Day 33, Turku - Teijo National Park, 70 km

Final sprint towards the Finnish capital.

After having a long chat with Judith over breakfast today, I'm heading southwest in the delightful 21-degree weather. The direct route to Helsinki would have been only about 150 km. However, I wanted to make a detour to Teijo National Park. That way, I can enjoy the fantastic Finnish cycling paths a bit longer.

Unfortunately, the National Park has been rather disappointing so far. Teijo itself is a small village, not much more than the brickfield. At least there's a small grocery store. But other than that, there's hardly anything indicating a National Park. There are some signs - in Finnish. There's room for improvement in terms of tourism. It's a pity because there's surely a lot to discover. In the region, there used to be some ironworks villages around 1850. Visitors could certainly learn a lot.

Perhaps Mathildedal is more interesting. However, I won't be passing by until tomorrow.

At least there's a beautiful stone church - Finland's smallest.

However, my accommodation has something interesting. The house has an air-raid shelter. I read that the Finnish Home Guard places great importance on civil defense - long before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In Helsinki, almost every major building has an air-raid shelter; if you build an office or residential building above a certain size, you must include a shelter, or else you won't get a building permit.

Finland is a young country, having gained independence only in 1917 and later defended it in bloody battles against the Soviet Union. The trauma still lingers today. Helsinki, with its 650,000 inhabitants, has around 900,000 shelter places. In the event of an attack, not only residents but also commuters and tourists would be protected. It's different from probably many other countries, where only space for the elite is provided. This reflects the Nordic welfare state principle.