In late September that year I received a Facebook message from a follower. They told me about a municipal summer camp in Southeastern Finland. It was a place, where kids were sent to summer camps for several, often two or three weeks. The place was operated by a nearby town between 1935 and 1988 and after that owner privately.
According to the tip it was owned by a Russian Banker, who was a part of the inner circle of their genocidal president. There were volunteer fire brigade camps arranged in the place until 2006, but apparently it had been quiet for years.
As my midsummer date, who I was still seeing, was from a nearby town, I travelled there when she was visiting her parents.
The place was so remote, that you really needed to know it to find it. Luckily my tipper had given me good instructions.
And soon enough we were on the gates of a new exploration.
The first thing we found was a small cottage. I strongly believe, that the caretaker of the place originally lived here.
It was indeed what it looked from the outside: a primitive cottage with the materials from the 1970’s.
It was evident, that the place had been abandoned for ages.
Concentrated brown sauce? Sounds like it tastes like hell.
The traditional forgotten shoes.
The attic was accessible only from the outside. We didn’t go.
The kitchen with an old fridge and the traditional baking oven.
And in the fridge was what looked like a shoe bottom.
There were several beds inside. It seemed like even this building had been used for accommodation in the later days of the area.
A double decker in the other corner of the room.
The old oven and a coat rack.
The second building on the lot, which looked like storage space.
But it seems that it was also used for accommodation.
An attempt at capturing the light.
The lamp looks familiar from somewhere. I think there was a somewhat similar one at my grandparents’ place.
A sign signaling the right direction for the fire brigade youth. The tipper was right. Their camps were what has last happened here.
This looks like the dressing room of a sauna, but there was no sauna. Or then it was locked.
A lot of canisters here.
And these were only the first of several buildings in the area.