Skip to content

The Riihimaki.fi website uses Google Translate.

I found the love of my life in a bar in Riihmäkelä

8.5.2024 2024 Rickshaw lovers Residence

A short-haired person is standing in an atmospheric living room, holding a picture frame. A person is looking at the camera with a smile.
Photo: Jenniina Nummela

Riksuu in love is a story series in which people from Riihimäki share their thoughts about their hometown.

Anne Sario, 67, from Helsinki, had been visiting her friend Seija in Riihimäki for years to open the summer season on the second weekend of June.

"In the summer of 2006, I came to Riksuu in the afternoon, we ate well and went to the water tower cafe for drinks. From there, we landed in Riihimäki for the night, and went to the Oliver bar", Sario recalls.

He was talking closely with his friend when he suddenly felt that someone was staring.

"I turned my head and my current husband Jari "Jarkka" Paju was standing behind me. We started talking and I knew right away that he would be the man of my life. But there were minor setbacks along the way. He is 10 years younger than me, was married and the father of four children. Divorcing of course, i.e. the classic explanation", Sario laughs.

He wasn't interested in reserved men, but Sario thought it wouldn't be out of the question if there was one night of dancing.

Emergency accommodation at the mother-in-law's house

After a week, Riihimäki's man called, however, and the couple started dating in the summer.

"The father of four children rented a studio apartment for himself in Riihimäki, where the children came on father's weekends. I met Jarka's 15-, 12-, 10- and 3-year-old children in January 2007. They have always been nice to me. I have been single for most of my life, and it has been a blessing to have children and a grandchild in my life through Jarka."

Sario moved from Helsinki to Riihimäki in December 2007. A young couple bought an 1958-square-meter detached house built in 80, where a handy man promised to do a quick surface repair. Sario had already ordered a moving company on December 3.12.

"The previous resident forgot to tell that there is a problem with the heating system. That's why my husband had to quickly build a new heating system. So, like young couples, we lived for two weeks in the mother-in-law's upstairs. But it went well, because I have wonderful in-laws."

The home has been diligently renovated over the years, and another kitchen is already in use. It's good and functional, and cooking is the hostess's favorite pastime.

"I have a fountain in the yard and a covered terrace that I call a champagne cellar. It's wonderful to sit in it in the summer and read a book. And sometimes we also enjoy champagne with friends."

When Sario moved to Riihimäki, friends from Helsinki were surprised to move so far. But soon they noticed how cleverly the journey goes by train.

"I went to work in Helsinki for 13 years. I left Riihimäki at seven in the morning and arrived in the evening at 18.30:2020. For years, I went hitchhiking in Helsinki after work, until one day I realized that I could hitchhike in Riksu as well. It was the first step to becoming a rickshaw driver, but it wasn't until I retired in XNUMX that settling down began in earnest."

Work was important to Sario, and he took time to get used to the peace of a pensioner. He sleeps a little longer than before and after breakfast walks for a good hour. The man often comes home for lunch.

"I like reading, walking and going to pilates and dance classes. I have attended a cooking and gardening course at a civic college. I also joined the senior association, Riihimäki Nykymarttii and Riihimäki theater club, through which I just booked tickets to the Hound of Baskerville play. It's wonderful that Riihimäki's summer theater was built so beautifully."

The quiet heartbeat of a small town

Ten years after their first meeting, in the summer of 2016, the couple got married at the Vanajanlinna forest ranger's place. With his wife, Sario has got a new life in Riihimäki.

"My grandparents lived in Tampere in Pyynik. Puutalojo Riihimäki resembles it in its homeliness. There are nice people here, and I talk a lot with the sellers and get good service both at the meat counter and at the pharmacy. The rhythm of life in a small town is calm and unhurried."

When walking around the city, the spouse greets every second person who meets them, because he has always lived in Riihimäki.

“I have two good friends here. With the other, I go to Tureng's old station, where wine tastings are organized once a month according to different themes, for example wines from Eastern Central Europe or summer barbecue wines. It's a really nice place."

Sario also praises the in-ground swimming pool, the water tower bar and the excellent Naans Thai - a restaurant where people come from a long way.

"Cafe Mokkasydän is cozy, and there you can buy coffee on the wall and offer it to a customer. Jarka and I are going to the corner patisserie today for a baked potato."

In a small town, everything is within walking distance. You can go to the movies ex tempore, because there is always room and you can find a parking space nearby.

"It didn't take me long to settle in here, but I still go to Helsinki once a month to get my nails done. At the same time, I'm meeting friends for lunch."

A person with short hair sits in a shy living room reading a book, looks at the camera
Anne Sario. Photo: Jenniina Nummela

Anne Sario, 67

  • Lived in Riihimäki since 2007.
  • Lives with her husband Jari Paju, 57, in a detached house in Uramo.
  • Retired. Worked for more than 40 years at the cosmetics company Berner in communication roles.
  • Enjoys cooking, walking, pilates and reading.