Travelling!

Life in Turku is in many aspects much different from my life in Tilburg. Not only because of the (relatively small) culture differences but most of all because of all the activities I have. Compared to Tilburg I have a lot of time left. On exchange there are no obligations except for passing exams to get credits. Here I’m for example not in any committees, boards or sports associations and I don’t have to spend time on family (only the couple of hours that I skype with them). This means that I have a lot of time left to do other things. For example on travelling and there is a lot to do and to see in and around Finland.

I think it was already the second weekend that we rented a cottage on the island Delholm in the Archipelago. Which 5 other exchange students I took my bike and cycled for around 45 km to the cottage. We could also have used public transport, but biking is cheaper, it is much more fun and you can see much more of the beautiful nature of Finland. At the cottage we had our own motorboat that we used to get around the islands a little bit, we had an outdoor grill and, most important of all, our own (wood-heated) sauna! Another great experience was that we did not have a toilet. There was just a small shed 20 meter behind the cottage with a whole in the ground. We also did not have a tap or shower. We had to drill our own water from a dwell and put it into big buckets in the cottage. We had to boil it to get warm water and if you wanted to wash your hands with soap, you needed another person to help you to remove the soap from your hands. It was great to realize how much water you use when it just comes out of the tap. The sauna was also great, hot and moist, and both days we used the outdoor grill to have dinner. It was a great weekend.

A couple of weeks after I went to Helsinki and Tallinn with two German girls and one Finnish girl (their tutor). The Finnish girl was from Helsinki herself and it was very nice to have our personal guide. She showed us some nice places around the city and could explain what some buildings were used for. Another very nice benefit from this was that we could stay at her friend’s place (for free J). The next day we took the boat to Tallinn. This city is really beautiful, especially the old town. It is the perfect city to just walk around and it has lots of small shops, cafés, restaurants etc. The atmosphere is also great. Tallinn is the city where old, middle aged buildings are combined with industrial architecture and very modern buildings. That was very special to see.

The biggest trip until now was to St Petersburg last weekend. The first interesting thing was the passport control, this took quite some time.  However, after we passed the customs control, the fun could begin. I joined an organized trip by ESN which was very nice. All the time we had our guides who told us more about the city and the history. I think guides or local people are a big added value if you visit a city. We had a guided bus tour, a guided tour through Catherine’s palace, a folk dinner, a visit to the Hermitage museum, a guided Cathedral tour and a night cruise on the rivers and canals. Although I have seen a lot of St Petersburg I have to go back again. I did not have enough time to walk through the city centre, I need some more time in the Hermitage and there are so much more things to see than I did so far, so I guess I don’t have a choice. The customs control on the way back was (unsurprisingly) much faster.

For the next period I will stay within the Finnish borders. Many people also go to Stockholm and there are very cheap flights to Oslo (6 euros). Since I have already been in these places during the last couple of years and because I am in Finland, I would like to see more of Finland. Tampere, Hämeenlinna, (again) Helsinki and hiking in the big forests are next on my list.