On Friday night I took the train from Lahti to Helsinki (one hour ride) to meet some other exchange students for a dinner, chilling, and a fireworks competition. We had a great time and also did some sightseeing...
This is one of the main attractions in the city: Helsinki Cathedral. In one of my earlier posts on this blog I detailed some of it's history and as you can see, it's very impressive!
In the above picture (from left): Anna Dorra (Finnish rebound who went to Japan), Gabriel Quin (Inbound from Australia), Elli Fiedler (Inbound from Germany), David Jakob (Inbound from Germany), Me.
And of course, my footbag is always on hand... or in pocket!
Unfortunately I didn't take any (good) pictures during the fireworks! But they were great, there was a lot of people there!
Today (Sunday), I went into Helsinki with my host father, Hannu, and to meet Barb and Harry Norris (family friends who are on a European cruise) but first we went to Suomenlinna (translates to "Finland's Castle") which is a series of islands in front of Helsinki. An extensive military outpost was built there in 1748 by Sweden in response to Russian expansion and has played a key role in defending Finland in times of war. Now there are 850 people living on the islands but it still serves as an excellent tourist attraction.
BOOM!
Hannu and I met Barb and Harry at noon at the Cathedral. They also brought some of their friends from the cruise and I got to see a teacher from my elementary school, Mrs. Templeman, which was a cool surprise! The stuff in front of us is my tennis racquet, shoes, books and stuff from home mom sent with them, thanks again guys for carrying my stuff all over Europe! And thx mom <3
Here's a great shot of Harry, Barb and me in front of Helsinki Cathedral.
I had a great weekend and Helsinki is an amazing city. Since it's only an hour away from Lahti by train, I'll be travelling there often with my families as well as with other Exchange students for Rotary-organized events.
Coming up: pictures from the Penttilä residence (I promise!) as well as from the Rotary Finland District 1390 conference happening on Friday and Saturday.
3 comments:
Nice to see you with Barb, Harry and Bev, Dante. Thanks to Barb for carrying your tennis racquet and sneakers all over the Baltic Sea!
Dad
Nice to see you with Barb, Harry and Bev, Dante. Thanks to Barb for carrying your tennis racquet and sneakers all over the Baltic Sea! It looks like it's colder in Finland than in southern Ontario, from the clothes everyone is wearing in your pictures.
Dad
I give you my blog : http://angele-in-oulu.skyrock.com
It's in french, but there a lot of pictures, and maybe you can understand some french words !!
Angèle
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