Scenic Helsinki

I gave/give Helsinki a bit of a bad rep. But it really does have some cool landmarks and I genuinely enjoyed touring the city (I just wish it was a few degrees warmer!):

Marisa, Melanie, Me, Zoe, Emelie...behind us you can see the Helsinki Cathedral we visited later that day.

Our Tuesday centered mostly on visiting churches. It was certainly interesting to compare and contrast the architecture...and to think about people gathering to worship so many years ago.

First stop: Temppeliaukio Church (a Lutheran church also known as "Rock Church")

I've never seen anything like this before. The church is built directly into solid rock. The outside doesn't look that special, but the inside is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. And the acoustics in there are ridiculously good:

Pictures truly don't do this place justice. 

An organ was playing while I sat in the benches for a few minutes....I could've stayed there all day.

Here's a picture I found off of google images of the top of the dome. We didn't have permission to go up on top, but I was curious what it looked like:

You can see the entrance to the building in the lower left corner...cool, right??

One last thing about this church:

Available to take were bookmarks of bible verses translated into 60 different languages. Here's an example of a Romanian one (for you, Nell!):

I collected quite a few of these...and also a Finnish hymn book (a used copy they were giving out). I think these are some of my most cherished souvenirs so far. More authentic than the keychains-and cheaper, too! :)

Next Stop: Helsinki Indoor Market

The above pictures were taken as we were walking there. If you look closely at the middle photo, you can see the market building center right. It is the tiny building the path is leading to. 

Photo Credit: Google Images (It was too cold to take out my phone for this shot!)

Inside the market:

Zoe, Emelie and I ended up heading back there on Wednesday (because it was the only indoor activity we could think of to do before heading to the airport!) We had a delicious lunch:

Chocolate-covered licorice!

Anyway, back to Tuesday....

Stop Three: Russian Orthodox Uspenski Cathedral"

It took us several tries to figure out where the entrance was (it's high up on a hill and we weren't sure which side of the hill to go up). But we found it eventually!

I love the peace and quiet of just sitting, taking in the view, and reflecting:

And two final pictures of here (Picture credit: Emelie)

On our walk to the next Cathedral, we passed this lock bridge:

We probably had too much fun thinking about all of the different relationships...some people drew locks on the fence because they didn't have locks (This is me!). 

Fourth stop: Helsinki Cathedral

[Insert picture from Melanie of me here]

I didn't get many pictures of this church because a choir rehearsal was taking place, and I didn't want to be rude. But this was probably my favorite moment from the entire trip. We were really cold so we decided to sit inside and listen to their rehearsal. The people in the choir were students-ranging from primary school to high school and maybe older. At first, I was expecting some kind of Sunday School program type presentation. But with the first note, Melanie and I turned to each other with gaping expressions...THEY WERE PHENOMENAL!

Here's a video of a clip of what we heard..I quietly filmed it in my lap so the picture quality isn't good, but it can give you an idea of what they sounded like:

It was so neat to witness an ordinary cultural event (with no tourists!) It resounded with me in a similar way that watching the student football players in Barcelona did. These always seem to be better moments than the touristy ones!

And that's really all I got of Helsinki! Except for pictures from our journey home:

Snow, snow, snow.

Left: Zoe getting breakfast (candy bars) from the vending machine; Right: Me posing behind some advertisement for the 2017 Eurobasket(ball) Championship to be hosted in Helsinki. We have no interest in the 'Eurobasket' part, just the '2017' :)

Snow piling up on top of the zipper on my purse. As we were walking, I kept singing about the Bahamas  to cheer us up.

Me posing with a taste of CT: 

The other girls got these balloons in Stockholm while I was with Sarah

And that was the end of our reading week adventure! Zoe, Emelie and I arrived home around 10/11ish, and Marisa and Melanie arrived home a little later than that. Then, Marisa and I unpacked, did laundry, and repacked for Poland....but that's for another post. 

Cheers!

Leah

La Ciudad (Day 2)

(Saturday, October 8th)

After doing some research before we left, I had a rough list of things I wanted to do while in Barcelona. So the night before, Anna and I planned a general schedule for Saturday, and I'm proud of us for truly making the most of our time!

1.) Wake up early and reserve the bikes.

We did it! We were ready to go by 8 o'clock, despite the fact that no one was up. A typical day in Spain is much different than the U.S. No restaurants were open this early in the morning. Fun fact: Spain has been in the wrong time zone for 7 decades. During World War 2, dictator Francisco Franco set the time to be in line with Nazi Germany. It makes no sense geographically, but still remains and Spain is late-to-bed and late-to-rise. 

We finally found this one that was open:

Coincidence? I think not. 

We were the only customers in the restaurant. After a satisfying avocado omelette, I was ready to start sightseeing. 

2.) Visit Boqueria Market on Las Ramblas (street) and try at least one of the famous fruit juices. 

It took a little bit to get there on our bikes, but it was totally worth it! I could spend forever there. 

Before heading into the market, I saw this group of Spanish ladies decorating the road in an almost mosaic-ly design using cut up flower petals, salt and dyed flour. They were promoting something but I couldn't quite figure out what because the pamphlet was all in Spanish. I did talk with one of the women, who made a joke: "take picture: one euro" and the rest of the women laughed. They appreciated the attention and my interest in what they were doing (I think, anyway!)

Then we went into the market. Oh, the colors!! It's a photographer's heaven. 

It reminded me of high school Spanish class. It's weird. I knew the pictures in my text book were of real things, but this felt real. It was neat because, despite the tourism, it was definitely a place that locals frequented all the time. 

This woman skinned and chopped up this fish faster than I've ever seen, only pausing to wipe off some blood that splattered on her face. At the same time, she carried a conversation with the local man who ordered it in rapid Spanish and I tried not to stare in fascination.

(Left) Zoe and Anna trying some strange fruit (forget the name), (Right) Zoe grossed out by the live crabs moving on the ice. 

I had read to wait until going further into the market to buy the fruit drinks (they were everywhere, but only 1.50 in the booths further in). The drinks are pure fruit: no sugar and no water. There were so many different combinations it was difficult to choose. I ended up having Blackberry & Coconut. 

Absolute perfection. 

Some other absolutely beautiful presentations:

Sweets and candies galore!

Some sweets decorated to look like McDonald's and other American food. Do they really think that's all us Americans care about? Maybe so. (I guess I'm guilty because it got our attention and I took a picture!)

3.) Observe the architecture, especially the cathedrals.

Last week in my ECA (Environments, Communities and the Arts) class, my professor specifically mentioned the architecture in Barcelona and told us that sometimes in our lives, we should check it out. I made a mental note to do so!

We saw this church as we were leaving the market. I'm mad at myself because I forgot to bring a sweater to go over my dress, and thus wasn't allowed into the church to see the architecture on the inside. Next time! But here's some pictures of the outside. 

The woman on the left was playing a version of  Canon in D and it was soo nice to listen to!

We continued wandering around until around 11:30 (we were meeting Mel and Nick at the Bed and Bike at noon). 

I happened to witness a man getting arrested as someone was being lifted into a stretcher in an ambulance. Reminded me once again to be aware of my surroundings! Not ten minutes later, I tripped with my bike (for the second time), and was approached by two police officers who didn't speak any English. Fun stuff. 

4.) See some Gaudi's work, including the famously unfinished Sagrada Familia.

The groups of us split up once we got back to the Bed & Bike. Mel, Nick, Zoe and I decided to head towards the Sagrada Familia. It's truly massive. SO detailed. And crazy unique. 

Pictures don't do it justice. The top right picture shows how large it is compared to the poeple waiting in line to go in. Construction started in 1886 and is still ongoing. The architects predict it will be finished in 2026. (Hey, what's 10 more years??) I would've loved to go inside, but we didn't quite have enough time and it was fairly expensive. Next time!

Park Guell was next on the list of Gaudi's work. But it took awhile to get there, and we made quite a few stops along the way. So to keep it chronological...

5.) Do random, unplanned things. 

Yes, this was on my list :) And we definitely did!

 I really had to go to the bathroom along the way, and the only option was to stop at a Cafe along the way. I found this one, but I felt awkward because I was the only customer. The lady, in her late 70's, looked expectantly at me for me to tell her what I wanted. I felt like I couldn't just use her for her bathroom, so I fumbled around, trying to see something small I could buy while also trying to come up with a way to politely ask where the bathroom was. Oh man, was it awkward! She asked me if I lived in Spain or if I was a tourist. I said, "No I'm just visiting. Can you tell?" (awkward laugh). She raised her eyebrows in response. (sigh).

I ordered a pastry and dashed for the bathroom while she got it ready for me. Then I sat down and ate as quickly as I could (a shame, really, cuz the place was cute. But my friends were waiting for me across the street). 

Ice cream for lunch :) Melanie ordered for us in Spanish, but the server did speak English. (It was a pretty touristy area-as you can see by the McDonald's next door!)

Last but not least, my FAVORITE RANDOM THING WE DID:

As we were biking up the looong hill to Park Guell, we heard cheering coming from this stadium. We decided to park the bikes and check it out. It turned out to be the beginning of a local football match. (My guess is the players were in 6th grade or so). It was so neat to be part of their culture: to watch the players (who were AMAZINGLY talented) and also the parents, who continually chanted some chant in Spanish that I didn't understand. It reminded me of Brookside Park Saturdays in Ellington, except on a much larger scale. 

We stayed for the start of the game and to see this girl score two goals (aka the only two goals). She was the only female player, so we chose her team to root for. She was awesome...and the yearbook editor in me was excited to get this shot :)

Two little kids (siblings of players, I'm assuming) were playing on the sidelines and were SO. ADORABLE. I had no idea what they were saying to each other, but their innocence and excitement had me missing my cousins a bit. 

Mischievously taking the corner flag off the post..putting it back...and then looking to make sure he didn't get caught :)

We had to leave early to make it to Park Guell, but I definitely was a little bummed we didn't get to watch the whole thing. It was such an unexpected, non tourist-y thing, but I think it was my favorite Barcelona memory.

6.) Make it up to Park Guell for sunset. 

We didn't get to be there for sunset, but it was certainly beautiful nonetheless (and worth the bike ride walk with our bikes up!). The park was free, but the main tourist attraction (Guell's mosaic) wasn't, so we just hiked up and had a view of the architecture from the distance. 

The view from the top was amazing!

And I even managed to convince Melanie to take a serious picture of us. Can't wait to go to Venice with these three!

As expected, there was a neat gift shop:

Thought of you, Auntie!

Building overlooking the view in typical Gaudi fashion :)

The best part about riding up a hill is that it's downhill on the way back! We had a blast coasting through the intersections (which are strange, by the way: there are parking spaces along the perimeter of every intersection):

7.)  Don't spend too much money (so I can go somewhere else next weekend!)

Zoe, Marisa and I found a Japanese restaurant that was so nice. Less than 10 euros per person, and you pick any four dishes from the menu. Yes please!

I love me some sushi and duck!

It was definitely strange to have Asian waiters who spoke Spanish. (They probably speak Japanese, too, but that wouldn't have helped either. haha). Moment of understanding: "Can I have, um, agua?" "Si, aguaaaa." He ended up giving us the pad of paper and having us write down the numbers of the items we wanted.

Zoe refers to me now as AGUAAA. 

And that was my Saturday! There are still several things on my list that I didn't get to do (including the Picasso museum, Flamenco Dancing, and Sanderman's free walking tours). But there's always next time!!

Front row = leg room = sleep :)

We left Sunday morning at 4:45 to make an early plane flight...and after a few bumps in the road, made it back to London around noonish. As Mel and I stepped out of Archway station, I had this overwhelming sense of happiness and my first thought was, I'm home! Such a strange thing...this place I've been in for just over a month has become home. And it took a small getaway trip to fully appreciate it. It's good to be back!

And now it's time to hit the books! :(