Paimio Sanitorium is across the street. However it’s only served in peak hours on line 709 to/from Turku. We deliberately stayed longer here to get the first afternoon bus. You can walk 30 minutes into Paimio for more frequent buses.

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No such luck today. The machine is working and the fare Turku/Paimio is finally revealed to be €6.70. Cash or contactless debit/credit card payment is good.

https://twitter.com/jbenedictbrown/status/1537065015240425474

We’re using urban buses in several Finnish cities. Overall it’s much cheaper (and more engaging) that chartering a private bus for the whole trip. But it’s hellishly difficult researching bus fares and then getting 14 people who pay their own way on board.

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The Turku-Helsinki highway weaves over the railway several times. We’ll be on board a VR Pendolino on this very track in less than an hour.

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Thank you guest tutor @PeroldRudolf for sounding the homonym alarm bell.🚨

Illicit ≠ elicit.

https://twitter.com/jbenedictbrown/status/1537346079481643010

Kupitta (Kuppis in 🇸🇪) - a suburban station in Turku that saves us a few minutes of travel into the centre of Turku. Busy train expected…

VR has two kinds of daytime intercity train: “Intercity” (always double decker) and “Pendolino” (derived from the Italian train of the same name). This is standard class. Small windows, but good legroom.

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And this is a glimpse of “Ekstra” (first class). Basically the same but with only 2+1 seating and more legroom.

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Most importantly: the restaurant car. Hot plated meals, sandwiches, snacks, and draught beer on tap. cc @_DiningCar

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The VR Pendolino has far fewer seats than the double-decker Intercity trains. But it has many more than the VR Brio train. I count precisely three seats… 🧐

Pasila (Böle in 🇸🇪). We are approaching Helsinki.

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Helsinki / Helsingfors.

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A very good (early) morning from Helsinki. The less time spent inside our hostel the better 🤨 so with a couple of hours before we rendezvous, I’m off to the city to find a ☕️ and a view.

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Crossing from Kallio into the city centre. Kaisaniemi Park is immediately after the bridge.

Senaatintori, Helsinki. Beautifully empty at 6.30AM.

Helsinki wakes. A municipal contractor has just arrived to plant new flowers under the statue of Alexander II.

26 scooters in 100 metres. These are not making #Helsinki better.

Urgh.

The ferry from Tallin 🇪🇪 arriving in Helsinki.

A statue of a lady called Amanda. Naturally, I’m intrigued.

No luck finding coffee in central Helsinki before 07.00, so it’s a quick ride on the metro north to Hakaniemi…

That’s more like it. The coffee stalls on Hakaniemi square, outside the market hall. ☕️

Hakaniemi Square, Helsinki.

F🇫🇮ck scooters, ride the goddamn beautiful, clean, affordable, communal and social tram.

Helsinki trams (mostly built by Škoda 🇨🇿) have the coolest moquette: a representation of the main lines of the transit system.

First stop of the day on #GroundLevelAalto… the Aalto’s own house, designed by Alvar and Aino (1938-38).

Thank you Dina @AaltoFoundation for the excellent tour of the Aalto House.

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It’s a short walk from the Aalto House to Studio Aalto (1955-56), built to accommodate the growing practice. The tour starts in the “taverna” canteen before ascending to the main drawing office and Alvar’s own office. Thank you @AaltoFoundation guide Alisa!

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Our students have a couple of hours off in central Helsinki. We’re catching a later train to Imatra to avoid the summertime Friday crowds. Teachers have adjourned to Olivia, an Italian restaurant (“ravintola”) in the old ticket hall at Helsinki Central Station. #GroundLevelAalto

Helsinki Central Station was designed by Eliel Saarinen (1873–1950), father of Eero Saarinen, and opened in 1919. Saarinen (Senior) moved to the USA in 1923 and continued a successful career there. Info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsinki_…

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#GroundLevelAalto continues… train number four of the trip is VR Pendolino #7 from Helsinki to Joennsu, which we’ll ride as far as Imatra in South Karelia, on the border with Russia. Our train runs in tandem with another Pendolino for somewhere else that we don’t want to go to.

Less sunny as the #GroundLevelAalto tour heads east towards Karelia. We’re approaching Kouvola.

I think this is where cars 1-6, the Pendolino behind ours, is detached to form a train north to Kajaani. Possibly Pendolino 69, dep. 17.48 (about an hour from now) and arr. 22.19. There are many military personnel on our train, both army and navy, going to/from duty.

There are *miles* and *miles* of Russian freight wagons lined up in the yards east of Kouvola.

Before we get to our next stop, Lappeenranta, the railway towards Vainnikala 🇫🇮 and onwards to St Petersburg branches off to the south. There are currently no Allegro or night trains to/from Russia.

Lappeenranta. In the absence of passenger trains, intercity buses across the border seem to be doing ok.

Departing Lappeenranta. Lots and lots of families and friends meeting one another before the weekend. The bright red “Omnibus” coach is on a scheduled service to Joenssu, the same as this train.

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Imatra, and our accommodation. This has been the hardest part of #GroundLevelAalto to plan, with few budget hotels or hostels available. We’re also 10km from the station, which required €70 of taxi fares to get 15 people here…

Except that within minutes of arriving… a bus drives past. And there’s a stop right outside. It turns out that Imatra’s transit system is completely excluded from Google Maps. Times, routes and fares are published in Finnish in a PDF on the municipal website. Nowhere else.

As the crow flies - or maybe as the fish swims, we’re less than 8km from the 🇫🇮/🇷🇺 border. The suburban fringes of Imatra are verdantly green, but the town is a little sombre to say the least. But tomorrow: Church of the Three Crosses (1955-58).

And it seems our accommodation is well adapted for Russian guests. I wonder if 15 Swedish architecture tourists are a welcome relief in this period of reduced cross-border tourism… 🤫

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Welcome to small-town Finland in 2022. The country the brought you SMS, Linux and Angry Birds. 🤨 I found a bus timetable. It’s basically impenetrable. Routes described street by street, but with ambiguous timing points.

Hold the phone. I think I’ve got it. Bus 1 runs clockwise and bus 2 runs anti-clockwise. “Lautantaisan” means Saturday and “Keskusasema” means Central Station. So we need to catch the last bus today, arriving 12.10 at the station…

Church of the Three Crosses, Imatra.

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Aalto: good at concrete. Bad at gutters. Large areas of substantial water damage around down pipes and corners. Some kind of building work appears to be underway. Shame that we’re visiting on a Saturday and can’t chat to anyone working here.

Unfortunately all the planning went out of the window. As we approached the bus stop, the bus was running ahead of schedule, and didn’t wait at the advertised timing points. We have missed the last bus to Imatra train station today.

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Imatra Taksi to the rescue. Incredibly, two cars are summoned within 5 minutes. They will return for the rest of the group shortly z we have about an hour before our train.

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This is the completely deserted road I’m staring down, actively willing a taxi to emerge from.

Three taxis have delivered all our students to Imatra VR station. Just the teachers waiting back. Crisis almost completely averted. Thirty minutes to go.

Some reflections on Aalto’s church. Clearly it’s his finest religious building, equivalent to Corbusier at Ronchamp. Interior magnificent, although the third part of the nave clearly hasn’t been used in a long time.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to Taksi Imatra for saving the day. 🙏

[phone] for your own pilgrimage to the Church of the Three Crosses.

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Imatra Central Station. A sprawling building of two wings with a petrol station, lots of offices and not much railway station.

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Inside it’s pretty desolate. No ticket office, shop or cafe. Some toilets.

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Outside, things get interesting. The old railway and road bridge is being dismantled. So a new two track railway bridge has been built. Only one track is active right now, a temporary wooden platform crosses the bridge under the second catenary wire.

From the temporary platform on the new bridge you can look over at work to dismantle the old railway and road bridge. Work is ongoing, even on a Saturday afternoon.

Now begins the longest single day of train travel for #GroundLevelAalto. Instead of backtracking to Helsinki, we’re going north to Joennsu and then west towards Pieksämäki and then Jyväskylä.

Planned schedule is

12:54 dep. Imatra (Intercity 3)
14:51 arr. Joensuu

15:40 dep. Joensuu (Regional 724)
17:52 arr. Pieksämäki

18:11 dep. Pieksämäki (Intercity 148)
19:07 arr. Jyväskylä

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I said “dismantling” but on closer inspection it looks like the old Imatra bridge might be being restored for re-use, perhaps as bike and pedestrian bridge.

https://twitter.com/jbenedictbrown/status/1538097808783380480

VR Intercity 3 from Helsinki to Joennsu arrives in Imatra about 25 minutes late. We add another ten minutes but soon are on our way.

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Time for lunch. Worried about your bags? Then use one of the lockers. €0.50 and ours had a leftover coin in it from last time.

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Pasta and draught beer for lunch. And a nice view that rolls by.

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More popular among the carnivores are the meatballs in sauce with mashed potatoes and salad. Proper food! On a plate! With cutlery! And cold draught beer! On a train. 🥳 🇫🇮

The salad option. Everyone is impressed and feeling full after a proper lunch. Kiitos VR!

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We’ve been within 10km of the Russian border for the last 24hrs, but now we turn north, heading to Parikkala, Kesälahti, Kitee and Joensuu. We’re +30 minutes late but our connection in Joensuu looks safe.

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Kesälahti. The conductor and two restaurant employees are incredibly friendly and welcoming.

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Farewell to the dining car for today. Since we ate lunch, we can have a coffee in a ceramic mug or take away cup for just €1, instead of the usual price.

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Kitee. Like most rural railway stations in Finland, there’s an adjacent freight yard filled with logs waiting for shipment. Odd thought it may sound, these are less common in northern Sweden.

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Approaching Joensuu. The conductor is apologising for another short delay to our arrival.

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Sadly, we’re travelling before my copy of the 2022 summer edition of the @EuropeanRailTT was dispatched. However for train times and mileages offline and by your side for every journey, I can’t recommend it enough. Buy it here: europeanrailtimetable.eu

Lake Pyhäselkä, on which we’ll shortly find Joennsu (pop. 77,000).

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Joensuu. Another station under lots of construction. However we have a dead easy connection: the regional train to Pieksämäki is right in front of the train arriving from Helsinki.

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VR trains are amazing intercity, but not so great on rural routes. Our train for the two-hour journey west to Pieksämäki is made up of a pair of Dm12 diesel railcars. Second class only, no seat reservations, but wifi and opening windows. There are normally two a day each way.

I’m glad that they’ve doubled up the train today - even without our group of fifteen it’s a busy train, and getting quite warm on board. Hopefully it’ll be cooler when we start moving.

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You can follow our train here. Small-town Finland here we come!

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junatkartalla.vr.fi/?lang=fi-FI&tr…

Viinijärvi (population <800). Also the junction of the Joensuu - Pieksämäki and the (freight only) Siilinjärvi – Viinijärvi lines.

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fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viinij%C3…

Leaving Viinjärvi. The railway to Siilinjärvi branches off to the north.

Vihtari.

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Heinävesi. Roughly half way from Joenssu (1h 02m, 89.7km) to Pieksämäki (92.0km, 1h 09m).

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Today’s train appears to be driver-only operated. There might be a conductor in the other car, but if there is, they haven’t come back to check tickets with us.

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We seem to be going as fast as 110km/h on this trip. The lightweight diesel railcars are quick off the line. The track is good quality too, with welded rather than bolted connections.

https://twitter.com/TrainTracksEU/status/1538158709376950273

Approaching Varkaus, we cross a major lock system in the Taipale Canal.

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Varkaus station, old and new. We stop for six minutes here, and the driver has a cigarette.

Aalto designed a large number of prefabricated homes in Varkaus,m. They were one of the subjects of Finland’s pavilion at the 2021 Venice Biennale. labiennale.org/en/architectur…

Arriving into Varkaus.

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Pieksämäki (pop. 17,000). Our little train disgorges close to its capacity of approx. 120 passengers, and a similar number boards for the return journey. Almost everyone is connecting to IC70 from Oulu (12.24) to Helsinki (21.45) or IC148 from here (18.11) to Tampere (20.50).

IC70 continues on its way to Helsinki.

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Hankasalmi. Half an hour and we reach Jyväskylä, our base for the next two nights. Nice to be back on a VR Intercity train with air conditioning and power plugs.

The next hostel on our trip is the most digital yet. 8 rooms for our group, each with its own unique door code. Distributing these and room numbers is made a lot easier with students consenting to being in a trip WhatsApp group.

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Rain in Finnish Lakeland, on our way to Jyväskyla.

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Jyväskylä. Train has arrived early and continues to Tampere/Tammerfors.

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Good morning from a rainy Jyväskylä. We went direct to our accommodation last night, the new Time Rooms, a conversion of two floors of (possibly?) former student or nurse housing at the Keski-Suomen hospital.

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Checkin is entirely digital, and access to the building, floor and room is with a unique six digit code. However these door pads look extremely non-compliant in terms of sight impairment.

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Sunday rally for some beautiful Finnish-built vintage Sisu trucks.

You can reach both Aalto’s summer house at Muuratsalo and the town hall at Säynatsalo by Linkki bus 16. It’s only hourly on Sunday so we’ve had to plan carefully. Use either a Zone ABCD day ticket €14 or Zone AB single ticket €4.20.

It’s an incredibly scenic bus ride from Jyväskylä out to Säynätsalo and Muraatsalo.

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Overview of our route.

😍

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Tours by @AaltoFoundation of the Muuratsalo Experimental House (1949-54) start at the gate, about 400m from the end of the bus line. Aalto came from Jyväskylä and this was his holiday home with second wife Elissa.

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“Beware, there are vipers in this forest…” 😬

Today, visitors approach by land, through the forest. However the Aaltos came by boat.

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#GroundLevelAalto Muuratsalo from the dock (recently rebuilt).

The famous courtyard of the Muuratsalo Experimental House is finally revealed to us. 😍

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Elissa and Alvar’s bedrooms at the Muuratsalo Experimental House. (Elissa survived Alvar by almost 18 years, and gave the house to the city of Jyväskylä, although family members continue to use the house every summer.)

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Muuratsalo: tick.

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The Muuratsalo courtyard is exceptional. But it’s also facing completely the wrong way. The southerly wind whips in here and it’s cold today. Not much enthusiasm for staying outside and sketching.

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Top tip! There’s a lovely café at the bus stop nearest to Muuratsalo Experimental House. 10:30-20:00 Mon. - Fri., 12:00-20:00 Sun. & Sat.

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Coffee and a fresh bun for €3.30.

Lunch?

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Säynätsalo Town Hall (1949-51).

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Säynätsalo Town Hall (1949-51).

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A lot of the furniture in the building was designed by the lesser known architect in Aalto’s office, Maija Heikinheimo.

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Säynätsalo municipality merged into Jyväskylä in 1993, and the town hall is now rented from the city. At one point it was Finland’s smallest but also most densely populated municipality, with 9 communist, 9 socialist and 3 conservative councillors.

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Alvar Aalto invited his friend Fernand Léger to make a painting for the town hall, but the municipality refused it when they learned they’d have to pay. Aalto bought it, the family subsequently sold it and it’s now believed to be worth around €5,000,000.

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Aalto also invited Picasso to design a sculpture and built this niche for it. After the Léger incident, the municipality declined the suggestion.

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The plenum in the council chamber is beautifully modest.

Säynätsalo: check. Also, our future album cover.

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Where else?

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Back to hotel for a 😴 and then one last meal with the whole #GroundLevelAalto group. Very summery VR advert with First Aid Kit soundtrack (also their ☎️ hold music? plays on the TV… “yhteisellä matkalla” / “on a common journey”. 😍

One last dinner together (planned, bought and cooked by our students) in the hostel, and then a final informal show-and-tell from our sketchbooks. Tomorrow we spend the morning in Jyväskylä before heading to Seinäjoki then home to Umeå.

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Our last morning in Jyväskylä. Aalto’s university campus here was a bit of an unknown for us. It crept up and smacked me between the eyes with its beautiful composition and excellent detailing. Lots to see here - this will be a fuller visit next time.
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University of Jyväskylä. Even the backs of the buildings are beautiful.

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Something-something-Tuscan-hilltown. 😍

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I’m just going to walk under this compressed ceiling and down into this cafeteria and then absorb the beautiful view. ☕️ This place is a revelation, was definitely missing from my Aalto education.

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Portrait of the architect (@PeroldRudolf) pulling a wheelie suitcase up a gravel hill just to see some Aalto. The things we do.

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Maybe it’s because it’s a warm sunny day, but Jyväskylä has been a revelation. It’s such a missed opportunity to come here on an Aalto tour and only see Muuratsalo and Säynätsalo. Something like 17 Aalto projects are here.

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Jyväskylä’s Alvar Aalto museum is closed for renovations, but while it is you can shop for books, posters textiles and Artel homewares at this shop, downtown at Kauppakatu 14.

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Jyväskylä station, for the penultimate train of our trip. The old yellow timber station building is visible along the platform.

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VR Regional train 482 from Seinäjoki (09.30) to Jyväskylä (12.08) arrives to become train 481 departing 12.23. Again, this is a rural route, this time with a single Dm12 diesel railcar.

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This is a three-hour journey if you travel via Tampere. Twice a day, however a railcar goes direct. The regular fare is about €20. We’re heading to Seinäjoki to see Aalto’s town plan, but also because we’re heading home via Vaasa and the ferry to Umeå.

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Jointed tracks, silver birch forests, and glimpses of crystal clear lakes. Snaking our way slowly through Finland’s “Lakeland” region.

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Petäjävesi.

Next is Keuruu (pop. 9,400). A through station for us, but a terminus for VR Regional trains from Tampere via Orivesi. We are timetables to meet just such a train (Regional 423) from Tampere (12.06) in Haapamäki, but it looks like might be delayed. juliadata.fi/live/train?n=4…

Arriving Keuruu.

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VR station Keuruu (though a dirty window).

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Arriving Haapamäki, where there is a LOT of interesting old stuff (and an attractive brick roundhouse and turntable).

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At Haapamäki we meet the train from Tampere to Keuruu. A few passengers change to our train.

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After Myllymäki (gorgeous station, I able to take a photo) we stop at Eläinpuisto-Zoo where there is a neglected Wild West style townscape. 🧐

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Unlike our regional train from Joensuu to Pieksämäki two days ago (which was basically an intercity train without any facilities) there are lots of people getting on and off at intermediate stops today. This is Ähtäri.

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Alavus. Last passenger stop before Seinäjoki. Here is just a small slice of its pile of wood.

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About one third of the total wood pile at Alavus. 🇫🇮

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Seinäjoki. A trip that was scenic but nothing more than “meh” in terms of travelling experience. VR rural trains are too small and too infrequent for the apparent passenger volumes. Many stood the whole way from Jyväskylä.

(And because VR don’t routinely check tickets on these Regional trains, they’re probably not getting accurate passenger numbers - eg 15 paper Interrail pass holders today).

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We’ve come to Seinäjoki for two reasons. One, unlike most Altoourists, we start and end our journey in the west coast port city of Vaasa. Seinäjoki is an important railway junction on the way to Vaasa. But it’s also way Aalto’s office delivered a masterplan & several buildings.

The Seinäjoki Cultural and Administrative Centre is a short walk from the railway station. It was built in phases from 1951 until 1987, latterly finished under the direction of Elissa Aalto.

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The star attraction is the first building to be completed, the Cross of the Plains. Aalto built the tower to be see for miles around in this very flat part of western Finland. And you can get the key to ascend it from the church… 🤮

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There’s an elevator which gets you within two storeys of the public viewing platform - clearly designed with the intention to let you view the urban plan that was expected to follow.

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There’s our tiny rail bus, which brought us from Jyväskylä, and possibly the Pendolino that originates here later and takes us to Vaasa.

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Back to the travel centre (“matkakeskus”) in Seinäjoki. A large modernist building with four platforms. Our railcar returns to Jyväskylä shortly, and a Pendolino heads to Vaasa.

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Here we have to say goodbye to our guest tutor @PeroldRudolf who catches VR Intercity 26 towards Helsinki, from where he flies off to Doha and then Cape Town. Kiitos Rudolf! 🙏

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IC26 from Oulu (13.33) leaves Seinäjoki (16.28) towards Helsinki (19.35).
Behind, Intercity 37 just arrived (16.25) from Helsinki (13.24) on its long journey to Rovaniemi (22.45).
To the left, our VR Pendolino 445 is awaiting departure (16.32) for Vaasa (17.28).
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Boarding VR Pendolino 445. This is car 4, and the end with lower numbered seats. There is no level boarding on VR Pendolinos, so passengers in wheelchairs have to board with lifts.

Pendolinos 445 Seinäjoki - Vaasa & 442 Vaasa - Seinäjoki demonstrate the absurdity of what little regional rail exists in Finland. This is a 220km/h high speed train operating a 80km regional route without many passengers. juliadata.fi/timetables?s=4…

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Vaasa. A little under an hour from Seinäjoki. Our train waits for half an hour, and then returns to Seinäjoki.

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Vaasa travel centre has a single platform, and the buses leave right there. (Except the shuttle to the ferry, which left from the other side of the forecourt, the first time I tried and failed to catch it). This bus is heading north to Jakobstad and Kokkola.

We have ninety minutes to chill in Vaasa, now a familiar and very pleasant city to spend time in. Also first chance to slip back into speaking Swedish in several days.

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Back to the train station. Last near miss of the trip… bus 13 to the ferry departs one hour before sailing from this bay, just outside the main bus station. However…

… there’s a small sign saying that from 23 May to 30 July 2022, the bus actually leaves from the bridge over the station. So we walk 50 metres and troop up three flights of stairs…

…where the bus dutifully shows up at 19.00, one hour before the 20.00 sailing. The driver charges us €2 each, instead of the €3.20 advertised on the poster. Then he drives a loop back down to the original bus stop anyway. 🤷‍♂️

I’m going to keep banging this drum, even if no-one listens. There is a functioning railway all the way to the port. If not electrified, a diesel shunter or loco could drag Intercity trains to and from the ferry terminal in just a few minutes. Build it and they will come.

The road and railway to the port of Vaasa crosses this promontory to the island of Vaskiluoto, where we glimpse the blue sea for the first time. There’s a hotel and water park on the island.

We cross the railway twice on the way to the terminal. The white things are wind turbine blades, stacked for export.

Wasaline boarding is by QR code. Like Umeå, the gates in Vaasa are slow and temperamental. Only one of the two gates is working, and the coach party of pensioners in front of us must be the only Swedes not to understand QR codes.

Homeward bound. 🇫🇮 🇸🇪

#GroundLevelAalto: tick. 🥳

Feet up, here comes another scenic bit.

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The restaurants have disgorged guests into the bar. It’s a gorgeous evening outside: we’re sailing NNW towards Holmsund and the shortest nights of the year. Sunset in Umeå tonight 23.07CET, sunrise tomorrow 02.14CET. I’ll be driving home in the delicate in-between dusk.

Approaching the Port of Holmsund on board the M/S Aurora Botnia: a gorgeous sunset ahead. #GroundLevelAalto has come home to Umeå. Our students now disperse for the summer, and will submit their studies on Aalto in August.

Jag önskar er alla en riktig glad midsommar! 🇸🇪 🇫🇮