Today was so much fun but your girl is tired! It is currently 1:13 am and, as you can probably guess, I am not going to bed anytime soon. Yes, I took a nap earlier after my adventurous day at Suomenlinna. The day was full of nature, history facts, annoying seagulls, photo shoots, cobblestones, walking, more walking, even more walking, and crazy winds.
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| Views at Suomenlinna |
4:40 am Good Morning. I went to bed at midnight to make sure that I got in the bed the earliest I could to maximize my sleeping time, however I am currently typing this because I just woke up. I don't think I will get this time thing down while in Finland, lol. The sun does rise around 4:30 here so I think I may have caught a glimpse of the light from underneath my eye mask.
6:06 am I am still up. I really thought I would have fallen back asleep by now.
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Ham sandwich and fruit mix
(pineapples, mangos, and apples) |
7:10 am I am up getting ready to take a shower. I was in the bathroom washing my face when I heard a doorbell ring, I thought it was next door but then it rang two more times followed by a couple of knocks. I opened the door and someone had the wrong room number. I am glad I was up otherwise my mood would have been like yesterday's meme all over again except an hour earlier.
8:15 am I went to breakfast with my roommate, Chloe. After breakfast, we have class meetings at 9.
9:41 am I just finished up my meeting with my teacher, Dr. V.
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| Harbor Port |
11:48 am I am currently at South Harbor getting ready to board the boat for Suomenlinna. We left the hostel at 11 and stopped at Lidl on the way there to get picnic snacks. I got two calzones, mini strawberries, and a water.
11:56am I am boarding the boat now. I am sitting downstairs with Chloe so that I do not have to deal with the wind on the upper deck.
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| Margherita Calzone |
12:12am I have arrived at Suomenlinna! We have a tour at one so we are having a picnic and eating our snacks/ lunch before going on it. I started outside, but ended up finishing up in the cafe. The seagulls were annoying and flying too low for my liking. The tour lasted an hour; the tour guide was a student at the University of Helsinki majoring in history.
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| Shipping yard |
During the tour, there was a lot of history and information given about Suomenlinna. There was so much in such a short period of time that I only remember a few things. I remember learning the difference between a fortress vs a castle, which is the leader of a fortress is a Commandment, and at the peak there were about 1800 inhabitants.
Suomenlinna was opened to the public when Helsinki hosted the olympics so that tourists had an attraction to visit. Suomenlinna was not a very good fortress, it lost many battles and was poorly designed. During the tour, there were many aspects on the island that had no particular explanation. Basically, they just randomly built things around the island.
The island is very big and is linked to six other islands, but most people only go to Suomenlinna. On the island, there are people who live there but most of the apartments are privately owned and are passed down through generations because of their high value.
There is also an open prison on the island where criminals who committed petty crimes are held towards the end of their sentences. Many work on the island to fix some of the mistakes that were mad while it was being built. For example, in one of the defensive walls we entered, the boulders were put together with concrete and salt water. The tour guide said that they were supposed to use regular or spring water so the prisonsers re-seal the boulders to make sure they do not drop on the island visitors heads. Some of the prisoners even get day passes to go to the city to visit their families or to get a day off of the island.
After the tour, our group went to go find one of the many tunnels on the island. It was super cool. We took a group picture and everyone dispersed to do their own thing. Chloe, Ev, and I left to go take pictures on the island for about another hour or so. I was channeling my inner Tyra Banks, just kidding, but I loved taking all of the pretty pictures of the island that I did not capture during the tour. My least favorite part of the island was walking on the many strips of cobblestones, it is super uncomfortable.
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| All smiles! |
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| *inserts side eye emoji* |
The island has many cafes and museums, but most Finns use the island for picnics and walks. Over the past couple of days, I have heard that the most Finnish thing to do is to buy strawberries at the market and ride the local ferry to the island and eat them while enjoying the nature. I did eat some outside while enjoying nature, but I ate the rest of them enjoying the cafe gift shop, lol. I guess I cannot hang with the Finns for very long while at Suomenlinna.
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| These strawberries were BOMB!! |
3:18am I am leaving the island to head back to Helsinki. I sat on the top deck this time to experience life on top of the ferry and to take pictures. Toward the end of the ride, I went to the lower deck because the wind was doing the whip and nae nae.
3:34 We arrived back at South Harbor.
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| Market |
5:06 We just got back from our outings in Helsinki. Since we were at the market, we decided to walk around. We walked around for about twenty minutes and then we went to the top of the public sauna which has many bars, two pools, and restaurants to chill at the top. We sat on these cool bean bag chairs and took in the scenery at the harbor. After the harbor, we went to Fazer, the Hershey of Finland, and checked out some of their goodies. It was recommended by my first tour guide and Chloe has been talking about it since we arrived.
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| Fazer Cafe |
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| Fazer |
After Fazer, we went to Stockmann to look around and there were many high end stores in one place. There is a saying in Finland that if you cannot find what you are looking for in Stockmann, you do not need it. Well, I did not find anything because I was not looking for anything in particular, but if I was, I would be eating noodles after shopping in there.
After Stockmann, we walked to Ldli to get some snacks and water. While walking around the city, I heard many cool musicians including an orchestra group.
The Finns come out on Friday. I have not seen that many people since arriving in Finland and it was neat to see the start of the weekend atmosphere. We walked back to the hostel and my body is tired but adventuring all around town was super enjoyable.
8:15 I just woke up from a nap that I was not supposed to take, but I am still tired.
9:37 I fell right back asleep and now I am back awake. Chloe took a nap too so now we are trying to figure out what we are eating for dinner. Most restaurants close between 8 and 10.
10:40 pm We are headed to Kampin Pippuri which stays open until 5 am. I ordered spaghetti con salmone. I loved the sauce and the fresh salmon! The lights were dimmed and the decor incorporated Turkish culture. It was super nice and the portions were big.
Now that this blog is done, I can go to bed. It is Saturday now and hopefully I can sleep in a little as it is 2:42 am right now. I have no plans for tomorrow, but I will keep you posted. I was about to publish this and I realized I only have one picture, it is time for me to go to bed, but not before inserting some more pictures. Good Night!
