Tour de Turku

Back from a very nice trip to Turku! We went there by bus to pay my gal´s cousin´s family a visit. I had been looking forward to this since my arrival to Finland, because due to several reasons (we´re living in busy times) we had not been able to make it happen sooner. In fact we hadn´t seen each other at all since I´m living in Helsinki. This had to change and last weekend the time had finally come.

They just moved earlier this year to their impressive and big house with lots of space for both kids and parents. The place was very nice and cosy and they were so hospitable that we actually stayed indoors most of the time and didn´t see that much of the town. So many things to do, you know? Exploring all corners of the house, chatting, enjoying delicious food, playing with the kids, going to sauna, kicking out the jams in the rehearsal room (cousin is a music maniac, too!), 1-2 beers / glasses of wine (I didn´t count)...Quality time!

I respect privacy so I don´t post any pictures except one, permitted by the man of the house. Thanks man, I just have to share this. Like said, the whole house was impressive, but here´s what impressed me the most:

A drummer´s dream come true and it really flushes! No interruptions anymore, just go with the flow!

On Sunday we shortly went on a small trip through the city and saw Finland´s oldest church, the Cathedral of Turku (or Turun tuomiokirkko), consecrated in 1300. Buildings this old are really rare in Finland which made it even more interesting to have a peep inside. Blockhead JottEff had forgotten his camera, so please don´t be led astray by the snow and the beautiful sky in the picture. I nicked it from the internet to be able to show it to you. We had quite bad weather, grey clouds and rain. Nothing unusual for this time of year though. More sightseeing included a car ride along the river Aurajoki, which devides the town in two parts, the harbor side with the Forum Marinum, a national marine and navy history museum and Turku Castle (Turun linna). They started to build the castle around the same time as the cathedral was built. Lots of alterations and augmentations have been made over the centuries, so it constantly grew. Today you can see all the different periods of time since groundbreaking carved into the stones of the largest surviving medieval castle in whole Scandinavia. Definitely worth a visit! By the way, again the net provided the picture (which only shows a small part of the building), next time I have to nail the camera to my forehead and take my own pictures. Sorry for the cheat and thanks to Wikipedia! Talking about thanks, visit and next time...

Dear turkulaiset, thanks a lot for your hospitality and the fun we had! I am already looking forward to the next time we´re visiting you. There are still so many things to do, you know?