Sääksmäki Suspension Bridge

On my way back from Tampere, I made a detour to Valkeakoski, an industrial small town, where my grandmother (widowed before I was born) and grandfather are buried. My grandmother lived there for sixty years. My grandparents were both from the territories ceded to the Soviet Union after the war. I had to be home at a reasonable hour so I couldn't stay to do much photography there. I have to say that despite being quite familiar with the town and having visited it frequently until my grandmother died in 2004, the place has changed somewhat. For the better, I'd say. The chemical pulp mill didn't let out any smell and there were many new buildings, including shops in the town center and also new residential areas on the northern outskirts of the town. Housing in Valkeakoski is much cheaper than in Tampere. An MP I once voted for when I was living in Tampere was responsible for marketing Valkeakoski and it seems that the marketing campaign was successful. It's only a 20 minute drive to Tampere on the motorway.

But in Sääksmäki about 10-15 km south of Valkeakoski there is a suspension bridge over one of the straits of Vanajavesi, a large lake. I turned out that stopping by the road was forbidden, which is why I had to find a place to park my car earlier. The suspension bridge was opened in the 1960s with much pomp and circumstance. It was along of the old highway from Helsinki to Tampere. Nowadays, the highway is very quiet because a motorway was built between Tampere and Helsinki in the early 1990s. The building of the highway was the kiss of death to Motel Viidennumero that I stopped at. Despite the magnificient view, the motel and restaurant is now completely and permanently closed. The property is for sale.

This is the suspension bridge.

I didn't know the motel was closed. Next to the parking lot there was this old service station that seems to have been abandoned a long time ago.

The view over Vanajavesi is quite spectacular.