TacoCat’s Travels (Finland) #8: First official trip to Hel!

31 March 2018. Saturday.
We just finished our first module here at Aalto University, and we had a week of spring break to celebrate! We decided to take a trip to another part of Finland to really enjoy the snow before it quickly melted. But before that, we had to head to Helsinki first!

After packing up we headed to the train station in Mikkeli. It was actually hotter than usual that day. Even though the temperature was around 25°C (which would be considered a blessing here in SG), the sun was out and it felt more like 30°C (especially with long sleeves!).

We boarded the VR train to Helsinki and we arrived in the late afternoon. After checking into Clarion Hotel, we wandered around the hotel a bit and checked out the amenities before taking the train out to the city.

We were really hungry when we arrived at the station and we saw a Chinese restaurant having a dinner buffet so we decided to try it out. The restaurant was called Restaurant Ju Fu and they had a decent spread of Euro-Chinese food. It wasn't really the kind of Chinese food we're used to but it was decent.

It was still pretty bright out even though it was getting into the evening already. We took a walk around Helsinki, admiring the different architecture and the number of buildings here compared to our small town of Mikkeli.

As the sun started to set we took a walk to a cathedral up on a hill. I believe it's called Uspenski Cathedral. There was quite a lot of camera equipment there and it was only then that I realised the next day was Easter Sunday! We figured they were preparing to film the Easter church service at the cathedral.



sunset view from the top of the hill! That's the Helsinki Cathedral in the distance.

We didn't really want to disturb the film crew but there were a few other tourists about as well so we figured it would be okay to take a look inside. The architecture inside these old cathedrals always fascinate me. I love how detailed every piece is; from the altar to the windows, walls, and especially the ceiling.

Anyway, after that we took a walk back towards Helsinki station and came across the famous Helsinki Cathedral. It's right in the middle of the city and is pure white. It looks a little more modern than the Uspenski Cathedral, but it surprisingly opened earlier than Uspenski; 1852, compared to 1868!

This was our first official trip to Helsinki's city center, but we didn't really have much time to explore. The next day we were heading to the Northern region of Finland, called Lapland, to Rovaniemi in search of the Northern lights! Stay tuned!

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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://tacocat.vornix.blog/2018/08/19/tacocats-travels-finland-8-first-official-trip-to-hel/

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