Fr 15/10 Helsinki

All day damp, occasional rain.

Fortunately, the two windows of our studio apartment face the quiet backyard, so we can sleep in. In the late morning, we go on a city tour by bus and tram. We bought day tickets for eight euros each using the Helsinki app.

Our first destination is the fascinating Rock Church, which we have already visited a few years ago.

The interior of this church was carved out of a rock in our residential area of Töölö.

Fortunately, we are early enough to visit the church in peace before the later tourist groups arrive.

From there, we continue by tram into the city. Gerd wants to visit some record stores, he is looking for Finnish jazz.

Afterwards, we stroll through bookstores and cookware stores before returning to our apartment for lunch.

The weather does not invite further exploration, so we spend a quiet afternoon before heading to the concert of Juha's university's "Old Boys" in the early evening. He has given us free tickets.

The concert takes place in a historic knight's hall with excellent acoustics. The audience consists of friends and family. The men sing Schubert's beautiful music like angels, as does the soprano and the solo tenor. We are thrilled. As "normal" tourists, we would never have experienced this!