Beautiful Virtasalmi

The beautiful village to which we are attached is called Virtasalmi. The population, I have found from doing some research is about 1125. I don't know where they all are though, as at most I've seen about 25 people at once in the shop. And that was a holiday weekend....I presume the area is quite largely spread out.

It is built besides a very large lake. As you enter the village, a road has been constructed right over it. It's part of the Maavesi. This is a shot of it from the road looking towards the village centre. Lovely isn't it?

The village 'centre' itself consists of a few houses, a pub/pizza place, a factory (but I haven't found out what it produces yet...), a supermarket and a chemists. And....oh, that's about it. Apparently, the area is known for it's beavers - although I have never seen one. I read recently that you can take a kayaking trip over to where they live - although locals have told us they taste great, so maybe they got wise and moved out; or remained dim and became dinner. Hopefully next year will solve that mystery. Within our village, is a model village! It depicts old buildings that used to exist in the area, and some that are still there. I think it is a largely farming community.

Although our place is about 8-9kms away from the 'hub' of the village and our house is not on the edge of a lake; there about 20 lakes within a brief 5-10 minute drive. I have suggested that we walk to our local lake (Iso Tikkala - The Great Woodpecker. So named because it is shaped like one!) Actually I may have spelt that incorrectly, it may only have one 'k'.....The area around us seems to be used a lot for dairy farming or wood. Each year we go, more and more of the surrounding forests have been chopped down. However, I know that the Finns farm trees a little better than we do and replant regularly. I presume that is one of reasons birch is grown; it's fast and can be thinned out over periods of time.

It's very quiet in the village and I am concerned a little for it's survival. Last year, someone told me that the pub had closed. I'm not sure if I understood correctly, but each time we drove past, it did not seem to be open. I can see that apart from the shops and the factory, there seems to be very little in the way of job opportunities. The nearest proper 'town' of Pieksamaki, is about a 20 minute drive away and the larger town of Mikelli is about 40 minutes away. Quite a way though, should you need a 'specialist' item (don't ask about the 6 hour hunt for a dehumidifier....).

But we love it. It's serene, quiet, friendly. I have a sneaking suspicion we are known as 'The English' to the locals and we are quite often given the once-over in the shop. I remember one year, waiting in the supermarket queue of the Midsummer weekend, an older chap striking up conversation with us. It was mainly about football and fog. He was very pleasant though, as has everybody been. A wave of a hand as you drive past, a smile, a little salute. And the best thing is, we can't hear our neighbours.

Next time - I think I'll take you on a tour of the house itself. Yes?

The procedure of purchase

Previously, I said I'd go through what happened with the purchase of the house. It was quite a while ago now, so the memory is a little rusty - I'll do what I can if you can stay with me.

We had already sent a deposit to the agent via the bank, which arrived safely. When our remortgage money came through, we had to wire the balance over in the same way and this happened about a week before we were about to leave. There was some frantic communication between the agent and myself as it seemed the money had gone missing! Eek! I reconfirmed the IBAN and SWIFT numbers we had sent them to, and the agent investigated his end. Disaster...there was a number wrong. It turned out the money was sitting in a 'holding' account with our bank as it had nowehere to go (thanks for letting me know Lloyds TSB :/). We managed to get it sorted with a promise from the bank that it would be sent that very day. Phew. Crisis averted.

After spending the usual wonderful first weekend with our friends in Uusimaa, and loaded the car up with Ikea essentials; we were really excited to take the drive to Mikelli to meet the agent and sign the paperwork. Upon arrival, we were greeted warmly by the agent, with a handshake and a hug! So much for 'cold' Finns! He provided us with coffee and said we were waiting for the sellers and the local notary. I tried not to look puzzled....the sellers were coming? This would be interesting.....

The farmer and his wife (ee-i-addi-o) arrived and we shook hands. Neither spoke any English (and nor should they) as the agent made the introductions. There was much nodding and smiling so much my teeth dried up. Then the notary arrived. It was explained that this was the person who would handle all the legalities of the paperwork; overseeing our signatures, checking ID on both sides - passports for us and ID cards for the sellers. The agents quickly translated the paperwork and everything was soon completed with payment to the notary being made also. The notary appeared a bit fierce to begin with, until after the deal was made; and then he warmed up a little, asking us whereabouts in the UK we came from and what that area was like. After he left, the agent informed us that the notary was somewhat fascinated with England - maybe he was a little wary of us instead!

Our agent (oh, I'm going to use his name now - Arto) accompanied us to the electricity company to help us set things up for billing, and took Dom to the land registry department where he was given a map of our fishing rights in the area - we have loads! Dom told me that Arto seemed to have a lot of swing in the area, virtually commanding the registry office to hand over the map to Dom! It transpired that he is also the pastor of the church in Mikelli. An estate agent with a religious belief! No wonder he was so wonderfully helpful We certainly could not have had such a smooth process if it hadn't been for him. After that, we each got into our cars and he offered to lead the way to the house. I had the sat nav, so said I'd be alright and off we went.

I still remember that feeling as we drove up to our new 'holiday' abode. It was a LOT bigger than I'd anticipated. I swore and turned to Dom saying, 'What have we done?' Arto unlocked the door and ushered us in, giving us a guided tour and showing us how things worked, before shooting off and leaving us alone.

You can see from the picture, left, how huge the house looked next to our little hire car! I spent the first week constructing furniture and arranging everything to my satisfaction. We did get a chap in to put our television ariel up - again through Arto, as the chap spoke no English!

Please don't think that we expect everyone to talk to us in our native tongue - it's just our Finnish is extremely poor and the call for Finnish language lessons in deepest, darkest Devon is not a large one, as you might imagine. Most of the time we do quite well with the odd Finnish word and plenty of mime.

But as you can gather, no waiting six weeks for solicitors to 'do their stuff', just a plain and straightforward transaction. Just like that (as Tommy Cooper used to say). I can only speak from our own experience. Also, I have heard that valuing over there is different too. I understand that it's not estate agents who value the property, people ask what they need for their houses. Sounds cool to me.

What shall I write about next? Maybe show you the area which we are attached to? Yes, that sounds like a plan, Stan.