Transfer to Turku

Turku, Finland - (only a few days till the longest day of the year - a time that is especially exciting for those that live so far north of the equator).

This morning we walked the 2 km from our hotel in Helsinki to the impressive central Helsinki Railway station. Fortunately there is a walking/bike path which went almost directly from the hotel to the centre of town so we did not have to battle our suitcases through hordes of people and cars.

The train was comfortable and modern and glided along at 160 kph on its way to Turku. The only thing I can't understand is why people who live in the coldest climates have their houses, buses, trains, etc heated to tropical temperatures. A couple of days ago we learned that there are 3 million saunas in Finland and I suspect that half of them might be disguised as train carriages. We looked for a way to open the triple glazed windows but they were sealed shut so we slowly sizzled for the entire 2 hour train ride to Turku.

Turku is the original capital of Finland and has a longer history than Helsinki. Our hotel is near the city square, right in the middle of the town and only a short walk from where we will be picking up our bikes in the morning.

I am now back in the hotel room where the sign says that the temperature cannot be set any lower than 22C (but presumably it can be set at any higher temperature that someone from Saudi Arabia might prefer). I tried to open the window but discovered that I would need a large brick to complete the operation. It looks like another bright and hot "night ahead". Actually it's now been a week since I have experienced darkness so I am finding it hard to remember what night time is really like.

Tomorrow we collect the bikes and begin our ride. That's the real reason that we came this far from Australia and, although it has been pleasant to be doing the classical "tourist" thing, I think we would soon start to get bored to tears if we had to be inactive for much longer. It's time to start turning the pedals and get some adrenaline pumping !Read more