Day 15: Lahti - Ski Jumpers and Lakes

After reluctantly getting out of bed this morning, we had porridge for breakfast! Complete with rhubarb compote and strawberries, fresh from the pot. Of course, there was also bread, cold cuts, cheese, and eggs, but the Finnish national breakfast was our favorite.

During breakfast, we talked to Terhi about her sculptures, allergies, and traditions. Then we packed up our things and were kindly taken into town as Petra, the oldest daughter of the family, was driven to school.

From the city library, we made our way to the Lahti Ski Stadium. Here we admired the various ski jumps and even had the luck to watch two ski jumpers training.

From here, it wasn't far to our next destination, Lake Vesijärvi. A smaller lake called 'Pikku Vesijärvi' is situated in front of the large lake, and it features a fountain installation in its side basin that attracts many tourists and residents every evening with music and lighting. Even in daylight, the water fountains were beautiful to look at, although the cold wind was blowing in our faces.

Furthermore, on the shore of Vesijärvi, there is the Sibelius Hall. This well-known concert and congress hall, along with the ski jump complex, is the city's landmark and impresses with its clever construction made of glass and light wood.

On the way there, we passed a weekly market that offered, and I'm not exaggerating, endless amounts of fish in addition to the usual fruits, vegetables, baked goods, etc. Especially salmon was available in all raw and not-so-raw forms.

Afterwards, we wandered somewhat helplessly through the city, which is quite similar to Hannover overall: lots of industry and few real highlights, but still a few very beautiful spots.

After picking up our backpacks from the accommodation, we boarded the train to Helsinki after a quick snack at the train station.

Initially, the Finnish capital couldn't quite decide how to welcome us after the one-hour journey. After the initial sunshine, it suddenly started pouring rain, only to clear up again.

Once we had picked up our Helsinki Cards, we took bus 55, which departed from platform 9 3/4 (well, actually 13, but you could only find it as an insider). After successfully navigating through the evening traffic and countless construction sites, there were only a few meters to the accommodation. We will have the nice, spacious 1-room apartment to ourselves for the next two nights.

After a short trip to the supermarket, we had beef stew with mushroom sauce and baked potatoes for dinner. We were also able to do our laundry in the basement, although the drying was only moderately successful. 😆 By tomorrow, it will probably have dried on a strange clothes rack without clothespins in the drying room.

Now it's time for us to go to bed. Tomorrow we plan to visit the Suomenlinna fortress.