Beautiful Joensuu

Joensuu is located right where the the pieli river meets the Pyhä Selkä lake. So they access a lot of shoreline. Both are about 1/2 melted right now. There is alot of park area with gorgeous birch trees and evergreens. And it is all capped off by the most beautiful color blue skies I've ever seen. It seems that everywhere there is a road for cars there is a path running parallel for walking and bike riding. People here are very active and every day we see women in their 60's and 70's riding their bikes. Another popular sport/acitivity is sauvahiihto (don't know if I am spelling it right). People walk with sticks that are like ski poles as a way of exercising and training. Apparently, it has not caught on elsewhere.

The town has 60,000 people so is about the size of Morgantown. The town center is a very busy place with a large variety of stores and services. There is a pedestrian's only walkway running down the center. Everything is spotless. The streetsweepers and washers seem to be out every morning. The only trash I've seen on the ground is cigarette butts. Yesterday and today the tori was open. There was a wide variety of products available, but it seemed that the main purpose was for the citizenry to get together and visit. There was lots of food being sold: bread andother baked goods, candy, makkara, fish, soup. The only locally made items were knives and sheaths, wrought iron, some knitted items, and handmade jackets for women.

The majority of housing is 4-5 story apartment buildings. There are some omakotitalo's, but perhaps only 20% of the housing. The people seem to prefer living modestly so that they can own a kesämökki by a lake. Of the people in the church whom we have visited, only one or two have not had their own summer cottage. They are definitely people who love being outside.