Turku, Finnland
I arrived in Turku, Finnland yesterday (Thursday, 27 July) around 7 pm with the German guys, Jens and Hendrik. We said our goodbyes as they were shortly taking a night ferry to Stockholm, and then I went to check into my hostel. The hostel was/is fantastic. Its in a great location right by the lively river area. It couldn't be in a better location actually. Large clean bathrooms with lots of showers. I noticed this immediately because the last hostel had only one shower that you always had to wait for. The dorm rooms are the perfect size (6 beds compared to the 20 beds of the last hostel) and clean and there is great lounge area and kitchen. Of course the staff is very friendly. For 12.50 euros it might be the best deal so far! I decided to stay at least another night (possibly 2) in Turku, mainly because of the hostel. I'd rather stay in this hostel than the one in Helsinki since I'm kind of just waiting around for a few days for my visas.
The city of Turku itself is fantastic too. Really different from Helsinki (althougth Helsinki is a fantastic city too). I can't really describe the city other than it has a good vibe and its pretty. All the Finnish cities I've been to so far -- Oulu, Kuopio, Helsinki, and Turku -- have just been really great, cool cities. My positive outlook on all these cities is probably helped by the weather, which has been perfect since I arrived in Finnland, and all the pretty girls! Its hard to beat that combo.
Thursday evening after checking into the hostel I grabbed a pizza and ate it by the river. Then I went for a long walk up and down the river. There were lots of people out walking along both banks of the river. Many boat-restaurants are anchored along the banks and were all full. And further up the river there was some kind of summer concert/festival and the river bank was packed with people (mostly high school kids from the looks of them) sitting in any available spot drinking, smoking, being rowdy, and listening to the music (basically just being kids.....). It was fun to watch but now that I was again traveling alone and do not speak the lanuage kept me from being anything more than a spectator. I think the festival is going on all weekend. Then I headed back to the hostel to read my book (I'm nearly down now with 'A Lanuage Older Than Words'). I think there is some kind of high school group staying in the hostel but they are pretty tame.
I slept a lot better last night than I did any of the nights in Helsinki.
The city of Turku itself is fantastic too. Really different from Helsinki (althougth Helsinki is a fantastic city too). I can't really describe the city other than it has a good vibe and its pretty. All the Finnish cities I've been to so far -- Oulu, Kuopio, Helsinki, and Turku -- have just been really great, cool cities. My positive outlook on all these cities is probably helped by the weather, which has been perfect since I arrived in Finnland, and all the pretty girls! Its hard to beat that combo.
Thursday evening after checking into the hostel I grabbed a pizza and ate it by the river. Then I went for a long walk up and down the river. There were lots of people out walking along both banks of the river. Many boat-restaurants are anchored along the banks and were all full. And further up the river there was some kind of summer concert/festival and the river bank was packed with people (mostly high school kids from the looks of them) sitting in any available spot drinking, smoking, being rowdy, and listening to the music (basically just being kids.....). It was fun to watch but now that I was again traveling alone and do not speak the lanuage kept me from being anything more than a spectator. I think the festival is going on all weekend. Then I headed back to the hostel to read my book (I'm nearly down now with 'A Lanuage Older Than Words'). I think there is some kind of high school group staying in the hostel but they are pretty tame.
I slept a lot better last night than I did any of the nights in Helsinki.
posted by Dustin at 1:06 AM
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