Helsinki and Savonlinna

After the Salo Tournament I was selected to go to Helsinki for an Opening Meeting for the Champions League of Finland. So after we finished our match on Sunday morning, Pertsa drove me to Helsinki and dropped me off at my hotel to explore for the next 24 hours. He picked me up at 12:00 on Monday to go to a photo shoot for the Champions League advertising and then we headed to the Lentopallo offices of Finland. The meetings we long and in Finnish, but luckily I met an American friend there, Quincey Verdin. We realized that we played against each other in the NCAA tournament our freshman years of college. She played for Cal State Long Beach and I played for Pepperdine. She is currently playing for Pieksamaki so I will see her several times during the season, and am excited to have an American friend here in Finland who can relate to the same adventure that I am on. Once the meetings had adjourned Pertsa and I headed along the Russian border to the Islands of Savonlinna. I got to ride on my first ferry and experience my first sauna. As I thought about how I would write this post I realized that rather than try to explain in long detail my weekend in Helsinki and Savonlinna, I would show you all in pictures. Be prepared for a picture overload! :) Both of these places were so amazing and I loved getting to explore them both.

Disclaimer: When you are exploring all on your own, there is no one else to take pictures for you...so I apologize in advance of al the pictures I took of myself. haha It almost looks like I just photoshopped myself into each one, but any how here is my weekend in pictures. You will also notice that I am not starving over here with my chubby cheeks and body now weighing in at a whopping 90 kilos (AHHHHH!!) haha :)

I stayed at the Hotel Arthur right in the center of Helsinki and within walking distance to just about EVERYTHING...including Subway :) It rained the entire time I was there, but I didn't care too much and still tried to see everything that I could. Oh, and they served Karelian Pies for breakfast. Your day can't start much better than that!

Classical Art Museum 

Modern Art Museum

This is a play house located in the center square of the train/bus station

I loved the city and the stone roads!

The Forum was a fun place to visit. It is like a mall in the United States and even has a store that can be found back home as well. H&M is a Swedish company so it is everywhere over here. The ironic thing is that even though I Finland is RIGHT next to Sweden, it is still cheaper to shop at H&M in the states. I was able to find some gloves, so that was good. I also found a little Moomin Character Shop. It was fun to just walk around and be in such a big place.

This is the Parliament building

Train Station

The most delicious GELATO I have everrrrrr had!!! It tasted like I was eating real cheesecake...mmmm! I didn't even care that it was pouring rain and freezing outside :)

This is the largest church in Finland and is located near the presidents house. There is a huge town square right in front where huge celebrations are held to celebrate Finnish Hockey. Hockey here is hands down the biggest sport. It is like the NFL in the USA.

After these beautiful sites it was off to the Champions League meeting...

This funny little volleyball girl is the mascot for the Finnish volleyball league

The only thing that I understood at the meeting was when I met Quincey. She is the other American playing here in Finland and we played against each other in college as well. While we were talking we must have been excited that we finally put together how we recognized each other because the photographer wanted to take pictures of us that ended up in the paper the next day.

Right after the meeting it was off to Savonlinna to stay a night with Pertsa's family in their beautiful home. It is hands down the nicest home that I have seen yet in Finland and it sits right on one of the many lakes that surround the islands of Savonlinna. I had to take a few picture because I loved it so much.

The view from the many glass windows surrounding the house was so pretty as well even though it was raining.

My favorite part of the house though was the Sauna. It was the first Sauna I have ever been in, and I LOVED it so much. It is so relaxing and so nice! The Sauna in this home was extra nice.

I was informed that the Sauna is one of the 'bare' necessities of life :)

Tuesday was filled with more "see sighting" as we visited the Savonlinna castle. This castle was really cool and every summer they hold the Opera festival inside.

 This tree grew in the middle of the castle from the blood of a woman who was buried alive

The king who had the castle built was actually a Swede. His name was Olaf and he built the castle to prevent the Russians from sailing through the islands and into Finland.

And last but not least on my picture post is LORTSY which is an amazing Savonlinna treat. It reminds me of an empanada with rice and meat inside. My coach Pertsa is an amazing cook who not only made me LORTSY, but also made me the best pizza I have ever eaten in my life. It was chicken and mushroom, but in FInland mushrooms are a big deal. They are so powerful and the mushrooms on this chicken pizza almost made it taste like a BBQ chicken pizza. Soooo good! I didn't get a picture of the pizza, but here is the Lortsy.

Surprisingly enough, after this wonderful weekend exploring Finland, I was happy to return to the middle of nowhere (as Tony Flick, the League announcer tells me haha) Pihtipudas may be small, but it is home and I always love coming back after a weekend trip playing. My home is even more quiet as my roomie went back to Bulgaria this week, and I now live alone. Outi Polso will be moving in next week though, and I can't wait! She is hands down one of my favorite Fins and pretty much just favorite people :)