Finland

Helsinki, Finland

Here I am, back in Helsinki after over six years. I have the most stereotypical tourist image of the city at the top of this post because I barely took any photos while I was here, since I didn’t really feel like a tourist. The moment I arrived on the train from Turku I made my way to the Tuomiokirkko (cathedral), just to get it out of the way, and I figured I may as well take the photo while I was there.

Helsinki feels the same as when I lived here six years ago. I have changed a lot in that time, and Helsinki has too, but the way the city feels to me, and how I feel while I’m here, is still the same. When I arrived I felt as if I had never left. It was not an emotional reunion like I thought it might be, I just got off the train, exited the station, and set out through streets that felt as if I had just seen them days before. It feels good.

The city is peaceful for how large it is, there is so much green space, and it’s very easy to get around by walking, biking, bus, tram, metro, and train. I just feel at home here, even after all this time. But that also means that I’ve got to move on, because I’m in Europe to travel, and Helsinki’s familiarity might shake me out of my groove.

Anyhow, below are a couple of pictures from my time here, with captions!

First up we have the tasty Finnish pastry korvapuusti (which means ‘slapped ears’ approximately), it’s essentially a cinnamon bun, but not too sticky and not too sweet like those in North America.

My most interesting culinary experience to date. These are fried crickets, with some sort of sauce, and I think there are crickets in the crackers too. This isn’t a Finnish delicacy or anything, but it may have to become a worldwide delicacy in the coming years. Honestly, they were delicious. I surprised myself by not even hesitating to pop the first one in my mouth and I just chowed down from there. They taste just like any other crunchy, seasoned snack. I also sampled an unseasoned one and it was also good.

And finally. I stayed at an AirBnB, and this is what welcomed me when I arrived. All the kittens were being adopted that day, but I got a few minutes to enjoy these glorious little critters. Yay!

Next stop, Tallinn, Estonia.

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Turku, Finland

I had one last full day in Stockholm following Waves of Darkness. From 10:30 when the ferry arrived until 20:00 when I departed for Finland. I spent this time relaxing, writing my blog posts, and wandering around an area of the city I hadn’t explored previously.

I chose the least expensive ferry option for my trip to Turku. Rather than Tallink Silja which I took to Riga, I went with Viking Line. I guess the vikings probably didn’t sail in the lap of luxury themselves. My bunk was deep in the bowels of the ship, beneath even where they keep the cars. It was so cheap that I didn’t even have an electrical outlet in my room. But that was totally fine because all I wanted to do on the ferry was get as much sleep as possible before we arrived in Turku bright and early at 07:30. My neighbour in this out of the way part of the ship was a cool young guy from South Africa, so I did get the chance to socialize and go for a drink at the on board bar before bed.

This ferry ride made for the third night in a row of sleeping on the ocean and I definitely recommend it. The rocking of the sea and the thrum of the engines really lulls one into a pleasant sleep. So I arrived in Turku well rested to meet an old friend who I hadn’t seen in six whole years.

Erik was an exchange student in Finland at the same time as me in 2012/2013, and we became very good friends during that time. He put in the effort to learn Finnish while he was here, and it paid off since he was able to come back for university, so he’s been living in Turku for over four years now. It was lovely to see him and reminisce about the old days. Plus, I had a local guide to the city and a place to stay.

Turku is a very pleasant little city. I had visited it a couple of times during exchange, but my memory of it was pretty darn foggy. The whole city seems to be under construction at the moment, but I really liked what they were doing with the place. They’re revitalizing old buildings, rather than tearing them down, and the new buildings they’re putting up have been designed to fit nicely with the old. Turku has quite a few old wooden houses, which are absolutely idyllic and very pretty (Erik is lucky enough to have his apartment in one such building). So the new apartments that they are putting up near these old houses have been built with wooden siding, and painted in the same colours as the old buildings. Even more interesting is that they have turned the long abandoned prison/mental hospital into swanky apartments, although I feel as if they may need to give them away in order to get anyone to live in such an obviously haunted location.

I visited Turku castle, which was well worth the entrance fee, cause it’s absolutely packed with stuff. Not only do you get to walk through the entire castle, some of which is medieval and some of which has renaissance and more modern interiors, but you also get museum exhibits on everything from women in the 16th century to Finnish military medals and coins. I was honestly not prepared to spend such a long time in there, but I wanted to see it all.

Though that was nice, I’m not really interested in doing much ‘tourism’ while in Finland. Having lived here for a time, I just want to rediscover and re-experience some of my favourite things from my time here, so simply wandering the city and eating Finnish foods (there is a picture and description at the bottom), and of course sauna is all I need.

But that’s enough rambling. What I really came to Finland for was Helsinki, paras kaupunki maailmassa! Which is where I currently am, but you’ll have to wait until I’ve spent some time here before you get your blog post you greedy little thing you.

Here are some photos of the place.