A few weeks ago I had a much needed week off school for fall break. I decided to take advantage of this time to see some more of Finland, since Kokkola and the Helsinki airport are the only 2 places I have seen! I went to visit Linn (my 21 year old host sister) with Leena (my host mom) for the first part of the week in Turku (about a 6 hour drive south along the coast of Finland). Linn studies International Law in Swedish at a university there; I have to add that she also plays on an American Football team too- so cool! We stayed at her apartment and toured the city for 4 days. Currently, Turku is the Cultural Capital of Europe so the city is full of things to do and special exhibits. It was really beautiful to walk along the river and see the city that is the old capital of Finland. We went shopping, to the Handicrafts Museum, saw the Turku Cathedral, visited the Art Museum to see a special Carl Larsson exhibit, toured the Castle and walked around the whole city. It was lovely and a nice change of scenery for me! Then, Leena went back to Kokkola and I went on to Helsinki (just 2 more hours southeast on train) with Linn. We visited and stayed with some of her friends, which was so nice! We stayed 2 nights/3 days and surprisingly accomplished everything I had on my "Helsinki Itinerary" haha! We walked the city, found the Marimekko outlet, took the ferry to Suomenlinna Isalnd (a beautiful UNESCO Wold Heritage Site), ate Finnish pastries, toured the Ateneum Art Museum (fun fact: it was the 1st museum in the world to have a Van Gogh painting), and visited 3 churches! After everything, it was back to Kokkola and back to school! Here are some photos from my trip:
~TURKU~
The river at night
The Cathedral
The Fortress- finished in the 14th century and the largest
surviving medieval building in Finland
Turku Art Museum with the Carl Larsson exhibit
Yummy pastries similar to a blueberry filled doughnut
Temppeliaukio Church- it is quarried out of the natural bedrock
