Blogs from Uusimaa, Finland, Europe - page 10

Day 39 – Tuesday 25th July to Day 45 – Saturday 31st July 2012. Latvia, Estonia and Finland. Days 39 through 45 saw us arriving by ferry into Riga Latvia, driving through Latvia and Estonia and then catching another ferry to Helsinki Finland. Arriving in Riga, Latvia on Day 39 of the Team Free adventure was the first real step east and the first country where English isn’t freely used as much as other parts of Europe to date. The weather for this stage of the trip was absolutely amazing with the temperature ranging between 25 and 29 degrees each day. We even managed a few hours at the beach for a swim in Estonia. We were told if we were here one week earlier, it would have only been between 10-15 degrees. Riga saw us ... read more

After four weeks, five countries and 13 cities (correct numbers depending whether or not you want to count Vilnius, Lithuania in), we are back home, in Otaniemi, Espoo. Journey home was a long day of traveling in a bus from Vilnius to Tallinn, and a ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki. Even though this took all day, I would still say it was a nicer way to travel home compared to simply hopping on a plane. It's always nice to sit in a vehicle and stare at the passing landscapes. Plus somehow that gave us a chance to orient ourselves better towards returning to Finland again. Looking back to our Black Sea Adventure 2012, the overall feeling is that we really saw a lot. A lot of places that were rather different from each other. First islamic ... read more

After the long drive through Finland this was thought of as a resting day where we can prepare for our planned trip to Tallinn the next day and our return to the US the following day. After waking up the first thing we do is a quick stop at the nearby supermarket to buy different provisions including Karelian pastry for breakfast. And then it's out to stroll through downtown Helsinki and take a closer look at the many and expensive stores. First stop was the old church close to our hotel that we could visit only from the outside as there was a wedding inside. Continuing down the Bulevardi we arrived at the Stockmann department store, one of the major stores in downtown Helsinki. Went inside and took a look at the products on offer which ... read more

Entering Latvia on sunday there was still an oldfashioned passport control anyhow for coaches. A policeman stops the coach and studies every identity paper if it s something he never saw before.The Luxexpress coach I had made a reservation for is really rather luxurious with personal screen, internet, movies and toilet. The roads in Latvia became less wide than Lithuania the coach could not drive the second half of the trip as fast as the first 2 hours. Took all in all 4,5 hours. No stop for the driver nor for us. Arrived at Riga, another Unesco worldheritage site at 5 o clock in the afternoon. Riga is a Hanseatic town as well:The old town has some rather impressive buildings and churches however compared to Vilnius a bit less. The taxi driver acted rather sad when ... read more

After a long flight to Europe Saturday is the first day that we have to roam around Helsinki and luckily we have good weather almost all day. Staying near the airport has its advantages if you want to rent a car however we have to take the airport bus 615 downtown which takes about 1/2h. We get out at the last stop - the central train station - and after taking a few pictures of the modern plaza we continue down to the central artery of Helsinki - the Esplanade. Everything seems curiously empty of tourists until we get to the Kauppatori (open market) and Kauppahalli (covered market) where there is a normal bustle as associated with European capitals. After taking a look at the stands filled with reindeer products from meat to furs and antlers ... read more