Naantali - Nådendal

Just a few kilometres from Turku (my "home town" in Finland) is Naantali, or as we call it in Swedish, Nådendal. It is a quaint little town, where city councils does not allow development of buildings that are higher than 3-4 floors. The heart of town is a made out by a large collection of old (and some newer) wooden houses in a multitude of colours. There is also a nice little marina and an old church. The city is also home of Moominworld, and because of that hoards of Japanese, families with kids and other people who feel young at heart will flock to town each summer.

The church and the marina

In summer flowers are found everywhere!

I visited Naantali a couple of times, once with a friend of mine during a scorching hot day in early July. The second time was a couple of weeks later, I brought my husband, but it was windy and quite cold so I think the city's charm did not quite catch on to him!

The main street of Naantali

The president's summer house

Naantali is also home to the official summer residence of the president. Many Finns will have  a summer house, called mökki in Finnish, but they are usually quite small and quite basic in terms of the fit out. The president will also have her private summer residence somewhere else.

Under min Finlandsvistelse hann jag besöka Nådendal två gånger. Att besöka stan är en sak som hör sommaren till, det är en så pittoresk liten stad. Man önskar att stadsplanerarna Åbo skulle ha en liknande respek för gamla trähus som dom har här. Jag skulle kunna sitta på nån av uteserveringarna i gästhamnen i flera timmar! Det var också vad vi gjorde när jag var där första gången med min kompis C. Andra gången tog jag min man med mej, men det var blåsigt och kallt, så jag han blev kanske inte lika begeistrad som jag hade hoppats.

Det blev inget besök i Mumindalen, jag har inte varit där en endaste gång faktiskt, men det blev en liten plåtburk med Muminmotiv som nu står på min diskbänk!