Helsinki - 10/20

An 8am flight meant that I woke up at around 5. Quadruple checked my bag and I was good to go! I have never been so excited for anything so the hour and a half flight seemed to take an age. Finland was beautiful from the air, totally flat like Denmark but lakes EVERYWHERE, and this wasn't even the lake district. Arrived at the airport at just before 11-Finland is an hour ahead-and caught the bus into town. I was really lucky with the weather, sunny and as warm as it could possibly be for this time of the year this far north. I had my tour book so I kind of followed a walking tour it recommended. Started off at the fish market and explored a good section of the city from there. Most of the sights were churches but apparently everything is closed on Mondays in Finland so I couldn't really go inside.

The Presidential Palace

The coolest church was this half underground one built basically like a cave. Helsinki has all these rocky outcrops all over the place and an architect decided to turn one into a church. At this point I was starving but all the places recommended in my book were closed! Stupid Mondays. Eventually I made my way back to the city center and found Cafe Zetor, a tractor-themed restaurant that serves only Finnish food.

Helsinki is pretty cool, similar to Copenhagen with more interesting architecture. The city has fantastic transportation even though it's relatively small. I had heard that the nordic cities aren't very happening this time of year so it was weird seeing a capital city with so few people around.

Part of the reason I embarked upon this journey across Scandinavia is because of my love for metal. All of the biggest and best metal bands in the world come from these countries so obviously there is a lot more culture surrounding it. It seems a very large amount of Finnish males are metalheads. Just about every other guy I saw had either long hair, a band tee or camo pants (considered very metal in Finland).

I found a website called the Heavy Metal Travel Guide which lists pubs, shops and clubs where they are at the least sympathetic to metal. My first stop was Hellsinki, a metal clothing store. Pretty cool, but $40 for a t-shirt is a bit over the top.

I had plans to couchsurf with a girl named Anna who lived just north of the city. I had a few hours left before our agreed meeting time so I decided to walk the rest of the way to her place. It was about 3 miles but I enjoy walking and exploring so I figured why not. I would really regret this later. It was a bit hard finding her place. I had a basic idea of where she lived but her street didn't exist according to Google Maps so I had to use a Finnish trip planner site so figure out about where it is. I actually found it after walking in circles for a bit. Basically a log cabin surrounded by some apartments.

She wasn't home and I wasn't 100% sure if it was the right place but her really nice neighbor let me use her phone and assured me that this was in fact where Anna lives. She showed up 10 minutes later and greeted me with a hug, I could already tell that this would be a great experience. She took me upstairs and showed me her place. She gave me my own bed, cooked me dinner and even let me take a shower! Beyond any of my expectations. Anna is a 23 year old school teacher who works only so she can afford to travel. She's been basically everywhere and is working right now so she can spend a few months in India. She's a vegan and a really sweet person. I couldn't have asked for a nicer host.

Now the full day of walking with a huge backpack had finally caught up with me; I was ready for bed at 9pm. Hung out with Anna a bit and went to bed early. So far so good, I survived my first day of lone travel.