Travel Diary

The hotel had a nice breakfast. It was actually the café next store that was either paired with the hotel or a part of it, but it was a nice arrangement. The food was quite tasty. And while hotel breakfasts usually aren’t at the same level as actual dedicated restaurants, the all-you-can-eat part of it definitely works well for many people. Plus, while I’m not sure what the cost was, it must have been a great deal, considering that the food items looked pretty pricey the day before when we were stopping there for coffee.

Afterwards, we journeyed over to the train station and bought our tickets for the train ride to Helsinki later that day. I also picked up my train tickets from Lappeenranta to Helsinki later that week. It would be nice to not have to deal with that later. And traveler tip: it was much cheaper! I tried to see about buying the ticket online before the trip and it would have about $80. Now it was about $30. Good to know.

We then could explore again. We headed to Turku Cathedral which was amazing of course. Sure, they all have a great deal of similarities, but they’re still neat, nonetheless. Pipe organs, chandeliers, and stained glass. I love a good cathedral!

After that, the goal was to visit a depiction of history, or how the people lived centuries back. This meant a long trek across the city to reach the sight. And the ground wasn’t all flat. Part of it involved what seemed endless steps up a long stone stairway ascending heaven bound. I felt bad for making dad climb so much, but he kept up just fine. The Finnish people are a hardy breed. Still, it didn’t help that he brought along shoes not quite made for long journeys.

We located the place: Luostarinmaki Handicrafts Museum, which exhibited homes and shops of Finnish workers from a long era back. They offered a tour as well, and we were the only people in the English tour for a great deal of it. A few nice ladies dressed in appropriate attire guided us around the places and explained the history. It was very enlightening and I highly recommend it to anyone in town. Some of the rooves even had rocks as shingles.

After the tour, we needed food and found a great little brewery/restaurant called Koulu and purchased their buffet (which was closing soon so we had barely made it). We filled up plates and went outside. The weather was great. Certainly, there had been rain at times, but when the weather was clear, it was terrific. We bought some IPA beers too of course (which were respectably tasty!) and had a fine meal, observing little birds hopping and hoping for handouts or leftovers. I even got one to eat straight from my fingers. I hadn’t put much on my plate, but a little bit of many things, and I could tell early on that it was far too much. I ate what I could but didn’t overstuff myself. Unwise to overeat whilst on vacation.

(Or ever for that matter.)

We next went back to the train station part of town. Since it was early, we popped into a nearby pub and ordered some drinks. Then it was time to get onboard and head east. The next stop was Helsinki.

The train ride was smooth and offered some splendid views of the Finnish countryside. In short, it was very green that time of year.

The advantage of train travel is that unlike airports, you often pull into the middle of town. You get off the train and can quickly get to the hotel. We didn’t have far to go and soon were checking into a fairly fancy hotel called the Fabian.

The minibar offered overpriced options, so I headed out and got a nice assortments of beers (and some scotch). This was wise since the place would be closed the next day. Liquor laws oddly a little tight in Finland.

I then headed out with Andy to Hesburger for some food. It wasn’t great as it was fast food, but it was fun to try a foreign fast food nonetheless. And I guess Hesburger is pretty much the McDonald’s of Finland. But if mankind is lucky, all fast-food will someday be a thing of the past. At least fast-food in its current form.