We decided to spent the weekend in Helsinki in order to take a look at the various places in the city. Helsinki is famous for it's variety of second hand shops so Annika made use of the opportunity to get an old new handbag. Afterwards, we were heading to the harbor where you can find all sorts of food either for direct relish or for taking it home. Even though the market hall may be expensive it is still worth to have a look at and to snuffle the tasty odor in the air. Lukas and I decided to meet some locals at the Sompasauna which is a community driven sauna close to the Baltic sea. It is free of charge and there are a lot of people around. As a foreigner the best thing you can do is to grab some beers and to spend the evening at the Sompasauna. You will get in touch with people easily and chances are high that there is in after party.

Still a bit groggy from the night in the Sompasauna we were heading to the big fortress called Suomenlinna on Sunday morning. The fortress is located on the sea side of Helsinki and it is easily reachable by ferry which happens to be included in the bus card if you get one to quickly move around in the city. It is spread across several islands which are all reachable on foot. After a short night a walk around Suomenlinna is a good activity to get some fresh air and to recover. If you feel exhausted after the excursion have a break at BOHO Cafe & Deli. Overall, our stay in Helsinki came to a pleasant end and it motivated us for more Finnish experiences during the upcoming week.

After the exposure to a big city like Helsinki, Koli National Park was nothing but pure calmness for us. We were staying in a cottage around 10km from the village Koli and of course there was a lake nearby and a wood fired sauna in the cabin. After getting supplies for the upcoming days on Monday, we were heading to Ukko Koli, the most famous view point in the region, on Tuesday. Koli offers numerous well maintained hiking trails and the mandatory well equipped fire places. It was a smart decision to take the hiking trail on Tuesday, because we were experiencing an onset of winter on Wednesday, which we were not prepared for. The ride back from the nearby island was the real adventure of the day. Snowy roads and old tires is not the best combination I have to admit... However, we made it back to the cottage in one piece and we relieved our self from the stress of the ride in the sauna. With this experience, we only made a small hike on Thursday to regain power for the ride to Tampere on Friday.