Last week we visited the old city of Rauma, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city center has been preserved in its 1700s/1800s state with the classic wooden building style.
This is how many cities in Finland would still look, except for widespread fires (because wooden buildings) as well as normal tearing down/rebuilding practices. Sections of Turku still look like this, but not right in the center.
Our visit focused on the three main museums of Rauma, which are all wooden buildings preserved with their original furnishings (or at least period-appropriate furnishings) from hundreds of years ago. This was what I'd been looking forward to seeing in Rauma - like Luostarinmäki, it appeals to both my imagination and my sense of history. And Rauma did not disappoint - the rich merchant's home in particular was grand and provided such a contrast to what we'd seen in a contemporary working-class neighborhood in Turku.
However, I have hardly any photos for you since my arms were so full of Sterling. Turns out that 18th-century homes and furnishings are not an ideal place for a 2.5-year-old. Sterling wanted to touch and sit and run and climb, none of which were allowed (understandably). I am a staunch advocate of traveling with children, but Rauma (the indoor spaces, at least) is one place where I would recommend visiting with kids ages 5+ only. This recommendation is strengthened by the fact that the museums are almost completely stroller-inaccessible - I was hoping I'd be able to strap Sterling in to keep him away from the fragile displays, but 18th-century homes were obviously not built to accommodate strollers. (And it was no picnic pushing a stroller on the cobblestone streets, either.)
So it wasn't the visit I hoped I'd get, strolling through old homes and imagining the inhabitants' lives at a leisurely pace, but it was the visit I got for now, at this stage of my life. A nice bonus was when we walked into the home that once belonged to a poor fisherman's family and the period-dressed tour guide was one of my old students! In Rauma!
I highly recommend Rauma as a day trip from Turku - it's a scenic 1.5-hour drive or bus ride. But I'd suggest leaving the youngest kids at home or planning ahead to take turns between parents alternately seeing the museums and letting the little ones run around outside.
Lace...making...stuff! Rauma has been famous for its lace for centuries and these displays were all over the place (now imagine a 2-year-old seeing this and NOT being allowed to touch it. Yeah).
1776 church.
