The day after I published my last post I was on another bus to Helsinki. Helsinki is a cool city with great architecture and lots of things to do. After dropping off our stuff at our Airbnb, my mom and I headed straight to the harbor and market. There we found what is best described as a farmers market and an eating hall. We wandered around until it was time to visit Suomenlinna, a sea fortress off the Helsinki coast. I'm not sure if we just missed all the interesting parts of the fort but it was incredibly boring but as it was both of our first times in Helsinki we had to do it. Later in the day, we went to the senate square to see all of the government buildings. At this point, it was getting dark and we were tired from traveling so we got dinner from a local bagel shop and went back to our place. The next morning we had to wake up at the crack of dawn to get to our ferry to Tallinn. Tallinn is the capital of Estonia and considered to be Finland's liquor store because everything is so much cheaper in Estonia. Our day started with Catherine the Great's summer home located just outside the city center. It is a beautiful building that has been converted to an art gallery. The bulk of our day was spent in Old Town. Old Town is beautiful! It is like walking back in time. All the old buildings are still intact now filled with cute little shops and restaurants. We ate Estonian pancakes at Kompressor and saw the Roman Orthodox cathedral and the Episcopal church. After seeing all there is to see in Old Town we made our way back to the port, boarded the ferry, and went back to Helsinki. On the final day in Helsinki, I spent most of the day sleeping only starting to move once it was time for brunch. After eating we went to the Finnish Museum of natural history which was quite interesting. Sadly though at that point, it was time to go collect our bags and say goodbye. I had to get to the bus station and my mom had to get to the airport. It was a tearful goodbye but we had such a good time together that it was all worth it. The rest of this week has been about school work and there really isn't much to say about Jyväskylä. So enjoy pictures of Tallinn!
