I think it’s best if I first explain what the 22-hours cruise is and what’s the point of going on one. It’s basically a party event that is hold on-board of the MS Silja Europa ship, where passengers are buying reasonably cheap booze, having lots of alcohol to drink the first evening and dealing with consequences – a slow hangover – the next day. I see it as a Finnish version of a mini spring break of some sort, that goes on and on.
Category: Life in Finland
Finland is known as a country of thousands of lakes and islands. I’ve visited it for the first time in 2005 and moved here in 2010. And I am happy to introduce you to this wonderful country. I’ll tell you about the life here; share the stories, reviews… and show you many-many photos of beautiful Finnish nature, amazing sights and places worth visiting.
Travel on a budget: Silja Line cruise from Helsinki to Stockholm
What comes to your mind when you hear the word “cruise”? Don’t know about you but I always thought that it’s something very fancy and luxurious, something that only rich people can enjoy. But when I came to Finland, I realized that cruises can be a fun way of travelling at a reasonable price. And as it turned out, a budget traveler can also afford a cruise from Helsinki to Stockholm or Tallinn even without the Club One membership card.
Winter adventure: day trip to Turku city. Turun linna in the snow
If you’ve been following my blog from the very beginning, then you know that I have been to Turku a couple of times. But it has always been in the summer (I don’t calculate work trip since I’ve hardly seen the city during that visit). That is why I wanted to go to Turku in the winter. And not just any winter! No, I wanted it to be a magical white winter, when Turun linna (Turku castle) would look like a beautiful winter postcard. Well, at least that’s how I imagined it.
Museum tour in Suomenlinna
Suomenlinna or Sveaborg in Swedish is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It’s an inhabited sea fortress built on the few islands in the 18th century, when Finland was still part of Sweden. Suomenlinna is my absolute favorite place in Helsinki! You can play outdoors games here, explore the fortress, have a picturesque picnic or take the sun and simply enjoy the beauty around you. There are also museums, craft shops, restaurants and summer theater.
Snowy Easter in Kaipola
Last days of March… and spring was nowhere to be found. Grey landscapes of Helsinki and Espoo were starting to bore and depress me. It’s like weather got stuck somewhere in the middle – between winter and spring. It was snowing almost every day, and in the evenings snow was turning into slippery mud. So, I was more than happy to leave Southern Finland and spend Easter in Kaipola, Central Finland.
Finnish Archipelago. Part two
After quite pricy yet delicious dinner we dropped by our cabin to pick up some beer (Finn without a beer is not a Finn) and went to the beach. We were sitting there on the lonely bench in embrace, drinking elixir of Finnish gods and watching marvelous sunset.
Finnish Archipelago. Part one
We have been planning our mini Finnish archipelago road trip for quite some time. And only in the summer of 2016 it finally became possible. Although I must admit… it wasn’t easy. Sometimes I even thought that the weather is against us. It was raining almost every single day. Downpours were replaced by rain, rain turned back to downpours, and we didn’t see the end of it. In other words, the summer of 2016 turned to be a real Finnish summer.
The Ultimate winter experience
I remember my first visit to snowy Central Finland like it was yesterday… I remember how fascinated I was by the beauty of majestic Finnish nature. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen the snow before. White winters were quite common also in Latvia, where I grew up. But somehow in Finland it seems different.