The Force of Finland - The Visit: Day 5

Today was a little bit of a down day for us. We did not have a school to visit here in Espoo. We would have planned to go into Helsinki today but we thought that we might be able to plan a visit with another school. Many schools we contacted said that they were unable to meet with us because of the end of school being so near.

We decided to go into Helsinki for just a few hours today since Espoo doesn't have as many attractions to see. We've seen all we can see here!!! Yesterday, we were able to go inside the cathedral. It was just amazing. The drawings on the walls are originals from the 15th Century, as well as the crucifix (what is remaining of it). Takes your breath away to walk inside. We also saw the oldest schoolhouse in Espoo. It was a cute little red building that they've done a terrific job keeping up for people to visit.

We hopped the train to Helsinki around lunch (we are expert train riders now!). It's a short ride in so we grabbed lunch at an open air market by the harbor in Helsinki. The architecture is striking in the city. Some of the streets are cobble and you can definitely tell that it's an old city. We walked around the harbor area and the square before finding where our next hotel will be and the University of Helsinki. Tomorrow, we will go there to meet with the head of the teacher education department.

We have a lot planned for the next few days in Helsinki. Lots of museums and landmarks to see, as well as a few boat rides.

We noticed how polite the Finnish people are and how clean they keep their country. They are very big on keeping the environment healthy. It's nice to see. We also noticed that they LOVE pizza and ice cream!!!! There's both on almost every corner!