Helsinkitrip Impressions

As you can see, we had a wonderful time in the capital city of Finland! Before I went there I would have never thought that a capital city can be so “relaxed”.

During our stay (2 days) we didn't feel like tourists. We felt totally integrated in the middle of everyday life in Helsinki. My very first thought was: “The Bavarian capital Munich is much more “busy” compared to Helsinki!” The train station, Kauppahalli and even the city center didn’t seem like they belonged to a capital city! 
As this was our very first visit to Helsinki, we spent a lot of time outside checking out the buildings, the harbor and enjoying the good weather! ... And of course we got lost at least three times but as we had a professional tourism management student on board it was no problem to find all the sightseeing locations! Here are some impressions of the first day of our trip:

After a long day of walking we spent the night at cheapsleep hostel. If you are planning to have a good nights rest, I can't recommend to stay in a 16 people bedroom, but for one night on a budget it is certainly fine ;)

Our second day started with a coffee from McDonalds and a visit to S-Market to get some breakfast. After that we started out to Suomenlinna.

When we arrived in Suomenlinna, we found a cozy little island. We walked around the island and island and took lots of pictures. I am sure that it looks enchanted in winter time when everything is covered with snow.
The landscape was just too beatiful! I hope you can get a glimpse of it by looking at the pictures.



Suomenlinna is a fortress built by Sweden on a group of six islands right in front of Helsinki.
It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it is definitely worth seeing when visiting Finland! Built in 1748 by the Swedes it was later called Suomenlinna (Fortress of Finland).




You can reach it by the HSL ferry (which belongs to the Helsinki city transport system -> so normal bus tickets are valid) or in summer by using the water bus. The ferry ride takes about 15 minutes. When riding on that ferry you can take the best fotos of the Helsinki skyline.

Personally I was most impressed about the Helsinki Cathedral and Suomenlinna. When we arrived back home in Turku, my SD Card told me that I had taken about 550 pictures in only 2 days! To be honest I am a bit worried about my memory space ;b




My conclusion of this trip is that I didn't sleep enough - maybe not at all ;) so I was extremely tired when we arrived at home. Next time I would definitely book a sleeping place that comes without a nocturnal snorring orchestra! Besides that it was an awesome spontaneous adventure with great people! I loved riding the tram and walking through the neatly kept streets.
Here are some info sources, if you want to read more about Suomenlinna and Helsinki!

Raisa

First impressions of Turku

Our academical year in Finland has started off quite well! We had the chance to get to know the city and we figured out basic daily life activities. Besides figuring out the finish educational system we also got to know our surroundings.

Turku is the oldest town of Finland and has a special charm due to its cozy, but still lively atmosphere. On the one hand you have the city feeling as there are four universities and on the other hand you can find a lot of nature within the city. The beautiful Aurajoki River, which floats through Turku, offers space for fishing, walking or just sitting down and relaxing. There are several boats in Aurajoki, where you can have lunch and dinner or meet with some friends and enjoy a boat tour.

Thanks to our bikes we had the chance to get around Turku quite independently. One of our first stops was the harbor as we were so excited to see the open sea. Therefore it would have been helpful if we have had taken a glimpse at the map. We quickly found out that Turku is located on the waterside, but due the many archipelagoes and islands you cannot get the sea view we had expected. So we rode around with our bikes and soaked in the lovely weather and the breathtaking view along the river and up to the city.

While discovering Turku we made out some different shopping possibilities regarding foodstuffs. We recognized relatively quickly that the healthiest option for students’ purses is and remains the well-known Lidl. Although there are still some price differences compared to Germany it is even much cheaper then for example the typical finish grocery stores like S-Market or Siwa. When we walked through the rows we realized not only the higher pries but also some differences in the assortment of Lidl. It seems that Finns prefer low-fat products as there is 0% milk in the fridges and only 1,5% yoghurts.

All in all we feel very well and safe here in Turku. Although you do not understand anything at the signs in the streets or in the shops, expect you have already learned some Finnish, really everyone in willing to speak English with you. And one of the first things we noticed in the finish population is their helpful and friendly nature besides their diffidence. So far we had no situation where someone just kept on walking while we were trying to ask something in the streets.

See you next week! 
Raisa and Katharina :-)

Why study in Finland?

Have you ever thought about studying abroad for a semester or two? As you have found our blog you might be thinking about staying in Finland for some time. If this is the case, you are right here! :)

Our blog aims to inform future exchange students about studying and living in Finland. You will get lots of traveling ideas, hints for the first couple of days and how to get around! All these impressions are personal insights we are gathering during our academic year abroad!

Up to now we have been in Finland for about 6 months. Some of the prejudices we arrived with have vanished some were confirmed. Before I came here some of the most heard prejudices we were confronted with were: Finland has very high living expenses, people are incommunicative and drink a lot and it snows a lot here!

The video shows you what students of some Universities of Turku think about studying in Finland!

Thanks for watching! Stay tuned for more stories! We are happy to share our impressions with you!

Raisa

Ruissalo

The first “big” trip that I’ve made was to “Ruissalo”. The island is located in the south-west of Turku and about 45 minutes by bike or 30 minutes by bus.

Shortly after I arrived in Finnland, I was wondering where I could see the Baltic Sea. As there are lots of little islands on the shore in front of Turku, you can’t really see “the open sea” as I would have imagined. But still - I was very keen on going to the waterside! So after my very first class at Novia I grabbed my friend and we rode our bikes to the harbor, assuming that we would get to the shore! Well, it wasn’t that easy! To be precise it took us 45 minutes to get there (approximately 16km).

The area around the harbor is filled with loads and loads of company trans shipment centers. A lot of them were German companies like DB Schenker, DHL, Würth, … . It was funny to see them all here! I guess this means “global”!

After wandering around with no clue where to go, we met a nice elderly lady who was on her way to the Ruissalo Spa. She invited us to ride along with her and warned us that she’s not that fast on her bike.

Well guess what! It was pretty hard to keep up with her pace! I have to admit that I didn’t wear the right clothes and also the landscape was too nice to just dash through it. After we had left the harbor zone, it began to look a lot like countryside! There are few houses and Wikipedia told me that there are only approx. 126 inhabitants. There is a huge golf course though which is located right next to the bike path. Besides this the bike path leads you along fields and meadow. The bike paths look more like avenues with birch trees on the sides. I can imagine that it’s nice to go on a bike ride here even when it’s hot!

When we finally arrived at the beach the view was marvelous! I wasn’t able to catch it with my camera :/ We left our bikes at the curbs and walked all the way down to the beach. The view was the best reward that we could have expected.
The sun was shining, the water was okayish and we forgot our bikinies :/



There is a small beach between the rocks with a barbecue place, changing rooms and there is a huge deck with a seating area. The beach - and actually the entire island was very clean. We didn't find any plastic bags or zigarett stubs on the ground. Also there are a lot of stones but it's no problem to walk because the sand prevails the stones. I would have never imagined that it would be that warm in Finland in September!!

Looking back, it didn’t feel like 16 kilometers! And it was worth riding the bike there in my horrible jeans a fleecejacket and a bag full of books ;)

Click here if you want to check out our bike tour.

What a fun day! For more adventures stay tuned.

Raisa