Welcome back! We have made it to the fourth and final installment of the Finland chronicles. As I’ve written these posts and revisited my memories from Finland, I’ve thought a lot about how much growth happened for me over the course of that June. I’m so glad I took the leap and studied abroad. It was one of the most life-changing moments of my time at Oberlin, and I can’t recommend it enough.
6.23-6.25: Estonia trip!
With Estonia only a short ferry ride away, a visit there was an absolute must before our time in Northern Europe ran out. We spent three days exploring old Tallinn during the day, going to the spa in the evenings, and watching Love Island at night. The old architecture and cobblestone streets of Tallinn were absolutely stunning. There was a lot of shopping, with tons of great yarn, vintage clothes, and antiques. We did a lot of exploring in small groups, including venturing to a gorgeous old castle and various museums. We were also sure to take advantage of the hotel spa, which had four saunas: an aroma sauna, a traditional Finnish sauna, a steam sauna, and a salt steam sauna. I beelined straight for the aroma sauna and never looked back. I also finished the shawl I had been knitting throughout the trip during a Love Island night, which was celebrated with quite a lot of squealing and joy. It was one of my favorite little moments from the trip.
6.26
We had a free day to finish up our happiness journal assignments, so I went around to my final yarn stores and went thrifting with Coligny and Ana. Afterward, the whole group gathered to watch Queer Ultimatum.
6.27
Another mostly free day, which I spent at the Helsinki Museum of Art. Loren and Annika cooked dinner for the entire group and we all ate together on the terrace. As a surprise, they gave out paper plate awards--Professor Mattson got “paparazzi” and I, of course, got “crafting queen.” In the evening, we all went to a karaoke bar. Everyone sang and had a great time. Afterward, we sought out some late night snacks in Kampii before heading back to the towers.
6.28
Helsinki Pride! We all marched in with the parade all the way to the festival, where there were tents with food and entertainment. After a while, it started raining, so we headed back to the towers. I did some laundry, cooked, and went to the sauna to warm up after the rainy day before Love Island. After Love Island, we went out to a bar.
6.29
Seeing as our time in Finland began with a group sauna, our final day had to include one last sauna together. We returned to Lapinlahden Lahde’s public sauna. Upon arrival, we quickly realized that our massive group was not exactly ideal for the very cozy and intimate sauna, already full of people. We packed in like sardines, much like our first sauna experience, alternating between the sauna and the lake outside. I took one last walk through the beautiful Lapinlahden grounds before heading home to finish packing. In the evening, we had our farewell dinner at Ravinto Cella Fleminginkatu, with all the wonderful guests that had generously given us their time, wisdom, and experience throughout the month. Back at Töölö Towers, we had our last reality TV night, complete with an amalgamation of all the sugary snacks we had to clean out of our apartments. The next day, we said our final goodbyes and headed home.
