Mikkeli - Day 8

My husband was still feeling a bit rough but still wanted to do stuff so we decided to go to Kommeli Cave. He wasn't keen on cycling there so we walked instead. It was a long way but there were lots of beautiful flowers on the way that we might have missed otherwise. At one point we walked through a beautiful village of wooden houses. The cave is a little distance into a beautiful forest, the path initially lined with blaeberries and strawberries to eat. There was a lake with boats drawn up among the trees (extra). Unfortunately there were also a lot of mosquitoes! I was wearing my mosquito proof dress and some insect repellent and was not too bad but my husband suffered badly and had to put his poncho on and a special hat he had brought that wrapped his whole head.

When we reached the cave it felt magical. I felt the genius loci of the place. In legend the cave is occupied by demons, fairies and the Old Man of Kommeli. I can believe it.

In the extras are a couple of photos inside the cave lit by the torch I bought yesterday. Droplets of water sparkled in the torchlight and the wings of insects dripped down the wall, discarded by Something that had been eating them in there.

On the way back, I heard some Crested Tits (Töghtötiainen) and with a bit of patience, eventually saw them! I also heard lots of woodpeckers but couldn't see them. It is very difficult to see birds in the forest as they are very high up in the canopy.

Then as if it couldn't get any better, we saw an Adder (Kyy).