Hello Helsinki

Day 3 of our Finnish Adventure and we woke up to a pretty chilly room after the central heating became too much and we left the door open all night to cool us down. We are so hard.

Our day started off by a early morning run around Savonlinna in temperatures in the mid-high single digits. My ankle fortunately appears to be ok if I run on flat straight lines, but anything involving uneven ground is a nightmare. After breakfast (EGG BUTTER!), we drove to the Punkaharju Ridge approximately 30km east of Savonlinna. The ridge itself is a narrow causeway seperating two big lakes and was a defensive line against the Russians.

After our quick tourist stop, and realising we had 4 hours to get the car back to the rental car company before we were to be charged for an extra day and we had 3.45 hours of travel time to get there, we commenced our journey back to civilisation with haste - or so we thought.

What transpired was the most frustrating drive of my life. First of all, we need to talk about the Finnish obsession with Speed Cameras. As mentioned in yesterdays post, speed cameras seem to dot the road every 500m or so. After a quick google check, Jamie was able to confirm that like NZ, the majority of speed camera housing units were empty and could be differentiated by those that had a silver lens (camera) vs those that had a yellow lens (no camera). Not wanting to take risks, Jamie was on speed camera spotting duty as keeping to the speed limit in a car with no cruise control is impossibly hard when the speeds change as often as there are speed cameras, dropping to 80km/hr in areas of the highway where there are turnoffs, 60km/hr where there are petrol stations, 50km/hr zones just for the hell of it and the odd zone (about 5%) of actual driving at 100km/hr on roads straighter than a ruler. I tried to take my cues from the locals on how strict the speed limits were but this became incredibly confusing. Based on a days worth of data, I can ascertain that the Finnish like to stick to one speed - under the speed limit of the 100km/hr open road limit but well over the speed indicated in smaller towns, averaging a speed of around 80km/hr everywhere. Based on the amount the speed limit changes, this appears to be a tactical solution, however was massively confusing when I passed a car going 80km/hr in the open road limit area, only to slow down upon reaching a town, and then was passed again by the same car in a 60km/hr zone going 80km/hr *slaps forehead*.

During our drive, we came within 500m of the Russian Border, so gave it a wave and said we will be back again in a few days.

Halfway through our journey, the roads widened, and the lane size, whilst still only one lane, could have easily fit two cars. It took me awhile to figure out why, with all this extra space, cars remained on the far right of the lane. It became clear once I saw a car passing another in the face of oncoming traffic (see photo below). I decided on the "do as the locals do" approach to driving and it scared the sh*t out of me doing something that I was educated never to do from a young age - pass in close proximity to oncoming traffic. A big wine was in order after this drive.

We got to the airport with 10 minutes to spare, and took the train into Helsinki. Teemu had the best view and contemplated his adventures in Central Finland realising his time in his homeland was fast coming to an end. He will leave with his adoptive parents for a new life in a warmer climate. He is scared, wondering if he will be able to master the Haka and blend in with the locals, whilst maintaining his Finnish roots. Get ready for Egg Butter New Zealand!

We dropped our bags and Teemu off at the hotel (he needed to be alone) and made our way into a big square adjacent to the Train Station which was housing an International Food Market complete with a British Stand selling British Cheese for €9 euros per 100g. I've decided I'll come back next year, undercut those British Twats by half and still make a handsome profit.

After filling up on olive oil and bread samples, we made our way back to the hotel, stopping off at the Helsinki Botantical Gardens. Jamie was obsessed with anything that appeared semi-edible while I went on a photographic expedition. It bled beauty and was a lovely walk in the sunshine.

A pre-dinner snack of cheese and crackers proceeded a lovely dinner at a Nepalese Restaurant (so Finnish) across the street from our hotel. On the way back to our room, we checked out the hotel gym, which I can report is utter crap.Read more