It had been an adventure packed, “see as many things as you possibly can in little time,” non-stop travel for the past 11 days. (Don’t get me wrong, it has been a trip of a lifetime and i am SO thankful for this opportunity to travel.) But I was more than ready to be reunited with my Cali roomie (Emmi) and be able to sleep in the same place for more than one night.
After about an hour delay, my flight from Dublin to Helsinki finally departed. It was a comfortable Norwegian Air flight. (Pro tip- if you want extra leg room, request an emergency exit seat upon purchasing your ticket!) I probably had 1-2 extra feet of room and that made for one happy 6’1” human!
Soon, Emmi and I were reunited! A little background info on how we know each other: When I took my first leap into travel nursing, I chose California. After about a month of living there, I met up with a girl that i had played volleyball with in Costa Rica over 4 years ago. We met to play some beach volleyball at the Santa Monica Pier on a warm, sunny January day. Emmi and my other (now) friend, DJ showed up to play on the same day and asked to join our games. After the games, Emmi and I exchanged numbers and ended up playing several more times together before we became roomies for 3 months! Man, we were living the dream, living 3 blocks away from the beach and beach volleyball right there in Santa Monica! Emmi is from Finland, she was in LA to study at UCLA for a small term. She’s working on obtaining her PhD in conversation analysis particularly in autism research. I’d say it’s not everyday where you can show up at a beach and meet a new lifelong friend!
(This picture was taken in January 2017 before we started looking for apartments together)
Yay! Finally reunited after almost a year!! (Emmi had left LA in June of last year to come back to Finland, just a few weeks before I left to come back to IL.)
It was late at night when I arrived to Helsinki. So we got on a bus to take us back to her studio apartment for a needed good night’s sleep. The next day (Saturday) was a Finnish volleyball tryout! Emmi had played on this team the previous season, and was able to make it possible for me to join the tryout!
(Wasn’t able to snap a picture before they took the net down.) It’s been over 3 years since I’ve had a practice like that, but I’d say I held my own and did better than I thought! Especially given the fact that I haven’t played legitimately since college. I’m not sure when we will find out who made the team, but I’m glad I can say that I tried out even if i don’t make the team! It’s definitely been a lifelong dream to play volleyball abroad.
Later that day, I went with Emmi to one of her friend’s apartment for a surprise party. And must I say, you have not partied until you’ve partied with a Finn! Those people know how to put away the liquor that’s for sure. Even though most of the conversations were in Finnish, I still had a blast getting to hang out with and meet more Finns.
The next day (Sunday) consisted of some much needed R and R. I was a combination of hungover, jet lagged (the 2 hr time difference will get ya), and extremely sore from the volleyball tryout from the previous day. My body clearly needed some major rest (and rehydration). It now made sense why savannah is always saying “water is life!”
As a result of a day of rest and bumming out, Monday came and I felt rejuvenated. Besides the fact that my body felt as if I’d been hit by a semi truck (from volleyball), I felt well rested and was ready and eager to explore the beautiful city of Helsinki.
Even though Emmi had to work all week, I felt comfortable enough to venture out and explore Helsinki on my own. About one fourth of Finland’s population lives in Helsinki (about 1.4 million that is). I knew my first stop of the day needed to be a place to obtain city maps and tourist information.
The public transportation system here in Helsinki is out of this world! The uses of buses, trams, the metro and city bikes makes it extremely easy to get around in the city. I took a metro that was down the block from Emmi’s apartment to the city center. The iconic Central Railway station was my first stop to obtain some information about where to go and what to see.
I can definitely see why it was named one of the worlds most beautiful railway stations by BBC.
There I found an information hall with maps and brochures. So I headed towards Helsinki Senate Square, which consists of the cathedral, government palace and the university.
As soon as I walked up to the government palace, they were doing changing of the guard.
I didn’t see the university yet on this day, so next I visited Upsenski cathedral which is an Eastern Orthodox cathedral in Helsinki:
Next on the list was the Market Square which is a harbor-side market that had numerous food vendors and hand crafted Finnish souvenirs.
Right next to market square was the old market hall which also had many local food restaurants, bakeries, fresh produce and more:
After grabbing a bite to eat there, I strolled along through Esplanade Park. Which I found was a great place to people watch or sunbathe. Here is where I also got pooped on by one of the many seagulls soaring around.
I discovered the cutest little ice cream shop while here as well:
While making my way back towards Emmi’s place, I noticed how many people were out n about for it being a Monday afternoon. There were most definitely more people walking in the streets than cars in the streets! Actually, the time pedestrians have to cross the street at stop lights is significantly longer than the cars have.
It was time for me to head back to Emmi’s, so I took the metro. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a metro so deep into the ground or so spotless and clean!
This picture was taken after already being like 2 floors below ground. It felt as if I was entering another world down there!
I had never seen a city so immaculate before visiting Helsinki!
I met Emmi back at her apartment when she got off of work and we headed straight to the beach for some beach volleyball! We rode the city bikes there.
The weather was absolutely perfect. After playing for about 3 hours, I headed straight for the Baltic Sea for an ice bath! (Very beneficial for extremely sore muscles!)
Next stop was my first Finnish sauna experience!
For those of you who didn’t know, the sauna was invented in Finland over 2000 years ago. Today the sauna is a huge part of their culture and is a place for physical and mental cleansing. According to a Finnish statistic, there are 2 million saunas for a population of 5.3 million Finns!
I had been in a sauna before back in the states, but nothing compared to this experience! I felt like a whole new person afterwards. Really looking forward to using the sauna more while here!
It had been a successful first day exploring the city. From the amazing architecture, cleanliness and lack of cars being used/ amazing public transportation, I must say Helsinki is probably one of my favorite cities I’ve ever been to. Ending my day with beach volleyball and a Finnish sauna was like icing on the cake! Looking forward to sharing more of my Finnish adventures with you! Please drop in any comments or questions you may have!
The Aud Blog 