Last days in Finland

Helsinki, Finland - 28/06

So it’s hello Finland once again. Reached Helsinki - Vantaa airport at around 9.30pm. Paula offered to get me from the airport and that saved me quite a bit for the bus fare, and of course all the trouble of lugging the stupid backpack and my daypacks. Thanks Paula! I’m glad for such great friends =)

We got her brother, his gf and her brother en route to Pitäjänmäki, and I was glad to be back in a HOUSE, cos I haven’t been in a house for so long. Haha! Simple pleasures for simple minds. Had spaghetti (Paula cooked) and then to bed.

Tomorrow I will start making some plans, but surely to close my Nordea bank account and then to meet some Finnish friends, hopefully they’re available for lunch. Paula said I could join her and some friends for a grilling party in the evening. Sounds good!

29/06/06

Woke up early to go with Paula to the city centre where she’s working as a roving tourist information operator. It’s a really interesting job as she gets to walk around the city centre wearing a bright green T shirt and a vest with the “i” sign on it for information. Since I was so early in the centre, nothing was really opened yet, and the banks only opened at 10. Then I found out that I forgot to take my passport with me, so I had to do the closing of the account the following day. Helsinki harbour. There is a market there selling fresh seafood, fruits, and souvenirs for tourists, but only in spring and summer (not sure about autumn). In winter it's too cold for anyone to open a stall! Market Hall. The shops inside sell stuff that are quite queer (or quaint?) Go take a look! Or see my post on Estonia for some pics of the inside.

So I went to do some shopping in the centre, for clothes (cos there was a summer sale!) and souvenirs for family and friends. I was wandering about the centre window shopping and then met up with Paula and her colleagues for lunch at a restaurant that had 4.95 euro Mediterranean buffet. Didn’t really like it though, cos all the dishes had cheese in them. YUCK! Anyway I enjoyed the company, and Paula was such a dear to have me together with her group.

After lunch I went to the Rock Church along Frederinkatu where CJ wanted to get his shot glass the other time he was in Helsinki but didn’t. I believe the 2 shops there sell things cheaper than other places. (Of the two, Santa’s Minimart obviously sells things cheaper than the other one. It offers 10% discount on purchases above 40 euros too. FYI, tax free shopping only offers 5% discount on purchases above 40 euros and 10% discount on those above 200 euros.)

Bought the shot glass for CJ then went back to the centre for more window shopping.

Walking around made me tired so I went to the Rock Church to get some rest. I fell asleep cos the environment was so conducive! LOL! Half an hour later, I opened my dreary eyes and walked back to the center to wait for Paula to knock off work. We met up and then she called her friends and said that we were going to have a BBQ. I was a little tired, but I perked up when I heard about BBQ. It’s been a while, and the last one I had was in Oulu with my exchange friends.

We did a little moving for one of her friends who was moving house, and then went to a quiet little forest, walked about half an hour into it and found a lake right in the middle of nowhere. It was nice and peaceful, away from all the noise in the city. Got there about 10pm, and it was still quite bright in the sky! Of course, the sun never sets in summer, so we didn’t have to worry about not having light at all. The rest of them went swimming in the lake naked (the Finnish way), and I set up the fire with some help from Norra (Paula’s friend). We had a great meal with chicken wings and drumsticks and of course, makkarra (Finnish food that I actually like!). Dessert was banana with chocolate melted over the BBQ fire. It was a satisfying meal, and we packed up and left around midnight. We arrived at Paula’s apartment around 1am, and after a shower, I slept like a baby.


30/06/06

Woke up later than the day before, packed up most of my stuff and threw away those that I didn’t want to bring home. Left quite a bit of stuff in Paula’s place, cos I was quite sure that I would exceed my baggage allowance if I didn’t.

After I tidied the place a little, I left the place to close my bank account. Having a thousand plus euros wasn’t exactly a comfortable thought, and I was constantly on the lookout for people who were following me. It was quite a while before I convinced myself that Finland was still the safe place I knew it to be before I left it for my Europe trip. Then it was souvenir buying and I went back to the shops at the Rock Church (got quite a deal with the 10% discount, but I wasn’t really satisfied anyway - should have bargained for more!)

Then Paula called me; she had knocked off work. I met her at the fountain in Helsinki’s Esplanade and she shared some strawberries with me. I never knew Finnish strawberries were so good! We went back to her place to freshen up and get my stuff and also to watch the World Cup match between Germany and Argentina, then when it stretched into the penalties, we decided it was too late and went to Norra’s place for dinner. Dinner was a simple meal of bread and ham and cucumber and some cake. It filled me up a little and at least I was good for the time being. And being the great friend she was, Paula fetched me to the airport together with Norra’s sister. After I checked in, she bade me my final goodbye and gave me a hug.