Fun in Finland!

Can't believe we're already at the airport on our way back to Moscow- this part of the trip (the one where Ashley is with me making sure I don't go too crazy) is almost over! When we were leaving St. Petersburg, everyone we met was saying we were giving Helsinki too much time and would be so bored for five days, but we managed to encounter enough absurdity to make the time fly!

We arrived on a very early train (sorry Ashley) on Monday morning and with the help of some girls we found on the street got on the right bus to take us to the hostel. We ended up staying in the eastern part of the city in Katajanokka - neighborhood that is one of Helsinki's numerous islands/peninsulas, connected to the mainland only by a narrow street/bridge. After dropping off our bags, we headed to a couple major sights in the city. We saw the two major cathedrals, which were both very pretty (especially outside) but a little underwhelming (especially inside) after he incredible churches we saw in Russia. Nothing will ever compare. Then we wandered around Market Square- a sprawling market with dozens of tents selling fresh veggies (food that is green!) and fruit, as well as salmon dishes, fresh fish, and souvenirs. Not sure yet what the kitchen situation was, we agreed to return later for grocery shopping and wandered a little through the city. We found the Helsinki City Museum, which was just full of silly things like old beer cans and films of portraits that blinked at you creepily. Then we headed to the hostel where we officially checked in. We were in a private room, and immediately unpacked like we haven't the whole trip- just threw everything out of our backpacks and took over the space. Back at the market we bought fresh veggies and fruit and had a great dinner that night!

We spent the days in Helsinki mostly exploring the islands and the city in general. It's pretty compact so we did a lot of walking. Some highlights:

Seurassari

An island in the west of the city that houses an open air museum of buildings from all over finland, and incredible views of the city across the water. A few of the buildings are enterable, with some information to be found inside. One has become a children's museum, where we played this game:

Couldn't tell which items used to belong to a gnome though.

 We spent a few hours touring the buildings and then sat on a bench by the sea reading and soaking up that Nordic sun. While we were sitting there, though, we were ambushed by geese, who came close enough to nibble at the strap of my backpack and basically terrify us.

Suomenlinna

We spent our last day in Helsinki at Suomenlinna, a sea fortress just offshore, accessible by public ferry that runs as part of the tram/bus system in the city. Probably the most beautiful part of Helsinki, in my opinion, and definitely worth a visit, if you find yourself in Finland. In addition to cool fortress walls and cannons, somewhat decent beaches and great picnic spots up above the water, the fortress houses an "open prison" (but apparently this means open for prisoners, not for tourists) and 1000 residents who may or may not be displeased to find two lost American girls wandering through their backyard because they thought it was a museum. There is a visitor's center with the single greatest informational video I've ever seen, complete with intense, suspenseful battle music and a somewhat chilling (and seemingly irrelevant) warning that my country could do just fine without me. Not sure what was meant by that.

Turku

Wanting to see a little more of finland than just Helsinki, we spent a day in Turku, another city on the sea but a little west of the capital, about 2 hours by train. Our first stop was the castle, which we found tucked behind a lovely construction area and industrial shipyard. It's location made me a little wary of what we would find there, but it turned out to be worth the walk. The building itself was cool - after all the palaces and cathedrals a medieval castle was a nice change - but the museum was also really well laid out, with a great self-guided tour through the entire structure. It was also the silliest place I've ever been. Amongst the serious castle information were some fun surprises, like a stuffed rat near the latrine and dummies thrown into the dungeon pit, as well as an entire section devoted to the gnome that lives in this castle (please note: this is the second gnome reference in Finland). We tried on gnome hats: 

and saw the gnome'a treasure room: fake jewels and gold, guarded by a fake wolf.

After the castle, we headed east along the riverbank (armed with awesome dark Finnish rye bread that was so moist the outside was sticky and so delicious we couldn't help but eat half the loaf) toward the city's cathedral, which was cool but again nothing like Russia. From there we wandered along the paths that run along the river, enjoying the sun until it was time to hit the train station to head back to Helsinki.

Other Scandinavian Mischief

In the hopes of experiencing nightlife like a Helsinkian, we consulted our map for a list of bars. Neither of us could turn down the offer of "part library part bar with over 100 kinds of beer" so we headed in that direction. It was the coolest, silliest place we have ever been (and re-read this post: we went to a lot of silly places in the last 5 days alone) with books (sadly, only in Finnish) lining the walls and lots of beer and Finns deep in what I can only assume was profound academic discussion.

and also this poster that I assume says "et tu brute?" in Finnish. The Latin nerd in me couldn't avoid photographing.

Still determined to have one local meal in every place I go to on this trip, we ate at the market on Thursday. Deciding that our vegetarian stomachs would unfortunately be unable to handle the reindeer meatballs, we each ordered a salmon plate, which was delicious but huge! with veggies, potatoes, and one mysterious fried ring on the side.

And I'll leave you with this anecdote. On one of our strolls along Helsinki, we were crossing a pier where a man was fishing. Having successfully caught a fish, he reeled it in, I guess with a little too much excitement, because the line flew backward and the fish on the end hit a woman who was walking by. The fisherman, Ashley and I all found this unbearably funny. The woman did not agree.