I have already been to Finland: I participated in the international program “Youth in Action”. She studied responsible tourism in Ruovesi, a community in the province of Pirkanmaa, 80 km north of Tampere.
The decision to go to Finland was discussed by the whole family. Apart from me, none of us has been to Finland before. When choosing a route for us, the convenience of flight (the youngest daughter is only one and a half years) is of great importance – and this is only 1 hour 20 minutes from Minsk. We thought about the trip in the winter and planned it in early May. My dream was to be in a country where daylight hours would be very long, but I personally wanted to recall my previous experience and deepen it with fresh impressions.
We knew well that Finland is a country with a progressive education, with a responsible attitude of residents to the environment, with a high level of happiness, a high degree of freedom, a nature of extraordinary beauty, a bright, functional, bold design. And they wanted to see how all this manifests itself in everyday life.
Start
The first impression of the country was formed at the Helsinki airport. We were struck by the calm reigning around. The absence of any rush. The friendliness and smile of the border guard upon presentation of documents. To tell you the truth, this was the first time that we were asked with such sincere and genuine interest about the upcoming trip, about what we were going to see.
Among the information materials for travelers that can already be found at the airport, there are many that contain appeals in their heading. The call Play with the city – “play with the city” – I immediately decided to try to implement it.
The first point on our route is the city of Tampere. From Helsinki Airport, you can get there by train – first by a suburban train directly from the airport to Tikkurila station, and then transfer to the Intercity train to Tampere. Two adults and two children’s tickets when buying on the spot cost € 55. If you buy in advance, you can save a little.
Waiting for a train at a station at the airport, you can immerse yourself in a state of meditation. Background music and incredible space images on the walls play a large role in this. A trip in a suburban train will help you completely forget about the hustle and bust and finally slow down. You will be surprised how quiet it can be on the road.
Tampere – the power of water
Tampere is a unique city. At least I don’t know analogues to him. The city appeared thanks to the powerful energy of water. This energy has arisen as a result of a strong elevation. The thing is that Tampere is located between two lakes – Näsijärvi and Pühäjärvi. And the waters of Näsijärvi in the north sink 18 meters before connecting with the waters of Pühäjärvi. The lakes are connected by the Tammerkoski River – the rapids of this river are declared a national landscape. I still have seen such a powerful stream of water in the city. The Tammerkoski River and the rapids between the two lakes are the main landmark in the city.
People decided to use this energy – and began to build factories. The first of them appeared in 1820. They were built quite a lot: the main ones in the city were the textile, shoe and paper industries.
There are a lot of red bricks in Tampere. The image of the city is also unique because of this. Some factories operate today, judging by the smoke from the chimneys, but many have been reorganized – now there are universities, restaurants and cultural spaces.
The Vapriikki Museum Center (Alaverstaanraitti, 5) is a vast expanse of a former factory. On its territory on four floors there is a whole complex with exhibition facilities, restoration workshops, research laboratories and photo archives. You pay € 13 for admission and you can visit a dozen permanent and temporary exhibitions that are interesting for the whole family – about history, nature, technology. There is the Museum of the Finnish Games, the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Minerals, the Museum of Finnish Hockey, the Puppet Museum, the Media Museum, the Postal Museum, as well as thematic exhibitions Tampere Threshold and the City of Tampere and Tampere 1918. On Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. admission to permanent exhibitions is free, an adult ticket costs € 13, children and students € 6, a family ticket € 30, children under 7 years old are free.
Tampere is very compact. All major attractions can be easily walked around. During walks, you very quickly realize that the people living here take care to make the city comfortable for themselves. One of the manifestations is convenient walk-through pedestrian walkways through the old factory buildings. This greatly shortens the path. And on the second day of walks, we caught ourselves thinking that we never had to lift the stroller – a common action in other tourist places.
Feel like a Moomin
In Tampere, there is the world’s only Moomin Museum (Yliopistonkatu, 55) with the largest collection of art objects related to this topic. The museum will appeal to everyone who loves the characters of the writer and artist Tove Jansson. Here you can get acquainted with her author’s illustrations and with three-dimensional compositions on the theme of Moomin from graphic designer Ida Helmi Tuulikki Pietila. They will help you understand the nature of the writer’s fantasies. You will be able to feel life wisdom, humor and adventure spirit familiar from fairy tales and illustrations to them.
You cannot take pictures in the museum. I understood why, when I stepped into the exhibition area. It is very atmospheric, and nothing should disturb this atmosphere. We need a complete immersion in the “here and now.”
If you decide to include this museum in your program, re-read at least a few stories about Moomin trolls. Your impression will be many times stronger, and you will get much more magic from the trip. If you want, you can visit the creative workshop of the museum and work out there on your own or with a mentor. This can be done daily from 12 to 16 hours. You can also sit in the reading room and look through books about the writer herself and her heroes in 30 languages - at any time during the hours of the Tempera-Talo center, where the museum is located. There are also temporary exhibitions.
The museum’s store has souvenirs that can only be bought there. You can eat delicious food in the same building – in the Tuhto cafe . On the menu dishes from organic and local products, the buffet menu will cost € 25 per person. The oldest child was asked how old he was – and such an amount (€ 7) was included in the bill. Kids can eat for free.
After the museum, you will definitely begin to compare yourself and your friends or relatives with the heroes of Tove Jansson. And if you settle in a comfortable Finnish apartment, where “there is everything you need for happiness,” then thoughts of a Moomin house will involuntarily visit you. That is exactly what happened to us.
The museum is closed on Mondays. Adult ticket costs € 12, children € 6, for children under 3 years old admission is free. A family ticket costs € 30, it can go through 2 adults and 2–4 children. Admission is free for the Finnish Museum Pass (Museokortti) and the Aktiivipassi Pass.
You can get from Tampere to Helsinki in a lot of different ways. We rode the direct Intercity train. One and a half hours – and you are there. Tickets were bought in advance through a very convenient site of the Finnish railways . They cost us € 47 for all.
