FINLAND: TAMPERE

This is it. My last trip abroad. How has the day already come? I landed in Helsinki late in the morning, and Emilia met me at the airport. We got a quick lunch and stopped to get candy for the train ride.

While we were on the train headed to Tampere, Emilia and I heard a loud crash coming from our train carriage. The train immediately stopped, and we weren't exactly sure what all happened. It turns out there was a person on the train tracks. I'm not going to go into details, but make your own assumptions about the most probable thing that could happen to a person if they got hit by a train. That was not a great start to being in the "happiest country in the world".

On a more positive note, we eventually made it to Tampere, and Emilia's mom drove us back to their house. We relaxed at the house for a bit before me, Emilia, and Emilia's sister Olivia went to an international food market. I picked the best time to come to Finland because this food market is only open during one week of the year! On the walk to the market, we passed a pretty church.

We got these treats called Metrilaku which are extremely long licorice and come in various flavors. We walked around the food market for a bit, talking about life back in the States. It's really exciting because Olivia is going to be staying with our family as an exchange student in August. I got to talk to her about classes, things to do, and what life is like in Plymouth. 

Once we were done walking around the market, Emilia drove us to a lookout point in Tampere. One of my favorite parts of studying abroad is how I've left my mark in so many places around Europe. I obviously had to do the same in Finland.

The view was beautiful! Emilia and Olivia told me that Tampere is in between two lakes, which makes the view beautiful from all angles.

We started getting hungry and went back to the Pironetti house to have dinner. Mrs. Pironetti made Makaroonilaatikko, which is pasta and beef. It was delicious. For dessert, we had blueberry pie. 

After dinner, we played a game and hung out. Emilia has another younger sister, Emma, who is 3 1/2 and is absolutely adorable. We can't communicate with each other, but at least she's cute!

We hung out for a bit longer, then went to the waterfront to watch the sunset. Even though it was cloudy, it was still beautiful.

The next morning, Emilia and I woke up bright and early to take Emma to daycare. After, we drove around to see some attractions in Tampere. 

The first place we went was another lookout point in the city. I can never get sick of this view.

Since it was nice outside, we parked the car and walked for a bit to look at more attractions.

We saw lots of pretty buildings, a lock bridge, a chocolate shop, and a food market. 

Tampere isn't a very touristy town like Helsinki is, but it was still nice to see what a normal city in Europe looks like that's not full of tourist traps.

The shops had the cutest things that would be perfect for gifts to bring back home.

But I have no money and no room to bring them home with me, so I didn't look around too much for it to tempt me.

Since we got up super early that morning, we came back to Emilia's house and relaxed on their porch for a bit while eating ice cream bars. 

We then picked up Emma from daycare and walked back to the house to hang out more. This trip to Finland has not been very crazy, but I've really enjoyed hanging out with the family and not doing much.

For dinner, I went to a nice restaurant by the water with Emilia, Emma, and their mom, Riina. Unfortunately, Mr. Pironetti is a pilot and flew to Australia earlier in the week, so I wasn't able to meet him. But I was glad I got to meet Riina and Emilia's younger brothers, Noel and Noah, who were all extremely nice.

Afterwards, I met one of Emilia's friends, Elina, and the three of us went to a terrace to watch the Finland vs. Denmark hockey game. 

Elina was super nice and funny. She kept saying how bad her English was, but I thought it was really good—a lot better than my Finnish. While I was in Finland, I learned a few basic Finnish words:

• Ei = No
• Joo = Yes
• Moi = Hello
• Moi moi = Goodbye
• Kiitos = Thank you

I learned pretty quickly that Finnish is a very hard language. 

We couldn't get through the whole game because it was starting to get super cold. But before we went home, we went back to the waterfront to see the sunset again.

This sunset was even more beautiful than the night before. What's crazy is that these photos were taken at 11:00 p.m. at night! It's crazy how late the sun sets. Emilia told me that in the summer, there are some days when the sun rarely sets. 

The next day, Emilia had an exam, and the rest of the family was either at school or work, so I had the morning to myself. I mostly sat on their porch and worked on busy work on my computer. Once Emilia got back from her exam, we got burgers for lunch and picked Emma up from daycare. 

For dinner, Mrs. Pironetti cooked salmon, salad, and mashed potatoes. I have never had salmon before, so I was a bit nervous to try it, but I knew I had to eat it because I didn't want to be rude. But I really enjoyed it! The food was very good, and I would love to try salmon again.

After dinner, Emilia drove me to her friend Milka's house before going to Milka's cottage. The drive over to the cottage felt just like going up north to Deer Camp, so I loved it!

Once we got up to the cottage, Emilia heated up the sauna, and then we played card games. We changed into our swimming suits and sat in the sauna until we were super hot, then jumped into the lake. It was cold, but very refreshing. 

On my last morning in Finland, Emilia, Olivia, and I went to a food truck to get a quick breakfast. After, I said goodbye to Olivia before we went to school. It was sad, but I'll be seeing her very soon! 

At the house, Emilia and I relaxed, and I finished packing up my things. I got to the train station, said goodbye to Emilia, and started my journey home. I thought that I was out of luck on getting my last pin, but I was able to find a postcard and a pin from Finland! My pin collection is complete... for now.

Here is my pin collection (minus Finland because I bought it in the airport and Morocco because it broke).

The flight home wasn't the worst, but it felt long. I wasn't able to fall asleep, so I spent most of the flight watching movies. Once I landed, I reunited with my mom, dad, and boyfriend, Ryan! We drove home from Chicago, making a pit stop at Kopp's for burgers.

 

When I got home, I was surprised by all of my closest family members. It was so nice to see everyone right away, and it was a great way to come home. I can't wait to see the rest of my friends and family and tell them about my amazing semester.

Best Part of the Trip: Hanging out at the cabin! Milka was so nice to let me visit her cabin for a few hours. 

Worst Part of the Trip: The train incident.

Overall Thoughts: I have truly fallen in love with Europe, and my desire to explore the rest of the world has grown so much! I have met amazing people, been to amazing places, and done some pretty amazing things. I truly cannot say enough words to express how grateful I am that I got to do this. This has been the best five months of my life, and I don't think I will ever stop talking about this part of my life. I'm so sad to be leaving this amazing continent, but it is time to go home. Thank you to everyone who has helped me go abroad, and thank you to everyone who has followed along on this blog! Now, if you want to see me this summer, you can find me working at PJ Campbell's at the Depot, trying to get all the money I've spent while I've been here...