two more photos; Ukrainian was memorial and a notice

We are very aware of neglect of this blog over the last few days.  Infrequent access to internet is themain reason; Finland may be one of the most internet-savvy countries in the world, but it is huge and the more remote area are, well, remote!

The last time I uploaded photos, there were two I did not get to, and here they are:-

This is the Ukrainian war memorial on the Raate Road, which I wrote about.

We were struck by the way this memorial, and many, many others we have seen, have fresh flowers on them.  The war is very strongly remembered here.  It was,of course, devastating, not least to ordinary people totally displaced.  And that displacement lasted; the Finland / Russian border was moved in the final peace treaty, with Finland losing territory and many familes and friendships divided, cut.  During the cold war, the border was then totally closed, though that is not so now.

Sometimes, I think it is terribly important to keep these memories alive.  We could so easily slip into forgetfulness.  We could so easily slip into the sort of xenophobia that makes another European war more likely.  We are often so ready to oppose, and to consider the foreigner to other.

The next is  about the borderas it is now. This notice is on approaching an open crossing point.  We did not go top the crossing point; we dod not have visas for Russia anyway, so could not cross

Tom