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Catch up!!
So much to say.....
So we went on the Arctic Icebreaker!! It was awesome! We first had lunch which for me was sauted Reindeer with mash and lingonberry sauce. A Finnish specialty. (Steve, you'll be glad to know the mash was up to standard ). Then a tour around the ship and to the engine room etc... This was Mike's bit and chatted away to the tour guide about the engines and power of the ship. Also she showed us the piston which was huge (about 100 times the size of in a car, maybe, more) and Mike was grinning ear to ear after this.
Then the best bit came.......ice swimming!! We had to put on these sexy red rubber dry suits and then went in the water. It's the Atlantic so pretty cold but also covered in ice......wow.....cold!! But these suits were amazing. I didn't feel the cold and was in for about 20 mins. Longer than most and probably too long since there was a queue waiting. There were only a few suits to be shared. Oh well...whoops!! It was wicked!!!!
After this we continued to Tampere which was nothing special. Its so warm here for this time of year compared to normal that there's no snow in the south so it is just grey and rainy like England. Decided I need to come back and do the south in the summer when the weather is good and all the markets etc are out.
So yeah Tampere was just a city/town that I think would be cool in summer but we just wandered around. We did go to the 'Moomin Exhibition' though. Does anyone remember the Moomins? It was a kids show when I was young and I'd forgotten all about them till now. They are a Finnish creation (the author of the books is Swedish/Finnish) so there's lots about them here. They're so cool .
This is also where I left Mike. He flew, from Tampere, home and I got a train to Turku. I have been staying here for a couple of days with Hanna, someone I met from my last travel episode! So had a look around but also just chilled and caught up with the news.
So now Finland is over (for now) and tonight I'm taking a ferry to Stockholm, Sweden.
Until Sweden! Hyvää Yötä (Good night for those who don't speak Finnish)xxx
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