Two weeks have almost passed since I last wrote an entry so I guess now is a pretty good time to write about my journey home to Finland for the summer. I arrived on July 4th in good spirits, ready to get back to the land of saunas, makkara, karjalan pirakkas, and of course, kalja. For those that don’t speak Finnish, these are the highlights of my time here: 80+ C saunas followed by a swim in a fresh water lake, Finnish sausages that put Nathan’s hot dogs to shame, Karelian pies filled with rice, potatoes, or carrots, and of course, Finnish brewed beer.
The first week progressed slowly while my friend Matti was still in the army. Lots of biking, some running, and plenty of time with the parents. After many swimless days, I finally got to Karjalan Maja, a shared summer house for Karelians nearby, for my first sauna and swim (both were perfect). This past week has been busy and won’t let up until Monday, at the earliest. Twice I visited Tampere, the second largest city in Finland and spent the days there walking around, people watching, and doing odd-jobs. Twice I visited Forssa, about an hour away where Matti will begin his studies at the end of August to help search, and later sign for, an apartment. However, the highlight of the trip took place this past Thursday when all four of us piled into a car at 7:00 to drive an hour and a half to Helsinki to take an almost two hour express boat to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.
Photos of Tallinn, Estonia
Spending ten hours on shore, we explored the old town, ate in two quaint and very Estonian resturants/bars, and had plenty of the local of brew. It was quite an experience as Tallinn, at least in the old town, has been revitalized, repainted, and spruced up (mostly for tourists). Being Finns, we were also awed at the inexpensive alcohol (sometimes half the price sold in Finland)! It was a really enjoyable visit and the old town itself is very photogenic (I shot over 160 photos). We ventured a bit outside of the old town (and it’s protective walls) and saw the modern, albeit small, business district that consisted of a couple of Finnish and international hotels, a very modern shopping center visited mostly by the affluent and tourists, and a few of the apartment buildings in the center. From what I’ve been told, and from what I expected, we saw mostly the modernized version of Tallinn. I’m pretty sure it takes less than a 5 minute walk to find the pre-indepence houses of the soviet era, which was only fourteen years ago.
Tomorrow I head on an overnight trip with Matti. We’re planning on doing a 650 km roundtrip that takes us to Seinäjoki, Vaasa, Kriistinankaupunki, and Pori. We’re not yet sure what we’ll see or do (most likely very little as we’re both a bit tired), but it should be fun!
If you’re wondering how come I’ve posted now to my blog, you can thank the kind soul in our apartment building who just set up a wireless network (w/o any password). Sweet!
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