We pulled in to Helsinki in the morning and were met from the boat by my friend Tania. She even managed to spot us as we were walking down the long hallway into the terminal. Apparently she first noticed our backpacks and then was sure it was us because Justin was wearing his “pirate hat.”  (click the link and scroll down if you want to see the hat.)  And this is what she would expect from someone who married me! I was still so excited to see her and to introduce Justin and we had a wonderful three days hanging out and getting to know her awesome boyfriend Lauri.

Lauri, Tania, and Justin

We spent a lot of time walking around the city and just chatting and catching up. Tania knows a lot about Finland and knows all of the good places to go, so she was a wonderful tour guide.

Fountain in downtown Helsinki

We saw three different churches, including one that is built into a hill and features rock walls.

Tuomiokirkko - the big white church

Uspenski Orthodox - the red church

Temppeliaukio - the rock church

We tried traditional Finnish food. And it was very tasty! I had meatballs, Justin had fried herring, Tania had cabbage rolls (these were really, really yummy), and Lauri had a shrimp stew.

Finnish meatballs

We found a restaurant named after me!

Hazel Restaurant!

We saw some art made of old shirts.

Shirt Art

Had ice cream at an island with traditional Finnish buildings on it and basked in the sun.  My ice cream was pear flavored, which was a new thing to me, and is now possibly my new favorite ice cream flavor.

Justin is excited for ice cream!

Old buildings on the island

Also, we were able to have a Finnish sauna experience. I had no idea, but saunas are a really big deal in Finland. In fact, I learned that there is one sauna for every two people in Finland. The house that Tania and Lauri live in has a traditional wood burning sauna in the basement, so on our last night there we gave it a try. Even though they have saunas in some places in the US, I had never really been in one. It was incredibly relaxing, and I can really see why it would be so popular in Finland where the winters are so harsh. Justin earned some respect by being able to stay in the sauna the longest of all of the guys.

It was so relaxing and refreshing to see an old friend and meet some new friends and I was not ready to leave after such a short visit. We really can’t thank Tania and Lauri enough for their hospitality and for taking such good care of us – they even woke up early one morning to bring our laundry in out of the rain, while we were still fast asleep!  After all of the craziness that was our dance camp, it was perfect to be staying with friends in a real house and to feel like we got at least partly caught up on life.  Helsinki is clearly a pretty awesome city, but the best part for me was definitely having time with friends.

Statues outside the central train station