Finland: Helsinki

And off to the capital we went for just a night as by this time, we were keen to start getting into the Baltics. Helsinki, like mentioned previously about most of Finland, had some nice parts to it, but it was mostly blocks of flats with minimal awe-inspiring architecture. However, the city did seem to have its own charm to it.
I'd messaged an acquaintance who lived in Helsinki and she gave us some useful tips and places to go to. The first place we visited was called Sompasauna - a public, mixed gender sauna that was of the old school wood burning variety saunas- on the edge of the Baltic. We were a bit nervous as to what we were getting ourselves into as you have to drive through a building site to get to the place. Once you arrive, it looks like 3 grafitti'd shacks with a mixed bunch of naked people and people in cozzies standing around. However, this ended up being one of our favourite experiences in Finland! We don't have any photos from the place as photography was not allowed, but basically it was a community run, public sauna. That means that anyone can use the sauna, the sauna was completely free to use, provided you helped keep the sauna running in some way or other eg chopping up wood or collecting water for the saunas. This definitely gave the place a very hippie, Afrikaburn feel to it. You could also sauna either in your cozzie or in the nude. The saunas ran hot, but there was no judgement on how long you stayed in, what your body type was, whether you were a man or a woman and whether you wore clothes or not. Due to the heat from the saunas, we thankfully had the option of cooling off in the Baltic Sea. Yep, I never thought I'd say it given my adversity to cold water, but we both swam in the Baltic Sea! Twice! A really good experience overall and one that both Emz and I really enjoyed!

That evening, we walked to the Kallio district which is a sort of hip and trendy district. We managed to find a karaoke bar that was filled with Science and Biology undergrad students about to start their next year of varsity. They were all in their overalls, singing and dancing happily and it gave Emz and myself both a fair bit of nostalgia for our own university days. I decided that we should try the local Finnish liquor for the first time, so I ordered a shot of Salmiakki and a shot of Minttu for each of us. The former's flavour is salted liquorice and the latter is mint! 2 of Emma's favourite flavours!!😂 She was not impressed by what Finland had to offer in this department.😂 Still a good night overall though!Read more