Sarah in Finland: Helsinki

On the 9^th of January we started off for our first trip to the capital city of Finland, Helsinki. Sadly the sky was cloudy and it was quite cold. That’s why we decided to stay more inside the buildings and visit some museums and churches. We explored the city which was slightly bigger than Turku seeing sights like the National History Museum of Finland, the Senate Square with the monument to Alexander II who was the czar of Russia and Finland for some time and the huge steps that led up to the Lutheran Cathedral. I was impressed that there is a market hall and market place in every city because at home there would just be a market place. The market halls in Finland look very nice and also the food seems to be in high quality.

Uspenski-Cathedral

market hall - sweets and pralinés

Lutheran Cathedral

market hall - snow men

The next day the five of us decided to take the ferry to Suomenlinna Island. The six little Islands are connected by a great sea fortress that is now a world heritage site. I really enjoyed travelling together and talking to each other during a short break in a nice café shown on the picture below. There I could limber myself up again. Those two days had been a wonderful time together with my Swiss and new Northern Irish friends. I am sure I will visit Helsinki again as it is such a short journey from Turku and a perfect city to do shopping as well.