A couple of weeks ago I ventured to Helsinki to visit one of my closest friends who had just started a Masters program there. I picked a great time to visit. The trees were making it clear autumn was in full swing, but it was still warm enough to spend most of the day walking around the city without freezing our tails off.
After a long overnight bus ride and a ferry from Tallinn, I reached my friends' house where I was greeted by a couple of attention-hungry cats. I then proceeded to nap while I waited for her to come home feeling slightly like goldilocks having just walked into someone's house and choosing a place to rest.
When my friend came home we made our way to the city to check out the many recommendations given to me by Nea - a Helsinki Local I found through Showaround - this cool website anyone can sign up to be a local guide and show around their city. I recommend checking out the site before your next trip, quite cool to meet locals and experience the city through their eyes. Since Nea is also interested in design she had some cool suggestions of interesting design shops and galleries to visit as well as cafes, bars and museums.
We were quite lucky as both museums we visited - Helsinki museum and Helsinki Art Museum (HAM) were free admission. Therefore, I happily spent the money I saved on postcards - sending which has become a travel tradition of mine. If you haven't ever received a postcard from me, it's not that I don't care, I probably just don't know your address so please tell me what it is and I might just send one your way on my next trip ;) .
One recommendation for food that we decided to test out was this sushi burrito chain Soma. I was a bit sceptical at first, but oh man were they good! Pretty much giant sushi so what's not to love :D Full and happy we decided to check out this bar with one of the best names I'd ever heard- "Why join the navy when you can be a pirate". Why indeed :) There also just happened to be live music so double win!
The next morning I woke and up and actually did yoga which I have been doing almost every day for over 3 months now. We had decided to go to the university campus for some cheap student cafeteria food (2.60 compared to 10eur we'd spend in town, Helsinki is frickin' expensive man...). Before going there we visited HAM which had an exhibition of paintings by the artist of Moomin and where I bought another postcard... it was a Moomin one so had to be done... maybe I should decide on a limit for postcards before the next trip though :D
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| Spent the trip playing "Spot the Moomin" |
We spent the next day walking around the city some more and just happened upon an anti-racism protest in the centre which naturally we joined in on for a bit. It was organised following an incident where a man was beaten up in a train station the past week, Was great to see so many people coming together. After this small detour, we continued to visit more sites including a small cafe with a lovely view of the sea where we snuggled up in blankets and got free refills of tea (score!).
Later that evening we checked out a "Music and food tasting event" one of the cute covered markets they have and waited to hear back from others of any suggestions and invite for going out. We decided on a party and made our way there. The night was pretty fun due to the nonsense we got up to. We also ended up walking halfway home getting in at 7:20am... well our plan to take a day trip the next (turned out to be the same) day pretty much went out the window.
Instead of the day trip, we decided to check out Helsinki sea pools- basically, a complex including a section of the sea sectioned off as a pool, a couple of heated outdoor pools and a sauna right in the centre of the city. This was perfect for a lazy day and so the obvious choice.
I left Helsinki by plane the next day - had to come back in time for my first lectures the next day. All in all, this was an amazing trip made that way by the great company I spent those few days with and the wonderfulness of the city itself. I do recommend visiting ;)
