Hi all! It's been a while since my last post, but I just returned from a weeklong trip with my Public Health in Northern Europe class. We went to Tallinn, Estonia for 3 days and Helsinki, Finland for 3 days. It was an amazing trip and I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to travel with - they are all so nice and we got along really well. Estonia is exactly what you would picture...cold, windy, rainy, gray (still really cool!). Helsinki was brisk, sunny, and gorgeous (reminded me so much of fall in the Northeast).
Estonia
The night we arrived in Estonia we went to a medieval restaurant for dinner. They served us so much food. (I'm not kidding. We all unbuttoned our pants by the end of the meal because we couldn't breathe.) The first course was bread with a variety of spreads (my two favorites were lingonberries and some cheese thing). The second course was pork and chicken. And then we had cheesecake for dessert. Absolutely delicious!
Dinner wasn't provided the second night but our program assistant who travels with us and had done this program 2 years ago when she was in DIS led us to this delicious crepe place. I was under the impression that the crepes would be dessert-sized so I got a salad and this apple-vanilla crepe. Little did I know that finishing the crepe would be a huge struggle. Don't worry though. I managed. (And I even managed to help some other people finish theirs too.)
We ended up going to a karaoke bar with our program assistant and our teacher. We may have been slightly intoxicated...we sang Party in the USA, Sk8er Boi, Truly Madly Deeply, and New York City. Not to mention we helped this old man out with his singing since he was hardcore struggling the whole time.
This is our teacher, Morten. He is so cute and Danish and has no idea how obsessed we are with him. To his credit he was trying to sing New York City and Sk8er Boi -- two songs he definitely did not know. (He loves singing and has a great voice though...our class even sings a song every morning before class starts.)
So many beautiful wool sweaters! I ended up getting one from an outdoor street market for 47 euro and it is lusciously warm (and slightly itchy).
This is part of the wall leading to the Old Town area of Estonia. It is one of the best preserved old towns in Europe.
My class!
Beautiful view of Lower Town Estonia from Toompea.
This was the first time I truly realized and appreciated that it was FALL. It were in this courtyard for a long time throwing leaves into the air and just enjoying its beauty.
Finland
Tuomiokirkko (The Cathedral) in Helsinki. It is a Lutheran church in the center of the city. Our walking tour was at 9:30am and you could tell that it was going to be a gorgeous day.
A statue right in front of the Cathedral of Emperor Alexander II of Russia.
Pretty flowers!
Aleksis Kivi is a Finnish author who wrote Seven Brothers (one of the first novels in the Finnish language).
Helsinki Central Station. We took public transportation the whole time we were there -- it wasn't nearly as nice as it is in Denmark!
One of the dishes the Finns are famous for is reindeer. Our last meal in Helsinki was at a traditional Finnish restaurant. The appetizer was salmon soup (a little lighter than a chowder) and it was amazing. Then we had reindeer with mashed potatoes and lingonberries. And for dessert we had vanilla ice cream with berries. NOM.
The annual Herring Fair is held every October in Helsinki. Fishermen sell every type of fish you can imagine right from the back of their boats - it is the best selection of fresh fish you can find. There are also a bunch of souvenir/jewelry stands and some places where you can order a traditional Finnish meal. Wandering around and looking/smelling was quite the experience.
This is the Finnish Orthodox Church. It is situated atop a hill and we had a beautiful view of the whole city when we made it to the top.
Temppaliaukio Church (the Rock Church). It is a Lutheran church built into rockface with lots of natural light flooding the entire inside. It is breathtaking and definitely one of the coolest churches I have ever visited.
I ended up getting a window seat on the flight back to Copenhagen on Friday evening. I was wide awake the entire time and enjoying the view of this beautiful sunset. A perfect way to end the trip :)
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