"Rojving" with Mumin-Lotta

Upon arrival to Stockholm and having been graciously invited to Martin & Maria's apartment for the few nights I was there, I made a three-day trip over to Åbo，where Mumin-Lotta lives. Mumin-Lotta is not really called Mumin-Lotta but just Lotta, but since there were two Lottas in Egypt when I was there, one Swedish and one Finnish, she got named after something Finnish, namely the Mumin trolls. I suppose few people outside of Scandinavia know what they are, so...


... this is a typical mumin troll. They speak Swedish but with a characteristic Finnish accent, just like Lotta, and they are happy and funny to be with, just like her as well. So, that's why she got the name, NOT, I repeat NOT because of physical similarities. ;-) (Well, on second thought Lotta is pretty pale just like Mumin...)

When I arrived Lotta met me by the ferry and we went back to her place and then out with her and her room mates, Saga and Annica. All of them were like a big nice mumin family and the first night we just went to a nearby bar and had some wine and chatted. Then I installed myself on the floor outside of the bathroom and got to sleep.


The next day Lotta had classes in the morning but Saga was free, so she kindly took me on a sightseeing tour of Åbo. Believe it or not, but it can be done in a fairly short period of time. :-)



One of the big attractions of Åbo, the big church!


They even had an excavation outside!


Apparently this is where Karin Månsdotter is buried. She was a the peasant mistress to king Eric XIV in the 16th century, who later became a queen when she married him.


Except for all the Swedish nobilities and inscriptions in really old Swedish, the Finnish also seem to have ships in all the churches. I don't think this exists in Sweden, at least not in the same degree...


Me and Lotta on the big square in the center.


The old and nice market hall of Åbo.


The amazing "å", from which Åbo got its name. This is where everyone goes on their sunday walk and whenever else they have some free time. :-P


On my second day we stayed at home and cooked and had some wine, it was relaxing and very nice of course with all the roommates of the hotel. Lotta had made an exquisite veggie pie that we all (but especially me) dug into with great appetite.


The whole happy mumin family together. :-D


The next day we went to the small castle, which turned out to be pretty big in fact. Lotta had not been there since she was tiny so hopefully it was a bit interesting for her as well. There were all these Japanese tourists outside making poses to the camera and I decided to join in. :-)


The castle seemed to be built to fit Mumin-Lotta.


One of the biggest attractions was, needless to say, THE GENUINE LORDI COSTUMES!!!


After the castle tour we went to have sushi in the market hall. Lotta, being vegetarian, was not an experienced sushi eater and had severe chopstick difficulties. But she was in a good mood anyway. :)


There were a lot of soy splashes before the bowl got this full. :-P Eventually she just gave up and switched to a new one. ;-)


In the evening the day before I took the ferry back to Stockholm to fly to Cairo the day after we all went to an Italian restaurant and had some pizza. Saga decided to make sure I would not forget her name by tagging herself with it on her forehead. I hope she will forgive me for posting this photo anyway... :-) And that was the end of three marvellous day in Finland with my mumin family. Thank you so much, girls, I had such a great time!!

Footnote: To "rojva" is to go out and party in Finnish-Swedish mumin language.