Say hello to Tampere, Finland!

Here's a smattering of photos from our recent trip to Tampere, Finland....

While Mark was busy at work All Day Long, I got to play!  Well, rather I walked and walked all over Tampere.  Tampere is Finland's third largest city.  Since Finland is also in the Land of the Midnight Sun (which, as Alaskans we know all about!) we got to enjoy Tampere even after working hours!  

I might add that during the time we were there people were preparing for the popular Midsummer Holiday- Juhannusaatto.  It looked like lots of people were stocking up on sauna supplies....and we also heard that this holiday also sadly involves lots of boating accidents due to large volumes of alcohol consumption.  Don't quote me on that- it's just what I read and heard.

Tampere is surrounded by lots and lots of lakes. In a way it really reminded me of Big Lake area in Alaska.

Now, I knew that Finland would/could be similar to Alaska....but I was surprised by how different the vegetation was compared to Anchorage.  There were lots of oak and maples trees with various evergreen trees (different pines and firs) in addition to the birch and spruce trees that you find in Anchorage.   

Other things I noticed just through observation (and not based on research or statistics or boring stuff like that)...the Finns seem to be a rather plump, happy population.  Most of the people I saw looked like people we'd see here in the Midwest USA....not skinny but not overweight.  Usually when I've traveled to other parts of Europe I've been struck by how thin most of the population is but not in Finland!  (probably why I felt comfortable there!  LOL!).  I also saw so many pregnant women, moms out with their babies in cool prams (why can't they sell prams like that over here?  Hmmmm????), dads taking their little ones out for a stroll....just lots and lots of children!  I can't remember the last time I saw so many small children and pregnant ladies while visiting a European country so this was also a pleasant surprise.  OH...and I was amazed at how many people I saw with tattoos and body piercings all over (ouch!  that looks painful!).  Most people seemed to get around on bikes.  Love that!

I should add that while I was by myself  for most of the day I didn't end up taking any photos...so in reality there aren't many photos of our trip to Finland.  One place I visited was the Moomin Valley Museum.   I didn't bother taking any photos of the museum...it took me a while to figure out what I was looking at to begin with.  It turns out that the Moomins are trolls or cartoon creatures created by Tove Jansson.  She wrote lots of stories about this creatures...and while a lot of the population considers them to be children's stories they're really more political in nature.  Once I figured out what the Moomins were I saw them everywhere in Tampere- mostly on children's items (clothing, bedding, bath towels, lunch boxes, toys, etc).  I'm planning on getting a few of her books via Amazon and reading them to Annika and Ava.  (I should add that Annika and Ava both had a grand old time while we were away....they got to spend the week with their aunt, uncle, Grandma, Grandpa, but most importantly- their cousins!)  

Enough blabbing....here are some photos....

Näsinneula tower::Tampere's Space Needle...also has a revolving restaurant at the top. There is an elevator that takes you to the top!  No stairs involved and no knees were harmed in the following activity...

One evening we took a little stroll across town to this observation tower and instead of paying the fee to go up it we decided to have drinks and dessert in the restaurant at the top.  About the most $$$ dessert and drinks we've ever had but you honestly can't beat the view!

My lovely lakka  (cloudberry) dessert...drink was something with sea-buckthorn berries. Yum!

This was taken at 10pm.

Seriously.

Pyynikki Observation Tower- just hop on up several flights of steps from the hotel to get to this tower.  There was a little cafe at the base of this tower that served AWESOME donuts (with a hint of cardamom).  Yum!

Lovely gnats that followed you everywhere you went.  Strange thing is that there weren't any mosquitoes (and the gnats didn't bite).  Talk about weird!

The Rosendahl- our Home Sweet Home.  It's a beast of a complex!

View out our hotel room....we never could figure out what that thing was located across the lake.  Looks like a landing pad for aliens or something.

Strolling around Tampere.....

Bridge...won't tell you what Mark called it.

The docked boat which is a fancy outdoor bar.  One night we enjoyed a drink here.  This boat is located right next to a small outdoor market....

Here's another view of that small outdoor market.  (and around the corner was a restaurant called Hook...as in Captain Hook from Peter Pan.  I got to try my first-ever Buffalo wings there.  Oh my!  They were delicious!  Guess I should try them in the USA (just for research & comparison purposes).

That were selling veggies of all kinds.  And blood sausage.

And vendors were selling ice cream.  Lakka (cloudberry) was my personal favorite.  The Finns seem to have odd tastes....you'll find Tar flavored ice cream (that's tar from a pine tree; also useful for working on boats) and Salmiakki (which contains ammonium chloride; ummm....okay...are you sure it's candy?).  Are you sure those are edible?????

One night Mark and I took a boat ride out to this island....  (love the double vowels!)

and ate in this building....

in this restaurant.  Cool beams!

And went for an ultra-short stroll ...tried deciphering this sign in Finnish.  We'd be in serious trouble if it said something about needing to be careful about bears or a tourist-eating-monster.

Good thing we didn't have to worry!  On the boat ride back to Tampere....

This is the boat that took us to the island (thirty minute ride).

Our teeny, tiny sauna in our room.  I think our room was one of the very few that had its own sauna.  We did enjoy the high heat and steam.  (you spoon water out onto the hot rocks and sit back and breathe in the steam).  The Finns seem very serious about their saunas.  You can find all kinds of sauna related items in the department stores (with a small part of the store devoted to sauna stuff).

The many boats located along the lake...along the walk I did every day from our hotel to the center of Tampere.  Our hotel was located about 1 or 2 miles away from the city.  We were lucky that we had excellent weather as I only had my own two feet for transportation.

Another view of the lakefront trail linked with boats.

Ah yes.  Just had to take a photo of this lovely establishment....The Wrong Noodle Bar.  We didn't go in but I couldn't resist taking a photo!

Lupine everywhere!  We saw lots of lupine growing along the roads....this was taken on our last day in Finland- outside the hotel in Helsinki.  I just couldn't get Monty Python's Dennis Moore song out of my head!

Kiitos, Mark for such a lovely time!  (kiitos means thank you)