Posted on my Jacob's Blog and the Oulu Best Buy Blog.
Sunday before last I met Ilari's aunt, Lizzy, at the CHAFF meeting. 
Lizzy told me that she and her Dutch / English husband, Victor Glazer, had moved from Pudasjarvi to a neighbouring county south of Oulu, Liminka, and they had opened an Antique Shop, Viliga Oy (Address: Kauppakatu 6, 91900 Limika; Mobile: 050 5566069; 040 7608503; Fax: 08 3113151).
Ilari Sohlo was Joanna's colleague when studying for their Masters in English Philology at Oulu University. Ilari then became a close friend of Jaakko, our elder son. Subsequently, Ilari and his now wife, Ildikó and Annikki and myself have become good friends, bridging the generations!
Annikki and I are looking for some old fashioned chairs for our old fashioned dining table. Our present set does not have all the characteristics we desire.
Last Sunday, after the CHAFF meeting, we headed out to Liminka, for a dual purpose. To see the new antique shop and then to visit the reputed Liminka Bird Park where migrating birds are said to stop over on their way south.
An interesting signboard
Room filled with antiques
Annikki browses for her interests
Dolls galore
More antiques
The antique shop rambles through three large rooms and some connecting spaces. You look and you may find what you want. There is no one pressuring you. There is no one making a hard sales pitch. If you want clarification, ask Victor, who will tell you what he knows.
As this building was also used to serve as a bank, it has an enormous safe vault. Victor is using it to store some antique deactivated guns.
The concept of Lizzy and Victor is not just to have the run of the mill antique shop. They intend to make it a cultural centre which will host the work of artists, have performances by musicians and make the experience of visiting their centre a real experience.
Lizzy and Victor are visionaries. Annikki was taken by this effervescent couple. They could bring much character to the County of Liminka.
If the County authorities can stretch out their hand to help them develop their unusual ideas, we can predict that this small venture could make history. For instance, the dairy opposite the shop is lying unused. They want to use this for their cultural centre.
Annikki suggested to Lizzy that it may be interesting to leave all the dairy machinery intact, putting the exhibits in that setting, making the atmosphere unique and unusual!
The shop was well filled with customers on this Sunday afternoon. What was surprising was that people were also ringing in to ask about various antiques they have.
The shop has its own web page. Victor told me that this is undergoing a major upheaval.
Annikki found these really beautiful metal candle holders and they were quickly in their right place at Kampitie when we returned home!
Well done Lizzy and Victor.
Annikki and I wish you very well and we give it high marks on our Oulu Best Buy Blog.
After the visit to the antique shop we set out to visit the Bird Park. We found a large signboard pointing to the Bird Park. I drove in that direction. About 5 minutes later, we turned up at the main road again, where there was a sign for the Bird Park pointing back along the road we had come.
We thought we must have missed the turning to the Bird Park.
On this road there were two side roads, but both turned up blank - no Bird Park to be found.
Finally, after about a half hour of driving around we came across a young lady out for a brisk afternoon walk. Annikki told her our dilemma that we were looking for 200 swans who were supposedly in the Bird Park and we could not find this Bird Park despite the signs.
I do not know whether this young lady thought we were drunk.
She said we were driving in the Bird Park which is a residential colony and some migratory birds do settle down somewhere in this area. However, she had never seen any swans around here!
We gave up our attempt to find the Bird Park and swans and laughed all the way back to Oulu thinking about what that lady would be thinking about us!
