"LPR"

It had been about a week and a day since I went into town. I was willing to keep on going at the cabin, but despite my flawless record of not cutting off my hand with an axe, etc., I was tied up and carted to Lappeenranta.


Some duckies that wanted to see me off on my way to town

Lappeenranta (LPR) is the 13th largest city of Finland clear on the southeast side of the country, and my dad's hometown; it's ensignia is a caveman dressed in birch leaves holding a club. It used to be super country, back when my dad stole potatoes from the "strange Mormons" as a kid (ironically, he'd become one later in life). Now, super stores dot the land.

Like K-Rauta (K-Iron!), a home improvement store with its own cafe.

Why? "People get hungry," my dad explained simply.

Besides the occasional trip to K-Rauta, we have few variations in our trips.

-The secondhand store flooded by Russians (we're only 200-some-odd kilometers from St. Petersburg) where anything brought out from storage is swamped the second it goes public


Probably the best thing I found at the recycle shop




My uncle's store (means electric channel); one of our regular stops

-Lidl, the German discount outlet that floods Finland with cheap goods from all over Europe (made in China)

-and Prisma, where candy has become one of the 6 food groups

Munching on pastries and 39 cent ice creams, we drive back to the lake and dump everything into the boat, good for another half a week till hunger and thirst strikes again.

Ironic, since we're surrounded by fish and freshwater.