One year in Finland

Starting with Ruissalo in my last post, I want to focus now on places that are definitely worth a visit. The next place that I can highly recommend visiting is the city of Naantali. Naantali is a town in the southwest of Finland with approx. 19,068 inhabitants. It is situated on the Baltic Sea coast in the Varsinais-Suomi region not far from Turku. Naantali is one of the oldest towns in Finland and is now an important port and a popular tourist destination thanks to its picturesque wooden old town. It is also possible to visit the Mumin-Island there. (It is currently closed but will open for the summer) For me, Naantali was one of the first places that I visited because it offers many interesting things to see. The biggest advantage for me as a student compared to other cities in south Finland is that it is so easy to reach. Just take the Föli bus numbers 6 or 7 and go there without any further expenses. If you decide to visit Naatali, remember to take a camera an take ...

Now we have to talk about in my opinion the most beautiful place on Turku’s territory – Ruissalo. It is an island that is beginning next to the harbor and leads some kilometers towards the sea and the archipelago. The location is south-west of Turku if you search it on a Map. Ruissalo is easy to reach for everyone. There is the chance to go there by car, bus, bike or even walk there. I tried all of these ways to go there already and have to say that every one of the options is simply equal and has benefits. Ruissalo offers different nice nature walks, dog parks, camping areas, barbecue places, festival area and beaches. So there should be something for everybody. Activities that I can recommend at Ruissalo are the following: -           Go there for a nice walk in nature. The variety of different nature walks will offer a suitable walk for everybody or all members of a group. The nature experience is just great. -  ...

I want to finish the reports about Turkus shopping centers with the biggest one. (At least I think that it is the biggest one) I am also not sure if it is correct to say that it is in Turku because it seems that Mylly is closer to Raisio than to Turku. Mylly is offer an impressive variety of different stores, coffee and food places. There is literally something for anybody. The shop sizes vary a lot as well. There are small shops that are just run by a single shop assistant and then you have the big shops with hundreds of square meters and dozens of employees. Mylly is like Skanssi outside the city but still easy to reach by car or bus. For the ones who own a car I can say that they do not have to worry about a parking slot since there is quite a big number of parking spaces available. I think I have been to Mylly 3 times since I arrived in Turku in August.

Skanssi was the second shopping center that I visited after I arrived in Turku. It is located a bit outside the center of Turku but still easy to reach by car or bus. From the student village, it is quite easy with one change from 50, 51, 53 or 54 you just have to change to bus number 9 and that is pretty much it. Skannsi offers a bigger variety of shops than Hansa Kortelli and most of the stores are bigger than the ones in Hansa as well. My favorite shop was the Outdoor XXL shop because it was nice for me to get in touch with the Finnish sports and the way to prepare for going outdoors. It was amazing to see for me how easy it is to buy a knife there. In Germany, something like this would never be possible. It appeared even a bit crazier when I saw the weapons on the wall and all the optics. This was simply something totally new for me. So far I was in Skanssi something around 5 or 6 times since I arrived in August. I choose this place mainly because of the variety of shops ...

A shopping center in the middle of the city sounds like a good concept to me. This is exactly what Hansa Kortelli is about. Located straight in the middle of the heart of Turku at a place that is perfectly to reach by bus, bike, car or just walking. It offers a good variety of different stores and food places that have quite comfortable opening hours. For me as a student of Sepänkati Campus, it is perfectly located to go there after school and get the stuff I need there. Hansa Kortelli is currently under construction, this is why it probably does not look as beautiful as it would look without all that construction equipment. But after the renovation works it will probably be an amazing place. Hansa is also offering some nice coffee places that are good to meet other people. Especially in the rainy autumn, it was a good option to stay in Hansa instead of walking to a coffee place outside in the rain. All in all, Hansa is a nice place that most likely every student will visit...

The first time that I ever realized that there is a fast-food chain called Hesburger was at the train station in Helsinki. When I arrived then in Turku and after I brought my stuff to my apartment, my tutor said that we should grab something to eat at Hesburger. So I can say that my first day in Finland was finished with a Hesburger meal. For me it was quite impressive to see that there is a company that can resist the big global players like Mc Donalds and Burger King. For sure the burgers there are still cheap ones but in my opinion, they are much better than the burgers of Mc Donalds. This may be the reason why I just know one Mc Donalds in Turku but on the other hand, I know a dozen Hesburger places. Another aspect that is in my opinion worth mentioning is that it is nice to have the choice as the customer between the fast-food giants.