Today, we entertained the enemy and visited the city center of the neighboring town Kokkola. The Swedish name for Kokkola is Karleby, and I'm not sure how the Jakobstad and Kokkola became rivals, but I've heard many a joke about "Kokkola bo." (Residents of Kokkola.) Unfortunately, none of the jokes are fit to print.(Here is a photo of the pedestrian street that runs through the town's shopping district.)
In Kokkola, we visited the Rukka factory outlet and H&M. I didn't even know they had an H&M "up north" here. True to form, it carried precisely the same stuff as the Helsinki store.
My mom was excited since there was a Robert's coffee where she could procure a latte, and Kai and I rode the escalators ad infinitum. Turns out that kids can do that...if they have their parents along.
(Here's Kai sitting on a bench. Notice the Rapakivi granite trim underneath. In the U.S., this building stone is known as "Baltic brown.")
I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Kokkola. When I was 5, I spent a week in the hospital there and I remember the nurses were very nice, that in the surgery room there was a picture of a red and white mushroom that a kid had drawn, and that there was an awesome gameroom down the hall where Mike got to play - but I didn't!
Afterwards, we went to visit Fammo. She seemed very cheerful and had been out for a long walk with another lady. Kai and I actually walked past them on our way to Fammo's apartment, but we didn't recognize Fammo and she didn't recognize us! Overcoats, hats and sunglasses will do that. The weather, though crisp and a bit windy, was downright balmy today, peaking around 13 C (about 55 F).
Tonight is our last night in Jakobstad. I picked up my Finnish passport from the police station today and tomorrow we leave by train for Helsinki. It's been a great stay here in Jakobstad - even the trees in town rolled out the red carpet with the best fall foliage that's fit to see.
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