three nights in geiranger & two nights in lillehammer, norway

wanderessence1025's avatar October 4, 2026

These posts cover our slow trip through the Scandinavian/Nordic countries from August 4 to October 30, 2026. I will be posting one long post about each area where we stay. I like to write one post about a particular place so that I can revisit our travels in one spot on my blog, according to location. I can also refer others to the post if they plan to travel to the destination and want ideas. I welcome you to read the entire post, read parts of the posts that interest you, simply look at the pictures, or not to read it at all. All who would like to come along are welcome.

You can find our itinerary here: anticipation & preparation: a slow motion journey through scandinavia.

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Monday, September 28 to Thursday, October 1: We drove 6 hours Monday from Trondheim to Geiranger. We stayed three nights in the beautiful Geiranger and around the fjord and the surrounding mountains.

A 6-hour drive through stunning countryside to Geiranger

Monday, September 28: We left Trondheim at 10:18 on Monday morning and began our 6 hr 10 minute (321km) drive to Geiranger. We found beautiful landscapes all along the E6, and then on Rt. 15 heading west, and then on Rt. 63 northwest to Geiranger. It slowed our time considerably to keep getting out of the car to take pictures. Plus, there was a lot of road construction, and we had to wait at numerous stop lights to let one lane of traffic go at a time.

We came upon the beautiful town of Lom and the Lom Stave Church, one of the largest and oldest stave churches in Norway. It was built in the mid-12th century and has been the main church in Lom since that time. The carved dragon heads on the roof have been characteristic of the church since the beginning. It wasn’t open today, as is usual for most of Norway’s churches.

After Lom, the landscape was stunning along route 15 and then on Rt. 63, which ran on top of a 3,000-foot-high mountainous terrain.

Geirangerfjord and the town of Geiranger

Geirangerfjord is one of Norway’s most popular and picturesque fjords and, on top of that, it is a UNESCO-listed site.

The Grande Fjorde Hotel in Geiranger

We arrived at our hotel at around 5:30 p.m. The Grande Fjorde Hotel is a multilevel hotel right near the shore of Geirangerfjord. We had a kind of cabin with a balcony on the lowest level of the hotel; it was probably one of the roomier hotel rooms we’ve had since we started staying in hotels after our cruise. We enjoyed our stay here and loved the views of the fjord both from our balcony and from the 6th floor restaurant, where the reception was. We even enjoyed soaking in the outdoor hot tubs on the deck one afternoon.

Dinner at Restaurant Hyskje

We ate dinner in the hotel restaurant, Restaurant Hyskje, on the night of our arrival. The menu was limited and the prices were outrageous as usual, so we opted to eat elsewhere our next two nights. I had a Norwegian Fish Soup (Creamy soup with local fish, shrimp, root vegetables and herbs) and Mike enjoyed a Beef Burger and Fries (Beef patty, melted cheddar, caramelized onions, crispy bacon, pickled cucumber & truffle mustard-mayonnaise).

A ferry ride from Geiranger to Hellesylt and back

Tuesday, September 29: Our first morning, we took the ferry, the MF Skånevik, from Geiranger to Hellesylt and back again. It is used as a car ferry to take people to Hellesylt where they can drive on toward Ålesund on the coast, or vice versa, from Hellesylt to Geiranger, so people can drive further east onto the mainland. People can also take the ferry as foot passengers back and forth, about an hour each way. This gave us a chance to be right on Geirangerfjord and to see the beautiful Seven Sisters Waterfalls and the other dramatic features of the fjord, such as the Suitor and the Bridal Veil.

MF Skånevik is considered a National Treasure. It was built in 1967 and served for several decades as an important part of the ferry network along the west coast of Norway. In a time before bridges and tunnels connected the region, ferries like this were essential for transporting people, goods and vehicles between towns and villages.

Today MF Skånevik holds the status of protected historic vessel meaning it is officially recognized as a national cultural heritage asset of special significance. This protected status means that the ship must be preserved as closely as possible to its original condition, and that alterations cannot be made without the approval of the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage. Maintenance must be carried out with respect for original materials and construction methods, ensuring that both the appearance and technical aspects are preserved for future generations.

In this maritime nation of Norway, there are only 16 ships with protected heritage status, making this distinction highly exclusive. This ship is still in active service meaning as a passenger you can step back in time and be reminded of how the fjords have been the lifeblood of the Norwegian coast for generations.

We passed the huge cruise ship MSC Euribia, a Maraviglia-Plus-class cruise ship owned and operated by the Geneva-based Italian shipping company MSC Cruises. She was launched in June of 2022 and entered service in June 2023. The ship can carry 6,327 passengers and 1,711 crew.

The cruise ship had docked in Geiranger by the time we returned and the passengers of this ship were swarming all over the place, overwhelming the small town. Though it seems obnoxious to allow so many people into a small town like Geiranger all at once, I have read that the people in towns such as these appreciate the cruise business as the lifeblood of their community. Of course, I have no way of knowing if the ship was filled to capacity at this time of year; I imagine it was not.

A wander through Geiranger, a drive up to Westerås Gard, & an afternoon soak in the hot tub

After returning from our ferry ride, we wandered around the town along with the hordes of cruise ship passengers. Then we drove up to Westerås Gard to see what it was like. We had originally booked there, but changed our booking when we found they charged extra for sheets and towels. Why not just include these things in the price? It looked like a nice rustic place up a very steep and narrow road, with goats dotting the hillside and a nice hike to a nearby waterfall. We could have surely enjoyed a stay there as well, but we were happy to be in the Grande Fjorde Hotel.

Later in the afternoon, we enjoyed a soak in the hot tub on the deck of our hotel, with magnificent views of the fjord all around.

A take-out dinner from Fiskekaka

We had seen Fiskekaka when we were wandering around Geiranger and told the owner we’d come back to take out our dinner. He only did take-out and closed at 6:00. We did return and enjoyed a delicious fish cake in focaccina and a plain fish cake, both of which we shared.

A drive north to Eidsdal

Wednesday, September 30: On Wednesday, we drove north of our hotel up a series of switchbacks to the scenic overlook called Ørnesvingen, with its platform looking out over the fjord. We enjoyed the viewpoint over Eidsvatnet Lake as well. We continued to drive north thinking we might continue to Andalsnes, an hour and a half away, but our plans came to a halt when we came to a ferry crossing at Eidsdal. We didn’t want to take the time to wait for the ferry, drive to Andalsnes, and then to drive back and take the ferry back across. Plus, I’m sure it would have cost us a bundle, as does EVERYTHING in Norway. Instead, we turned around and drove back to Geiranger.

A drive east toward Dalsnibba & then return to Geirangerfjord

We drove straight through Geiranger and drove east on Rt. 63, the same route we had come in on from Trondheim and Lom. We had seen so many scenic places along the way and hadn’t stopped anywhere to take photos because we wanted to get to our hotel in time for our 6:30 dinner reservation. So we drove east as far as Lake Djupvatnet in the Breiddalen Valley, but we didn’t drive up to the lookout at Dalsnibba. Later, we looked at pictures of the panorama platform and realized we should have driven up there. Live and learn. At this point, by the lake, we turned around and drove back to Geiranger.

Dinner at Brasserie Posten & a stroll around Geiranger

We had made a reservataion at Brasserie Posten in Geiranger for dinner, but neither us was that hungry, nor were we willing to pay more than $40-$50 per entree. We shared a Ringdal pizza: Tomato sauce, cured ham from Ole Ringdal, burrata, mozzarella & balsamic glaze. It was delicious and we had a nice chat with the waiter who was going to leave over the weekend to stay with his grandmother in Stockholm. He said this was nearing the end of the season, although some businesses would stay open all year.

We strolled around the town in the blue light. We had heard that the cruise ship that came in to Geiranger today never actually docked because it was too windy. So the town was very quiet all day.

Thursday, October 1 to Saturday, October 3: Thursday morning, we left Geiranger to drive over the mountains and onward to Lillehammer.

Mike has been sick off and on, in various degrees of intensity, with a head cold and cough, since we were in Bergen on September 17. I thought I was going to make it through without getting sick myself, but today, I could feel that creep of a bad cold coming on. It progressively got worse, with a burning sore throat, a dry cough and general lethargy. When Mike finally felt he was starting to improve, he started having irritability, redness, itchiness, and drainage in his eyes. The two of us were beginning to be a real hot mess.

Lillehammer, Norway

Lillehammer’s claim to fame is that it was the host for the 1994 Winter Olympics held from February 12-27, 1994. This was the second Olympic Games of any type hosted in Norway, the first being the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, and the fourth Olympics overall to be held in a Nordic country, after the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, and the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. Lillehammer is the northernmost city ever to host the Olympic Games.

A stunning drive to Lillehammer

We stopped first at the beautiful town of Lom where we checked out the blue waterfall and ate a pistachio bun at a cute cafe by the falls. Then we drove along the Gudbrandsdalen Valley from Otta to Lillehammer.

We stopped briefly at the Sødorp Church, a wooden cruciform church from 1752. It’s believed the first church on the site was a stave church but it was replaced in 1570 and no trace of it remains today. In 1752, the church was replaced once again with the church seen today.

Originally the church stood in Sødorp, a small town just south of Vinstra. When Vinstra emerged as a major town in the early 20th century, the church was moved there to its present location in 1910.

Ringebu is a small village that is home to the Ringebu Stave Church, one of Norway’s 28 stave churches. It was originally built during the 13th century. The church combines medieval wooden architecture with later editions, including its distinctive red tower visible across the Gudbrandsdalen Valley. The church and its cemetery are very atmospheric.

Aksjemøllen by Classic Norway Hotels

We arrived in Lillehammer around 5:30 and checked into our hotel, Aksjemøllen by Classic Norway Hotels. This hotel’s history goes back to 1863 when the mill house was built and the mill was put into operation. This contributed significantly to Lillehammer’s development as a market town.

In 1991, Lillehammer Aksjemølle was the only remaining mill in the district. In the summer of 1991, the mill was closed due to inefficiency. As Lillehammer was prepared to host the 1994 Olympics, an architecture firm decided to transform the mill into a hotel, bar and restaurant, opening in 1992. In 2021, the hotel became part of Classic Norway Hotels, a hotel chain consisting of some of Norway’s most charming hotels and fisherman’s lodges. The hotel was renovated that year and reopened in January of 2022.

Mike returned the car to Sixt and walked back to the hotel. I was feeling sick with a bad sore throat, a dry cough and a general head cold and lethargy. Mike picked up some instant ramen on his walk back, and we settled into the hotel room to rest. For once we had a bathtub and I enjoyed a long hot soak. Then we watched Another Self and Leanne, and went to sleep, but it was a miserable night for me with my sore throat and cough.

A day in Lillehammer

Friday, October 2: We had big plans today for one our one day in Lillehammer, but I was still feeling miserable. We finally made it out to the train station where we found our train for tomorrow to Oslo was cancelled as all similar trains were cancelled on Friday. Numerous trains have been cancelled in Norway because of strikes and railway work. I was finally able to rebook for an earlier train. It’s so frustrating dealing with these train problems in Norway while trains are being cancelled right and left and you never know if you’ll be able to get where you’re going.

Lillehammer Kunstmuseum

After going to the train station, we went in to visit the Lillehammer Kunstmuseum which showcases a collection of Norwegian art from the 19th century to the present day.

Here we found three Edvard Munch paintings as well as “Birkebeinerne” (1869) by Knut Bergslien (1827-1908); this is one of the most famous paintings in Norwegian art history. The motif shows a dramatic event from the Norwegian Middle Ages: two Birkebeiners fleeing across the mountains with the young prince Håkan Håkansson, who would later become King of Norway. The story takes place during the civil war era of the 12th and 13th centuries. The Birkebeiners supported King Sverre and fought against the Baglers, who were associated with the nobility and the church. Bergslien portrays the Birkebeiners as brave heroes and thus the painting has become a symbol of Norwegian history and national identity.

Frits Thaulow, a French Norwegian painter, was the only leading impressionist painter in Norway. None of his contemporaries could equal his convincing renderings of water, snow and ice.

In the 1880s, Norwegian art underwent a renewal. The new style of painting was characterized by clear light, a snapshot-like immediacy, everyday themes and a more spontaneous way of painting, with brushstrokes clearly apparent on the surface of the painting.

The 1890s brought a turn inwards, with artists highlighting particular atmospheres in nature or human emotions and states of mind. Many paintings show calm landscapes, magnificent panoramas, intimate interiors or intense relationships between individuals.

Finally, we came upon art inspired by the lakeside town of Lillehammer.

After the museum, I was feeling tired and rundown. Mike still wasn’t feeling that well, but he was determined to go visit the Norwegian Olympic Museum and Maihaugen, an open air museum. I didn’t have the energy for it, so he suggested I walk down the pedestrian street, Storgata, with its cute boutiques and cafes. It tells everything about how I felt that I couldn’t even muster enough energy to go into the shops. I returned to the hotel and rested the remainder of the day.

Norwegian Olympic Museum & Maihaugen

Here is Mike’s account of his visit to these museums:

I visited the Maihaugen and Norwegian Olympic Museum while Cathy rested in her room fighting a bad head cold. Little did I know how expansive this set of museums would be. Being a sports enthusiast, I enjoyed the Norwegian Olympic Museum which displayed the history of the Olympics from Greek times to the initiation of the modern Olympics under the vision of Baron Pierre de Coubertin in 1896, to current times. I enjoyed exhibits on the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics and Norwegian Winter Olympian successes: the Norwegian teams have won the most winter medals of any country.

I was surprised to find other interesting Maihaugen exhibitions inside including “We Won the Land,” an interesting exhibition on Norwegian history from the Ice Age to modern times.

After finishing up the indoor session I wandered outside to Norway’s largest open-air museum with over 200 historic buildings dating back to the 13th century. The outdoor museum which was started in 1904, included “The Town,” “The Cabin Hamlet,” “The Mountain Farms,” “The Rural Area,” and “The Cabin Hamlet.” I enjoyed the backdrop of the yellow trees, the misty background and the old buildings while wandering around.

Dinner at M.Neko Sushi and Asian Dining

Mike and I went out to an early dinner at M.Neko Sushi and Asian Dining and shared Våruller (Shrimp, pork and crabmeat rolled in spring roll paper served with sweet chili sauce. I had Scampi Futo (Fried shrimp with avocado, spicy mayo & tobiko roe) and Mike had Salmon Lover (Crabmix with avocado. Salmon on top with mango sauce). It felt good to go out as I hadn’t felt well all day and hadn’t had much energy for anything.

Leaving Lillehammer for Oslo

Saturday, October 3: We were nervous about the possibility of the train being cancelled at the last minute, but luckily, we got on the VY RE10 at 11:11 a.m. on Saturday morning for Oslo, where we would happily get back to our one-week stays in Airbnbs. This last section of travel in Norway was rather grueling from the tiny Airbnb in Bergen to the cruise ship berth to hotels in Svolvær, Bodø, Trondheim, Geiranger, and Lillehammer.

a 10(+2)-hour train trip from bodø, three nights in trondheim, & the largest waterfall in sweden

wanderessence1025's avatar September 29, 2026

These posts cover our slow trip through the Scandinavian/Nordic countries from August 4 to October 30, 2026. I will be posting one long post about each area where we stay. I like to write one post about a particular place so that I can revisit our travels in one spot on my blog, according to location. I can also refer others to the post if they plan to travel to the destination and want ideas. I welcome you to read the entire post, read parts of the posts that interest you, simply look at the pictures, or not to read it at all. All who would like to come along are welcome.

You can find our itinerary here: anticipation & preparation: a slow motion journey through scandinavia.

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Friday, September 25 to Monday, September 28: On Friday, we took a 10-hour train ride on the SJ Nord from Bodø to Trondheim. We had stopped for three hours in Trondheim on our MS Vesterålen cruise, but we hadn’t taken the time to visit the inside of Nidaros Cathedral. Plus, this was the best place for us to rent a car to drive to our next destination in Geiranger.

The 10-hour train ride from Bodø to Trondheim that became a 12-hour ride

Back in May, we had booked the 9 hour and 46 minute train ride from Bodø to Trondheim on the SJ Nord. It was touch and go because many trains were cancelled due to work on the railway lines and the train wasn’t even running on the 24th or the 26th, when we hoped to leave Bodø. It turned out there was one train running on the 25th, so we nabbed it and altered our schedule. The train left Bodø at 12:27 p.m. and was due to arrive in Trondheim at 10:13 p.m. with 25 stops altogether.

It is known as the Nordlandsbanen railway line – a 729km (453 mi) railway line between Bodø and Trondheim. It is the longest in Norway and lacks electrification. Bodø is the northernmost train station in Norway.

We found out our first night at dinner with Paul and Julia on the MS Vesterålen that they would be on the same train on the 25th. They didn’t sit near us, as we were in seats 45 & 46, and they were in seats 11 & 12, but we chatted with them periodically on the train. It was nice to have someone we had met before that we could chat with from time to time.

On the other hand, there were some people we wished hadn’t been on the train. Twelve young women got on the train at Fauske (the 5th stop about 37 miles south of Bodø) and sat a few seats up from us. Onto the train they wheeled their humungous pieces of luggage which they had to hoist up, with great struggle, onto the overhead luggage storage racks. They were friends from school and were taking a 10-day trip to Croatia. Their matching sweatshirts yelped “Loudness” and they definitely lived up to the theme of their adventure. From the time they got on the train, they talked, yelled and laughed obnoxiously, frequently and loudly. Though entertaining at first, they soon became incredibly annoying.

We enjoyed the scenery of high tundra, fjords, lakes and rivers from the train, but of course taking pictures out of a fast-moving train doesn’t yield the best photos.

At about 2:30, we passed by the Arctic Circle Center at Saltfjellet, which the friendly woman running the café pointed out. She also pointed out some white reindeer bounding across the landscape. She told us that the Arctic Circle is actually moving about 14 meters a year. The Arctic Circle as a line of latitude remains the same on maps for the sake of convenience, but it actually shifts in position over time. In 1990, when the center was built, it was believed that the Arctic Circle ran straight through the middle of the building, officially 66° 33′ north, but actually almost 66°34′ north. But since it’s always moving, the actual circle now lies north of the building. Apparently, it will go all the way up to the Lofoten Islands before moving south again, which will take about 40,000 years.

We emjoyed dinner in the café car. Mike had Chili without meat, with flavorful beans, veggies and rice. I had Meatballs in gravy with mushy peas, potatoes and lingonberries. I didn’t care much for the mushy peas, but Mike happily ate them. Paul and Julia joined us with their glasses of wine (they had brought their own food) and we chatted about our travels and books and movies.

At 8:24 p.m., about 1 1/2 hours from Trondheim, when we stopped at the town of Steinkjer in the dark, we were told that there was an accident on the track ahead. We would have to wait until the police completed their investigation and gave the go-ahead. We had no idea how long the delay would be, but it turned out that we sat at the station for over two hours. During those two hours the decibel level of those young Norwegian women traveling to Croatia rose to jarring levels. The laughing from two of them in particular was particularly grating.

We found out the next day in Trondheim (from a Norwegian dentist from Steinkjer) that a young man had jumped in front of the train and it had taken quite some time for the police to investigate the tragic incident. How sad that a young man would feel the need to kill himself in such a violent manner, and also how sad that the train engineer now has to live with the memory of that young man’s death.

We finally traipsed into the Clarion Hotel Trondheim at about 12:30 a.m.

Clarion Hotel Trondheim

The Clarion Hotel Trondheim is a huge complex right near the harbor, the port terminal and the train station. When we arrived at 12:30 a.m. there was loud music playing for a party of about 400 people attending a conference. Luckily, once we closed the door to our room, the loud noise was blocked out completely, and we crashed immediately.

Trondheim

Trondheim is the third largest city and one of the country’s oldest. The city was founded by the Vikings in AD 997 as a trading post. Trondheim was also the capital of Norway until 1217 and new kings are still crowned there. The city is built on a peninsula and at its west end is linked to the mainland.

Nidaros Cathedral

Saturday, September 26: We had made a quick (3-hour) stop in Trondheim while we were on our MS Vesterålen cruise, but all we did at that time was to wander through the town and see the outside facade of Nidaros Cathedral. You can see that post here: a short cruise on hurtigruten’s ms vesterålen: bergen to lofoten, norway.

Nidaros Cathedral was built over the burial site of King Olav II (c. 995-1030) who reigned from 1015-1028. He brought Christianity to Norway and became the patron saint of the new nation.

New Norwegian monarchs are today consecrated at the Cathedral. In addition, the Cathedral is a popular place of Evangelical-Lutheran Christian pilgrimage, with several thousand pilgrims visiting each year.

In 1152, the church was designated as the cathedral for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nidaros. In 1537, during the Protestant Reformation, it became part of the newly established state Church of Norway. It is the northernmost medieval cathedral in the world.

Built over a 230-year period, from 1070-1300, additions and renovations have occurred intermittently since then.

We started by admiring the western facade of the cathedral, which was inspired by English cathedrals. In addition to the rose window, three lines of sculptures, 59 in total, dominate the façade. In the first line are mostly apostles, in the middle line are the four Norwegian saints, and in the top line are mostly prophets and kings from the Old Testament.

Inside we found the stained glass windows from the restoration period. The windows tell the stories of the Bible, both from the Old and the New Testaments. The grand rose window on the western wall depicts the Last Judgment.

The nave is the largest part of the church. It was destroyed by fire in 1531 and the roof collapsed. The nave remained a roofless ruin for several hundred years before it was rebuilt in the 20th century. It was finished just in time for the 900-year jubilee of the Battle of Stiklestad in 1930.

The oldest parts of the church today are seen in the transept which intersects the main body of the cathedral and gives the church its cruciform shape. It was built in the 12th century in the Romanesque style with its rounded arches.

By the 14th century, the church had an organ. Today the church has 3 big organs. The oldest is the Baroque organ from 1741 which sits in the northern transept. The Steinmeyer organ beneath the rose window is one of the biggest organs in Northern Europe; it was placed in the cathedral in 1930 for the 900-year jubilee of the Battle of Stiklestad. In addition to these two, the cathedral got an organ in the chancel in 2015, built to accompany choir song.

Finally the Octagon was built from 1190-1210 and is the most ornate part of the cathedral. Around the Octagon is an ambulatory. The shrine of St. Olav with his body was placed inside the Octagon. During the reformation the shrine was removed because the people were not supposed to worship saints or their relics. Some people wanted to throw his bones into the ocean, but others protested and moved his bones to an unknown location. Still, pilgrims can visit the present altarpiece as a reminder of the shrine.

In conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the first national Sami assembly, a Sami altar was made by Sámi artist Folke Fjällström and consecrated in Nidaros Cathedral in 2017. The altar and the decoration of it is made of birch that is oiled and processed after Sami tree traditions.

A walk along the Nidelva

After visiting the cathedral, we took a walk along the Nidelva, a river that runs through Trondheim. The meandering river stretches approximately 30 kilometers and is a defining feature of the cityscape, with beautiful wooden houses lining the river most notably in the Bakklandet district. Nidelva has played a crucial role in Trondheim’s history, serving as a vital waterway for trade and transportation.

It was a beautiful sunny day, and we simply enjoyed wandering aimlessly and admiring the chartreuse trees and the pretty landscape. We were misled into believing a small stenciled mural of a boy fishing was by Banksy, but it was actually @EHAstencil (Instagram).

Gamle bybro

Gamle bybro, built in 1681, is a landmark bridge with red portals over the Nidelva. It leads to Bakklandet’s colorful timber wharves on stilts.

A stroll along Nedre Bakklandet

Bakklandet was once a working-class neighborhood that was home to craftsmen, small-scale merchants and other workers, yet suffered under poor living conditions. Bakklandet has been ravaged by fires and threatened with demolition due to road construction. At one time, it was almost demolished to make way for a 4-lane highway, but residents squatted and protested to put an end to that plan.

Now it is a charming and photogenic cobbled street lined with cafes and shops.

A lunch break & a conversation with a Norwegian dentist

After our wanders, we headed to the National Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in the center of the city. Sadly, we found it was closed as the museum’s 40,000 works and objects were being digitized, packed and transported to new storage facilities.

another closed museum we tried to go to in Trondheim

Since we couldn’t go in the museum, we instead looked for a bench to sit on where we could eat the lunch we’d brought. All of the benches were wet except one where a Norwegian couple was sitting, and they offered to move over so we could sit beside them. We struck up a conversation with the friendly young man, a 42-year-old dentist, Bjornor, who lives in Steinkjer (his wife didn’t seem comfortable with English and took off to pop into various shops). He was the one who told us about the young man who threw himself in front of the train the previous night. Bjornor also recommended taking a scenic drive to Tännforsen Waterfall in Sweden, known as Sweden’s Largest Waterfall. We talked about his three children; his eldest daughter was in school in Trondheim studying nursing and that was why they were in Trondheim, visiting her. We also talked about the political situation in the U.S. and the right wing governments gaining ground in Europe and how they manipulate and brainwash people with propaganda and scapegoating of minorities. It was a long and interesting conversation and we were happy to be able to get to know a Norwegian young man and to learn something about the concerns and thoughts of a local.

dinner at Frida Cocina Mexicana

We went out to a wonderful dinner at Frida Cocina Mexicana. The atmosphere was lovely, cozy and warm. I enjoyed a delicious Shrimp with Mezcal: Pan-fried scampi in a creamy mezcal sauce, balanced with fresh citrus and mezcal’s characteristic smokiness. Mike enjoyed Frida’s Enchiladas: Chicken corn tortillas filled with cheese and beans, fried and served with green salsa. This was one of our top meals of our travels so far.

A country drive outside of Trondheim

Sunday, September 27: This morning we picked up a Volvo rental car to take a drive outside of Trondheim, plus to drive to Geiranger on Monday and then from there to Lillehammer on Thursday. We would have the rental car for almost five days and it cost us a fortune. Everything in Norway is outrageously expensive; there are no two ways about it.

We left the Sixt Rental place at 9:30 and headed northeast to Størdjal on the E6 and then headed east on the E14 into through farmland, rivers, and generally gorgeous scenery to Tännforsen, the “Largest Waterfall in Sweden.”

On the way back, we drove a more northerly route, which was also gorgeous but in a completely different way. We loved the black, white or red farm complexes, the sheep grazing in fields, the golden already-harvested fields, the bubbling streams and waterfalls, the yellow birches mingling with the dark green pines, and the red lichen dotting the landscape. It is difficult to capture scenery from a car during a road trip, but believe me, it was a stunning drive.

Tännforsen, the “Largest Waterfall in Sweden”

Tännforsen is one of Sweden’s largest unregulated waterfalls and has been popular with tourists since the mid-19th century. The waterfall and its surroundings were designated a nature reserve in 1971.

The waterfall falls over a jutting section of slate bedrock, which is a remnant from the formation of the Scandinavian mountain range some 500 million years ago.

The almost constant mist from the waterfall encourages the growth of interesting plants on the rocks and the trees around the waterfall, including no fewer than 21 red-listed lichens. Actually, for me the surrounding forest was the highlight of the reserve. It is a fairy-tale forest, with whimsical moss, lichens and feathery ferns. It’s the kind of place that invites one to lie down on the cushiony ground as if embraced by a cloud.

Here is a short video of our drive from Trondheim, Norway to Tännforsen in Sweden.

Leaving Trondheim for Geiranger

Monday, September 28: Our last morning in Trondheim, Mike went out to the Pirbidet, an aquatic center right next door to our hotel. He swam laps there, helping him to feel he’s at least attempting to maintain some kind of fitness regime.

We packed up and took off by 9:30 a.m. in our rental car for our 6+ hour drive to Geiranger.

exploring norway: svolvær & the lofoten islands, then a return to bodø

wanderessence1025's avatar September 26, 2026

These posts cover our slow trip through the Scandinavian/Nordic countries from August 4 to October 30, 2026. I will be posting one long post about each area where we stay. I like to write one post about a particular place so that I can revisit our travels in one spot on my blog, according to location. I can also refer others to the post if they plan to travel to the destination and want ideas. I welcome you to read the entire post, read parts of the posts that interest you, simply look at the pictures, or not to read it at all. All who would like to come along are welcome.

You can find our itinerary here: anticipation & preparation: a slow motion journey through scandinavia.

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Sunday, September 20 to Wednesday, September 23: We disembarked late Sunday from the MS Vesterålen and walked one minute from the dock to our hotel in Svolvær, Thon Hotel Svolvær. We stayed three nights in Svolvær and the Lofoten Islands, with only two full days.

Thon Hotel Svolvær

Sunday, September 20: We luckily switched our hotel at the last possible minute from the Lofoten Rorbuer, which we discovered just in time had a 26-minute walk from the ship terminal. Since we arrived in Svolvær at 9:20 p.m., it would have been a real pain to walk that far to our hotel hauling our luggage. Luckily, we found the Thon Hotel Svolvaer, which was only a one minute walk! Plus, for some bizarre reason but with no complaint by us, they upgraded us at no charge to a Superior Room. This was a very nice hotel and convenient to everything. It would have been a big mistake to have stayed at the Lofoten Rorbuer, which is nowhere near the town center.

The hotel had a very nice breakfast buffet that was included and on our last morning, when we had to leave on the 6 a.m. Express Ferry to Bodø, the hotel packed us a large to-go breakfast. We loved this hotel and wish our stay could have been longer.

Lofoten

Lofoten is an archipelago and a traditional district north of the Arctic Circle in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has dramatic scenery with jagged mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches, and untouched lands.

People often refer to the archipelago as Lofotveggen or the Lofoten wall. The archipelago looks like a closed wall when seen from elevated points around the municipality of Bodø or from the sea.

Winter temperatures in Lofoten are extremely mild considering its location north of the Arctic Circle – possibly the largest positive temperature anomaly in the world relative to latitude. The mild winters are a result of the temperate waters of the Norwegian Sea, which is warmed by the North Atlantic Current and the Norwegian Current.

The two main towns in Lofoten are Svolvær and Leknes. Svolvær has about 4,700 inhabitants. In 1918 it was a trading post and it achieved town status in 1997.

We learned onboard the MS Vesterålen that northern Norway’s most important export product for more than 1,000 years has been Arctic Cod, known as skrei, which means “wanderer.” From January to mid-April, the sexually-matured cod (about 5 years old) swim 2,000 km from the Barents Sea to their birthplace in Lofoten, Vesterålen, and Senja to spawn. The Arctic Cod are first class Norwegian cod and the word itself comes from the Norse word skreið which means fish that slides or wanders.

Fishing has been the mainstay of life for centuries in Lofoten; it has had a great impact on both the local and national economy. The Lofoten Fisheries are the largest cod fisheries in the world.

Cabins called “rorbu” were built to house thousands of visiting fishermen, who came to Lofoten during the arctic cod season. Back in the day, 30.000 fishermen once fished during the arctic cod season. Today, around 2,000 fishermen fish for cod in the annual season.

Walk to Svinøya

Monday, September 21: We took a long walk today from Svolvær harbor and across a bridge to Svinøya Island.

In 1828, local merchant Gunnar Berg bought half of what was then a small fishing settlement known as Svinøya with about 60 inhabitants. At the time, Svolvær already played a vital role in the thriving Lofoten cod fisheries. Berg built wharves and his main house, and quickly became instrumental in shaping the area’s economic and social life. What began as a cluster of fishing cabins and wharves gradually evolved into a bustling center of maritime activity.

While many coastal towns have shifted toward tourism, Svinøya remains a living fishing village. The fisheries are still central to the local way of life, with boats coming and going, fish being hauled in, and racks of stockfish drying in the open air.

On our walk through Svinøya, we saw numerous rorbuer, or fisherman’s huts. Some are new creations mimicking the old rorbuer, and some are the original rorbuer that have been renovated. Tourists can rent either the newer versions or the originals when they visit.

At the far end of the island are numerous wooden racks (hjell) on which Arctic cod (skrei) are dried. It becomes traditional stockfish (tørrfisk), which is naturally air-dried by the cold Arctic wind and sea breeze without any added salt or smoke. Fish are traditionally hung from January to April when the weather conditions in Lofoten are best for curing. Cod bodies and heads are often hung and dried separately, as they go to different global markets (for example, the stockfish body is popular in Italy, while dried heads are exported to West Africa).

We loved this scenic walk past rorbuer, the now-empty wooden fish-drying racks (September is not the season for cod), and the Lofoten mountains rising out of the sea, periodically accentuated by rainbows.

Back in town, we went up close to see the white concrete Svolvær Church, built in a long church style in 1934. It seats about 400 people. Of course it was closed, as are most churches we have tried to visit in Norway.

At 6:00, before we went to dinner, Mike went to Sixt to rent a car for 24 hours. This time, we got a blue Toyota Corolla Cross so we could explore the Lofoten Islands on our second day.

Dinner at Bacalao

We enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Bacalao right on the harbor in Svolvær. Mike had a Game Burger: burger of moose and reindeer, salad, bacon, mushroom, pepper jack cheese, lingonberry sour cream and fries. I had Moules Frites: steamed mussels with cream, chili, garlic, onion, aioli and fries. We also shared a chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. The setting was marvelous, looking out over the harbor. And the food was delicious, especially my bottomless pot of mussels.

A drive to the west on the Lofoten Islands

Tuesday, September 22: From Svolvær, we drove west, making several stops along the way. We had planned to go to the end of the road in Å, but sadly the bridge crossing to the next island west of Leknes was closed for 45 minutes and we didn’t know if it would also be closed on our return trip. Thus instead, we turned around, returned to Svolvær and then drove north.

our drive to the west in Lofoten

Vågan kirke (Vågan church)

The yellow wooden Vågen kirke (Vågen church), also known as Lofoten Cathedral because it seats 1200 people, is an Evangelical Lutheran Church. It was built in a cruciform style in 1898. Like most churches we’ve tried to visit in Norway, it wasn’t open.

Henningsvær

We stopped in the town of Henningsvær, which has played a significant role in Lofoten’s fishing history and is still a destination with a plethora of craft shops, art galleries and a pleasant atmosphere. The name Henningsvær probably comes from the male name “Henning” and “Fiskevær” or “Vær,” a place along the coast where the fishing grounds where fishermen live.

Here by chance we ran into Paul and Julia (from Dorset), who we had dinner with for two nights on the MS Vesterålen. They had stayed the night in the town and planned to head to the southwestern town of Reine that evening.

Rørvika

We made a quick stop at Rørvika beach, popular among local families and residents in every kind of weather.

Drive to just past Leknes and back to Svolvær

We continued our drive to Leknes and a bit past when we came to a road block. We were told it would be 45 minutes before the road would open. Thus we couldn’t drive to the end of the road at Å. We had no idea if the road would open back up when it was time for us to return if we waited continued our drive south.

Instead of driving further south, we drove back to Svolvær, making a few detours along the way.

A drive to the north on the Lofoten Islands

We drove north from Svolvær into Vesterålen where we found some wild and magnificent views. It is a sparsely populated area and seems like the end of the earth. Yet. It is still nowhere near the northernmost part of Norway.

Drive north from Svolvær into Vesterålen

We saw some ship traffic passing through the narrow Raftsundet strait, a legendary 21-kilometer passage that serves as the marine highway between Lofoten and Vesterålen. Once again, we saw another Hurtigruten vessel, the Nordnorge.

We stopped at a grocery store to get yogurt for our early morning ferry ride to Bodø, and just outside the door, I slipped on a wet metal grate and fell hard, flat on my back. I have taken so many falls on wet or pebbly places and somehow I was still able to jump back up. One of these days, I’m not going to be so lucky to not break a bone or hurt myself badly.

We returned just in time to drop our rental car keys at Sixt.

Dinner at Fellini Restaurant Pizza & Grill

After our long day of driving, we shared a Quattro Pizza (cheese, ham, champignon, shrimps and olives) and apple cake with ice cream at Fellini Restaurant Pizza & Grill.

Travel from Svolvær to Bodø

Wednesday, September 23 to Friday, September 25: We took the Boreal Express Ferry at 6:00 a.m. Wednesday morning from Svolvær back to Bodø, where we stayed for two nights at Thon Hotel Nordlys in Bodø. The weather wasn’t good and the ride was bumpy as we crossed the Vestfjorden, the large body of water south of Lofoten. Luckily, we headed southeast from Svolvær and went into a fjord, which was calmer since it wasn’t in the open sea.

We had made a quick (2-hour) stop in Bodø while we were on our Vesterålen cruise, but all we did at that time was walk around looking at street art. You can see that post here: a short cruise on hurtigruten’s ms vesterålen: bergen to lofoten, norway.

Thon Hotel Nordlys in Bodø

Our hotel in Bodø, Thon Hotel Bodø, was the sister to the hotel we stayed in at Svolvær. It was smaller than the Svolvær Thon, but it was plenty busy with conferences and their attendees. It was conveniently located right on the harbor. Here, we didn’t get upgraded to a Superior room, so our room was very small.

Walk around Bodø harbor

Since we arrived at the hotel in Bodø before 10:00 a.m., we couldn’t yet check in, so we left our luggage behind and took a leisurely stroll around Bodø havn to Mole Head Lighthouse, constructed in 2017 on the breakwater built to protect the harbor.

On a peninsula across from the breakwater sits Nyholmen Fyr (lighthouse) and Nyholmen Skandse on the far shore. Nyholmen Skandse is one of Bodø’s oldest structures and one of only two forts built in Northern Norway. Dating from 1810, it was originally built to protect local grain warehouses from British warships during the Napoleonic Wars.

The fort quickly lost its defensive purpose, serving administrative functions until being abandoned in 1835.

The Nyholmen Lighthouse (Fyr) operated from 1875 to 1907.

Rampen RIB boat Sea Eagle Safari and Saltstraumen

Since we had a rare sunny day the day we arrived in Bodø, we decided to take Rampen’s Sea Eagle Safari to Saltstraumen – widely known as the world’s strongest tidal current – by RIB. A rigid inflatable boat (RIB) is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a rigid hull bottom joined to side-forming air tubes that are inflated with air to high pressure to give the sides resilient rigidity along the boat’s topsides. The design is stable, light, fast and seaworthy.

We geared up in dry suits, goggles, gloves and life preservers. The fast ride was jarring, windy and chilly as we straddled cushioned jockey seats. Our guide was Ken like the Barbie Ken; he was the Norwegian guide in charge of us English-speakers.

We saw the whirlpools formed by the tide going out. Saltstraumen has one of the strongest tidal currents in the world. Up to 400 million cubic meters of seawater force their way through a 3 km long and 150 m wide strait every six hours. Vortices known as whirlpools or maelstroms up to 10 m in diameter and 5 m in depth are formed when the current is at its strongest.

On the 2 1/2-hour boat ride we caught glimpses of sea eagles. We also saw salmon farms. Salmon aquaculture is the commercial practice of raising salmon from eggs to market size in controlled freshwater and marine environments. Ken told us there were up to 200,000 salmon in each circular enclosure.

We saw mountains and dramatic islets. We saw rocks engraved with curvaceous striations caused by ancient lava flows that have been pushed up by the North American and European tectonic plates bumping into each other.

Here’s a video of the Rampen Sea Eagle Safari & Saltstraumen.

Dinner at Tiger Ramen

We were exhausted after our Rampen RIB boat tour, so we had a simple dinner out at Tiger Ramen after a well-earned shower. Mike and I both enjoyed Rice Bowls, mine with shrimp tempura and his with beef. We made celebratory toasts to one another for surviving the maelstrom, which in fact wasn’t all that dramatic.

Thursday, September 24: Thursday was a rather rainy and dreary day, so we decided mostly to stay in and relax. We haven’t been able to do that much on our trip, and it was a welcome break.

Stormen bibliotek

In the afternoon, we walked a short distance to the Stormen bibliotek, or the Bodø Public Library, which embodies contemporary Nordic design principles. London-based DRDH Architects designed the impressive complex which also includes the Stormen Konserthus as well. The building, opened in 2014, was meant to highlight the city’s role as a growing cultural hub.

Large glass facades dominate the exterior structure and offer stunning views of the harbor and city. They also flood the interior with abundant natural light. The exterior combines light-colored concrete with warm wood elements. Inside, the layout is intuitive and welcoming. Besides being a place for books, it also serves as a community meeting point and cultural hub.

The institution played a vital role in Bodø’s designation as European Cultural Capital in 2024.

In the afternoon, Mike did a workout in the gym at the hotel and twisted his right knee. He could hardly walk, so he went back to the hotel to put ice on his knee and rest. Meanwhile I went shopping for a new pair of pajamas. I had brought one pajama set with me; it was on its last legs. Every time I wash the PJs in hotels or elsewhere, they take forever to dry. So I found another pajama set to replace that one. I also found two sweaters. I only brought one sweater with me as I had taken one out of my suitcase before leaving home. Now I’ve replaced that one with two. It was fun to have some shopping time without Mike looking over my shoulder! 🙂

Dinner at Tiger Street Food

Tonight we had dinner just a block away from the hotel at Tiger Street Food. We had enjoyed our dinner at Tiger Ramen the night before and Mike could barely walk, so we couldn’t go far. We shared Tempura Crunch Bao (Tempura shrimp with salad, pickled shallots, and creamy dressing); Tiger Bao Bun (Steamed bao filled with crispy chicken, salad, teriyaki and chili-lime sauce), and Grilled Beef with Asian Sauce (Juicy grilled beef served with house-made Thai sauce and fresh herbs). We enjoyed the cute decor and the delicious food.

After dinner, I took a little walk by the harbor to get pictures of the Stormen bibliotek and the Stormen Konserthus, as well as the harbor in the blue light.

Friday, September 25: Today, we took advantage of our 12:00 check-out time. We lounged around until time to leave.

harbor view out our window at 6:30 a.m.

We checked out of Thon Hotel Nordlys and took a taxi to the Bodø train station. This was the first taxi we had taken in 7 1/2 weeks of travel. It was quite a distance from our hotel to the train station, and Mike’s knee wasn’t up to pushing our luggage from the hotel to the station.

From the Bodø train station, we took the 10-hour train trip on SJ Nord from Bodø to Trondheim from 12:27 p.m. to 10:13 p.m.

a short cruise on hurtigruten’s ms vesterålen: bergen to lofoten, norway

wanderessence1025's avatar September 21, 2026

These posts cover our slow trip through the Scandinavian/Nordic countries from August 4 to October 30, 2026. I will be posting one long post about each area where we stay. I like to write one post about a particular place so that I can revisit our travels in one spot on my blog, according to location. I can also refer others to the post if they plan to travel to the destination and want ideas. I welcome you to read the entire post, read parts of the posts that interest you, simply look at the pictures, or not to read it at all. All who would like to come along are welcome.

You can find our itinerary here: anticipation & preparation: a slow motion journey through scandinavia.

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Thursday, September 17- Sunday, September 20: We boarded the Hurtigruten cruise ship MS Vesterålen on Thursday afternoon, September 17. We sailed 4 days (3 nights) up to Svolvær and the Lofoten Islands in the Arctic Circle, with stops in Ålesund and Trondheim. This was the first cruise we had ever taken.

All aboard the MS Vesterålen in Bergen

Thursday, September 17: Thursday afternoon in Bergen, we boarded the MS Vesterålen, a passenger vessel operated by the Norwegian-based Hurtigruten. The vessel was built in Harstad, Norway in 1983. She was refitted in Bremerhaven, Germany in 1989 to increase passenger capacity, and then later in 1995. As of 2010, the ship operates cruises primarily along the coast of Norway without venturing into international waters.

Freshly refurbished in 2025, MS Vesterålen is Hurtigruten’s classic coastal ship offering passengers a more intimate way to sail Norway’s historic route, with space for just 274 guests.

Our first night, after moving into our #205 berth, we attended safety meetings and then enjoyed a buffet dinner on board. We met the delightful Susan from Melbourne, Australia, a lively and fun-loving lady who loves the color orange; she was traveling further north on the cruise than we were. She would get off in Tromsø on Monday, whereas we would disembark in Svolvær late Sunday night. We also met Max and Liv from Melbourne; the young couple was traveling with Liv’s family; her mother is originally from Norway.

This is the historical ship with its layout and routes.

Sailing down the Hjørundfjord

Friday, September 18: Friday morning, we woke to some blue skies. After eating breakfast we had time to relax and do some things on our computers. The ship set sail down the Hjørundfjord, surrounded by the Sunnmørsalpene mountain range; it has mountain peaks reaching 1,700 metres (5,600 ft) straight up from the fjord, including Skårasalen and Skopphorn. Both sides of the fjord are heavily wooded due to frequent rainfall.

Port stop in Urke

Urke is a village located on the Råna peninsula by the Norangsfjord, an arm of the Hjørundfjord. It has between 30-40 permanent residents but other people have cabins and holiday homes there. At Urke general store you can buy groceries, fuel and medicine all year round. The general store also runs a campsite that is open during the summer months.

We disembarked from the anchored ship and took a tender to shore in Urke, where we strolled around the bucolic village for a couple of hours.

Urke to Ålesund

After leaving Urke, the ship cruised back out of the fjord and headed north to Ålesund, a historically important fishing harbor and gateway to iconic fjords such as Geirangerfjord and Hjørundfjord. After the city’s 850 wooden houses were destroyed by a devastating fire in a single night in January 1904, leaving 10,000 residents homeless, young visionary Norwegian architects, heavily inspired by Europe’s Art Nouveau movement, rebuilt the city in 3 years. This Art Nouveau (Jugendstil) architecture defines the city today. That and its dramatic landscape spread across several coastal islands in a fishhook-shaped archipelago reaching out into the Norwegian Sea/Atlantic Ocean make the city a picturesque destination. Ålesund is completely framed by water, islands, and the rugged, snow-capped Sunnmøre Alps.

The scenic Brosundet Canal cuts right through the historic heart of the city, lined with beautiful old fishing warehouses and Art Nouveau buildings.

It rained during our entire outing. 😦

Ålesund to Trondheim

Saturday, September 19: On Saturday morning, we headed toward Trondheim, passing Munkholmen (Monk’s islet), an islet near Trondheim that has served as a Viking execution ground, a Benedictine monastery, a fortress, a prison, and a World War II anti-aircraft gun station. Today, Munkholmen is a popular tourist attraction and recreation site.

Meet and Greet sister ship

Just after passing Munkholmen, we passed the MS NordKapp, one of Hurtigruten’s sister ships, leaving Trondheim. The crew distributed Norwegian flags that we could wave as the two ships passed each other, jubilantly blowing their horns.

Trondheim

We arrived in Trondheim at around 10:oo on Saturday morning and had about 3 hours to walk around the town. Trondheim was founded in 977 AD by Viking King Olav Tryggvason. The city, originally called Nidaros, served as the capital of Norway through the Viking Age until 1217.

Right after getting off the ship, we saw the hotel where we will stay on Friday-Monday, September 25-28, Clarion Hotel Trondheim.

We saw the huge German cruise ship, AIDAprima, with a capacity of 3,286 passengers, in port. Passengers must have been allowed to disembark in shifts, as we saw groups coming and going at different times during their port stop from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

AIDAprima is the flagship of AIDA Cruises, built by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding at their shipyard in Nagasaki, Japan.

I personally would never take a cruise with that many people on it.

We crossed the Ravnkloa canal and then walked quite a distance to the world’s northernmost medieval cathedral, Nidaros Cathedral. It was built over the burial site of Saint Olav and has served as Northern Europe’s most crucial Christian pilgrimage site and the traditional coronation site for Norwegian kings.

We chose not to go into the church as we had plans to return to Trondheim for two days on September 25-28 when we could spend more time there.

Trondheim to the Arctic Circle

Evening cruise from Trondheim: We had an easy evening after our port stop in Trondheim. We saw the Kjeungskjær Lighthouse which sits on a tiny island at the mouth of the Bjugnfjorden. The 17.5-metre (57 ft) tall lighthouse is made of stone with an octagonal-shaped tower that is painted red. Some people claim it looks like a Moomin House. The lighthouse is lit every year from July 21 until May 16. It is dark during the late spring and early summer months due to the midnight sun.

We sat up in the Panorama Bar and had drinks with our new Australian friend Susan. Then we had dinner with assigned tables. We sat with Paul and Julia from Dorset, England and enjoyed our chat with them. I had salmon with a dill sauce and Mike had reindeer shank and we each had cheesecake with lingonberry sauce.

Arctic Circle Crossing

Sunday, September 20: Sunday morning, we crossed into the Arctic Circle at 7:56:06 a.m.

Arctic Circle crossing on the M.S. Vesterålen

After breakfast, we continued our cruise down the coastal waterway while waiting for the onboard celebration for crossing the Arctic Circle.

On deck at 10:30, we had the ship celebration for crossing the Arctic Circle. The captain came out as did Njord, the god of the seas from Norse mythology. The man who had guessed the time closest to the actual crossing got a prize: the ship flag signed by the crew as well as a bucket of ice poured over his head and down his back. Anyone else who was willing to get ice and melting cold water poured down their backs got a free drink to toast the crossing. Of course, where a free drink is involved, I will do most anything, so I submitted to the ice pour. Shiver me timbers!

Arctic Circle to Bodø

At 1:15, we arrived in Bodø and exited the boat to stroll through the town for two hours. With Susan, we searched for the street art that the town is famous for.

In 2016, the street art festival UpNorth was the source for a number of street murals in Bodø. Several professional grafitti artists were invited to paint the city. Most of the works are inspired by the nature and culture around Bodø. NorlandiART is another project designed to encourage street art in Bodø, with a focus on celebrating the history and traditions of the county Nordland.

“Malstrøm,” painted by Spanish artist David de la Mano, was directly inspired by Saltstraumen, the world’s strongest tidal current located just outside the city. It depicts a swirling mass of human silhouettes resembling a whirlpool.

“Insomnia” is by the Italian artis Millo. It reflects Bodø’s 24-hour summer light. This mural shows everyday figures and buildings in crisp black and white lines, with only occasional touches of color. This dreamy and surreal mural takes place under the midnight sun.

“After School” by Russian artist Rustam Qbic covers an entire wall and shows a child spraying the northern lights into the sky with a spray can.

Phlegm is a British graffiti artist who first developed his art in self-published comics. He often features menacing storybook characters. This mural is reminiscent of mythical Norse characters and traditional troll images. His monochromatic work is equally charming and menacing.

“Butterfly” by Norwegian stencil artist Martin Whatson is a vibrant, multi-textured piece that blends classic grayscale imagery with a massive burst of colorful, graffiti-style abstract details inside a butterfly.

Bodø to Svolvær

After boarding the ship at 3:15 to continue our journey, we had a long afternoon ahead since we’d had to check out of our berth by noon and we wouldn’t arrive in Svolvær until 9:20 p.m.

We had also been assigned the 7:45 seating for dinner so we had a lot of time to kill. We were out in a wide expanse of water and it was raining, so going out on deck wasn’t appealing. Mike and I whiled away a few hours on our computers until Susan came down to see if we wanted to join her in the Panorama Bar for a drink. Mike hadn’t been feeling good, so he relaxed in the lounge for a while until he got bored and joined us. We had a fun time having drinks as we were joined by George and Sandy from California who despise Trump as we do. They were quite funny so we all had a grand old time.

We ate dinner at our assigned table (#27) with Paul and Julia from Dorset, England. This was our second night eating dinner with this lovely couple. We all share a love of reading, so we talked about favorite books and movies, and also about our methods for planning travels. We found out they will be on our 10-hour train ride from Bodø to Trondheim next Friday. Like us, they got off in Svolvær, but they planned to rent a car and stay in different places in Lofoten.

We enjoyed a lovely dinner. I had a Norwegian Vegan bowl with herbal oil and beetroot chips, Ling fish with beetroot barleyotto, kale and brown butter with mushrooms, and a dessert of cloudberry cream with crisp waffles and hazelnut brittle. Mike had Bidos (a reindeer bean soup), Herb-Roasted pork fillet from Horns Butchery with charred cabbage, fennel and radish crudités, and Choron sauce, and the same cloudberry cream dessert.

After dinner, we said our goodbyes to the friends we had made. We docked at Svolvær at 9:20, at which time Mike and I disembarked and walked about 1 minute to our hotel, Thon Hotel Svolvær.

What a fabulous experience our short cruise with Hurtigruten was! 🙂

six nights in turku, finland

wanderessence1025's avatar September 10, 2026

These posts cover our slow trip through the Scandinavian/Nordic countries from August 4 to October 30, 2026. I will be posting one long post a week about each area where we stay. I like to write one post about a particular place so that I can revisit our travels in one spot on my blog, according to location. I can also refer others to the post if they plan to travel to the destination and want ideas. I welcome you to read the entire post, read parts of the posts that interest you, simply look at the pictures, or not to read it at all. All who would like to come along are welcome.

You can find our itinerary here: anticipation & preparation: a slow motion journey through scandinavia.

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Friday, September 4 -Thursday, September 10: This week we moved from Vaasa to Turku, Finland.

Vaasa to Tampere to Turku, Finland

We took the 10:35 VR train to Tampere, arriving at 1:51 p.m. There we had to wait 1 hr 19 minutes before our next train from Tampere to Turku at 2:10. We each had a quiche in a bakery at the Tampere Railway Station. We arrived in Turku at 3:50 and had to make our way about 15 minutes carrying our luggage over bumpy and difficult pavement to our apartment in the Turku city center.

Our Airbnb apartment: Stylish Studio Posthouse on Humalistonkatu 1 B 73, Turku, Finland

This apartment is the first one we’ve stayed in where it doesn’t seem anyone lives here full-time. It was hosted by Virpi K, as well as several other hosts. It is on the 6th floor of a set of apartments that surrounds a parking lot courtyard. It has an elevator, washer and dryer, central air conditioning and heat, and a balcony. This is the first apartment in Finland that doesn’t have a sauna. It is comfortable, with a great kitchen that is well-stocked.

Visiting markets

Upon arriving in Turku, of course we had to go to a supermarket to get some groceries. We always stock up on too much food and end up having to leave some behind when we move.

Turku Market Hall

Locally known as Kauppahalli, this historic 1896 indoor market is the perfect spot for coffee, artisan pastries, and traditional Finnish lunches. Here we bought chili skagen, beet salad, and whitefish croquettes. We also had a mediocre lunch at Tasa kotikokki.

Dining out

Lunch #1: Tasa kotikokki at Turku Market Hall. The salmon soup and the stuffed cabbage leaves looked good but they were already prepared. When they were served, they were lukewarm and quickly got cold. We have got to learn to stop buying any prepared foods in market halls or restaurants.

Lunch #2: On the day we went to Naantali, we stopped for lunch at Ravintola Trappi, where Mike enjoyed a Black Angus Bronco Burger (with crispy bacon, chili mayonnaise, cheddar cheese, pickles, onion rings) served with French fries, aioli and salad. I had a Crayfish Caesar Salad that was yummy.

Lunch #3: On a rainy Tuesday, we stopped for lunch at the cozy Ristorante Pizzeria Dennis where we shared a thin-crust chorizo pizza and even had some to take home in a doggie bag.

Dinner #1: On our last night in Turku, we went out to dinner for the first time at Di Trevi Wine Bistro & Tapas Bar. We had La Coliflor (Deep fried cauliflower & chili garlic oil); Pimientos de Padrón (Roasted green peppers and aioli); Pil Pil (Chili-garlic king prawns and focaccia); and Carpaccio (Finnish beef tenderloin, tuna creme, crispy capers, arugula, and parmesan). It was delectable. We’re two for two on excellent tapas meals in Finland!

After dinner, we enjoyed a stroll down the Aura River.

Stopping for drinks: On the way to get groceries our first night in Turku, we stopped at Hemingway’s Bar for a beer. We thought it was quite humorous to stop at a bar named for Hemingway who almost certainly did not visit Turku, Finland. After exploring Turku Castle and the Maritime Centre, we stopped for drinks at rento.

Dining in

One night we made orecchiette with pesto and broccolini and another, we made hamburger soup with zucchini, carrots, garlic & orecchiette, which made enough for three dinners. We sat on our balcony and admired a gorgeous sunset.

Activities and Sights in Turku

Turku, founded in 1229, is Finland’s oldest city. It has a long history with Sweden and Russia and is now an important city in an independent Finland. In its history, it has burned down more than 30 times.

Turku played a pivotal role as part of the Kingdom of Sweden during the Middle Ages. In 1809, it came under Russian rule with Turku serving as the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland. The Russians moved the capital to Helsinki because it was too close to Sweden, dealing a blow to the city. However, the fire of 1827 was more devastating as three-quarters of the city was destroyed in the largest fire in the Nordic countries.

After World War II came years of reconstruction and population growth. Turku’s shipbuilding industry was a major beneficiary.

Population has grown steadily through the city’s history, mostly due to immigration in recent years. The Turku region is the 2nd most ethnically diverse metro area after Helsinki.

During the 20th and early 21st centuries, Turku has flourished as a hub of commerce, academia and tourism.

General City Sights

Wandering around the town, I try to capture snippets of interesting sights that tell something about the culture. We saw odd little signs on the streets, students in their patch-covered overalls, the Aura River, and schoolchildren out and about for the one day a week that they are required to study outdoors. We saw the city’s grand buildings and boats along the river lit with white lights on a dreary, rainy day.

On the way to a Banksy exhibit, we saw a giant metal ball and found it to be a piece of art called “Window of the Sun;” it was historically a gas ball built in 1937 for extra storage of household gas. The ball was hand-riveted together from 24 identical steel plates. When the popularity of gas diminished, the ball stood useless until it was repurposed into art by Mauri Kosonen.

Market Square

Our apartment was not far from Market Square where there was always a bustle of activity going on.

Taking the Vesibussi to Ruissalo Island

Saturday morning, we took the Föli water bus (Vesibussi) down the Aura River to Ruissalo, an island perfect for strolling, cycling, visiting a Botanical Garden (which we never saw), and relaxing on sandy beaches like Kansanpuisto. We perused the art exhibition strapped to the trees on the island, enjoyed jam-filled doughnuts at a cafe, and wandered around the beach area.

It was a good thing we took the water taxi on the weekend because, as of September 1, it only runs for 3 more weekends in September. If we had waited until Monday, we would have been out of luck.

Ruissalo’s history is one of agriculture, recreation and natural values. To this day, Ruissalo’s lands are cultivated and livestock is kept in the summer, especially for scenic reasons, to preserve the island’s unique character. 

The island became the property of the city of Turku in 2005, when the state and the city reached an agreement requiring that Turku protect the island’s unique nature and cultural and historical values. This meant that the island could not be used for large-scale construction or other activities that would endanger its current character. Ruissalo will remain a recreational oasis and nature paradise for future generations.

On this first weekend in September, the Turku Human Photography Club was celebrating its 10th anniversary with one of a three-part exhibition. The exhibition examined overlaps, levels and structures formed over time in nature, culture and human life. Below the surface, fragility, connections, origins, or something authentic and primal could be found. In addition to the experiences and memories that shape us, the works communicated the possibilities of the future and awakened each person’s own images in the present.

The artworks were spread out in the area between Villa Promenade and the water bus pier.

Turku Castle

Turku Castle: Dating back to the 1280s, this massive medieval fortress is Finland’s largest surviving castle. We roamed through the grand banquet halls and dungeons and checked out the historic exhibits.

There is a medieval part of Turku castle and a Renaissance part. We visited the Medieval Castle first.

Medieval Castle

During the Middle Ages (5th to late 15th century), Sweden annexed a large part of what is now Finland, which was divided into nine administrative regions known as slottslän or castle fiefs. The castle was built not only to defend Turku but also to bring the then “Österland” more firmly under Swedish control. The battles at Turku Castle were often related to political issues in the entire Baltic Sea region.

Castles were built as the centers of fortresses, the first of which were Turku, Häme and Vyborg castle. The site chosen was a rocky islet in the mouth of the River Aura, which was considered favorable for defense. From there, it was possible to monitor the trading posts along the river and the traffic to Turku.

The Sture Church, built in the 1480s, is one of the last monuments of Turku castle’s Catholic period. Today, Sture Church is used for exhibiting sculptures of saints from the collections of the Museum Centre of Turku.

Renaissance castle (around the 14th to 17th century) and beyond

After the disintegration of the Kalmar Union, the crowned King of Sweden Gustav Vasa visited Turku Castle in 1530 and in winter 1555-1556. He found the medieval military castle unpleasant and even planned to dismantle it. Building a new castle was cost prohibitive, so instead he decided to renovate it.

Gustav Vasa established the hereditary monarchy and divided the kingdom into duchies ruled by his sons. John became Duke of Finland. Court life was at its most glamorous in the 1550s and the 1560s under Duke John’s rule, but internal family struggles forced John to surrender in 1563. Conflicts with the family continued and the castle was under siege again in 1597 and 1599.

The castle served as the governor’s official residence in the 17th century. In the 18th century, it was used as a military barracks and a warehouse. The bailey became a prison in the 19th century. The Castle Museum was opened to the public in 1885.

The main castle was destroyed in the bombings in 1941. The renovation and restoration of it were completed by 1961.

The castle has 164 rooms enclosed in stone walls up to three meters thick. Walking through this castle felt like an endless walk through labyrinthine passageways , halls and rooms, and we wondered if we would ever find our way out!

Forum Marinum

Forum Marinum is a maritime center and museum on the Aura River that features historic tall ships, naval vessels, and interactive exhibitions on Finland’s seafaring history.

40,000+ exhibition & Finnish shipbuilding

The 40,000+ exhibition explores the interplay between humans and nature in the world’s largest archipelago, a mosaic of some 40,000 unique islands and islets. Roughly 100 of the Archipelago Sea islands are inhabited.

The average depth of the Baltic Sea is 54 meters whereas the average depth of the ocean is several kilometers. Some 90 million people (about 12% of the European population) live in the Baltic Sea catchment area.

The Baltic Sea is polluted by nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus from agriculture, forestry, cities, industry and traffic. Most of these are stored in the sea’s bottom layers, i.e. sediments. This results in eutrophication which depletes the seabed of oxygen.

The Finnish shipbuilding exhibition explores the history, beginning in 1737, from the era of wooden sailing ships, the transition to industrial shipbuilding, and modern shipbuilding.

Finnish shipbuilders have thrived through specialization, creativity, innovation and design skills for high-level vessel types. Cruise tourism has led to new opportunities: high quality passenger ships have become a successful product.

Meyer Turku is a Finnish shipbuilding company whose main products are cruise ships and cruise ferries. The company’s shipbuilding facility is Perno Shipyard in Turku. It has a 365m-long dry dock and two bridge cranes with capacities of 600 and 1200 tons. Modular units for cruise ships are constructed elsewhere.

Working at Sea

The Working at Sea exhibit showcases maritme work through real individuals. It explores the history of the Naval Forces and merchant shipping within the Southwest Finland area. It also delves into the activities of maritime authorities, professional fishing, peasant sailing and archipelago culture.

Sigyn – The Lucky Ship explores the experiences of Captain Ludvig Jönsson on the cargo ship Sigyn and the relationship between humans and the sea.

Passengership Bore

The museum has a number of ships one can explore during summer. Since it is now September, most are closed to visitors except for Passengership Bore. We climbed aboard. The ship was completed in 1960 for journeys between Finland and Sweden. It was seen as the flagship and most advanced ship of the Bore Shipping Company, so it was not given a number but was simply referred to as “Bore Zero.” It was owned by Bore Shipping until 1977, after which it had multiple operators over the years..

In October 2010, Bore was towed to Turku. In May 2011, it was moored at Forum Marinum’s pier as part of the maritime center’s museum fleet. The ship houses a hostel with 130 cabins for 1–4 people. Reception is open 24/7, and laundry, storage service and wireless internet are all part of the hostel’s services.

At the beginning of 2018, Turku Vocational Institute began providing educational activities on board the Bore, offering a multidisciplinary learning environment for students in fields such as hospitality, restaurant and tourism, hair and beauty care, technology, security, and cleaning and property services. The ship also provides opportunities for media and business studies, as well as various entrepreneurship projects.

Going aboard this passenger ship gave us a taste of our upcoming cruise on the cruise ship MS Vesterålen through Hurtigruten, from Bergen to Svolvær beginning September 17.

Day trip to Naantali

We took a bus with 31 stops to Naantali, one of the oldest towns in Finland. Naantali was founded around the medieval Brigittine convent Vallis gratiae (or Nådendal Abbey), the church of which still dominates its skyline. The abbey operated in then-Swedish Finland from 1438 to 1591. It was one of six monasteries in Finland during the Middle Ages, and, as a double monastery, the only one which accepted women.

We wandered around the town which was pretty deserted on a Monday in September. It seems some places close only on Mondays and others were actively shutting places down for the autumn and winter. We enjoyed wandering around the town until we stopped for a nice lunch along the harbor at Ravintola Trappi.

The Mystery of Banksy “A Genius Mind”

We went to see the fascinating art exhibit that is traveling all over Europe, The Mystery of Banksy “A Genius Mind.”

The Banksy exhibit is featured in the historic shipyard halls of Telakkaranta in Turku. “The Mystery of Banksy” is a collection of the Bristol-born and still anonymous graffiti artist and painter’s works. His art challenges the boundaries of art and questions the status quo on themes such as needless, destructive and violent wars; migration; climate crisis, pollution and destruction of the planet; and out-of-control consumerism. He questions the wisdom of those in power, often comparing them to chimpanzees or apes. He criticizes the oppressors, as well as those of us who live our lives comfortably oblivious to other people’s suffering. His powerful and impactful work is supportive of the innocent civilians suffering in the Palestinian and Ukraine conflicts.

The exhibit includes graffiti, photos, sculptures, video installations, and prints on various surfaces such as canvas or plexi-glass.

All of the work is thought-provoking. Here are a few of the stories behind the works from the exhibit:

  • Girl with Balloon (2002): The work shows a girl whose hair and dress are blowing in the wind and who is reaching for a red, heart-shaped balloon. The meaning can be interpreted as the loss of innocence or the arrival of new hope and love. The work originally appeared in London’s South Bank in 2002, but was later painted over by the city council. Banksy then produced a small edition as an unsigned and signed screenprint. One of his framed prints from 2006 was up for auction. Moments after the painting sold for 860,000 pounds, the shredder secretly built into the frame triggered and destroyed half the canvas, at which point the shredder malfunctioned. On 14 October 2021, the half-shredded “Girl with a Balloon” changed hands with its new title “Love is in the Bin.” At the London auction house Sotheby’s, the work sold for 16 million pounds.
  • The Suicide Bomber represents an adaptation of Michelangelo’s David figure as a suicide bomber. The statue of David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture, created in marble by Italian artist Michelangelo between 1501 and 1504, and is symbolic of freedom and strength. The sculpture depicts the biblical David at the moment when he has already placed the slingshot on his shoulder and takes up his fight against the giant Goliath. Banksy’s version is an exact replica of David but with an explosive waistcoat and a cloth in front of his face. Here Banksy transforms a classic work into a contemporary piece and questions the glorification of war.

According to the exhibition, “In line with Banksy’s motto “Copyright is for losers ©TM,” this tribute and the works displayed are not authorized by the artists.”

Back in 2010, Time Magazine put Banksy on its list of the 100 most influential people in the world, alongside the likes of Barack Obama, Steve Jobs, and Lady Gaga.

Turku Cathedral

Turku Cathedral: Consecrated in 1300, this is Finland’s national shrine and the mother church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Sadly it was closed.

Aboa Vetus Ars Nova

Aboa Vetus Ars Nova (Museum of Archeology and Contemporary Art) is a combination medieval underground museum and a contemporary art museum. Aboa Vetus, the only archaeological museum in Finland, is a town quarter discovered underground. The ruin area of Aboa Vetus includes the remains of medieval houses.

On the other floors are art works from the recent history of Finnish and Western art. The collection’s oldest works date from the end of the 19th century, but the emphasis is on works originating from after the 1950s to the present day.

I have to say there wasn’t much that captured my attention at the this art gallery, but they did have a nice and modern cafe with a lot of offerings.

Turku Art Museum

On our last day we discovered the best treasure of all, the Eggert Pétursson (b. 1956) exhibit titled “Millefleurs” at the Turku Art Museum. The exhibition title “Millefleurs” celebrates the abundance of floral spendor in nature and in the decorative styles of art history. Pétursson is one of Iceland’s most beloved artists.

At the Turku Art Museum, we also perused some of the regular collection organized under the theme of “What (A) Color.”

Homebody Stuff

Every morning, like clockwork, I continued to do my NY Times puzzles: Wordle, the Mini, Connections and Strands. In the evenings, we watched our regular shows: Sommerdahl, The New Adventures of Old Christine, AnotherSelf , Ted Lasso, Old Money, Trying, The Killing, Furious, Broadchurch and Ride or Die. I am enjoying reading a detective book set in Norway, Don’t Look Back by Karin Fossum. I’m having a little more trouble making progress on The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama.

Mike never found a swimming pool nearby to swim as he did in Aarhus, Helsinki and Vaasa. He expects to find one in Bergen, where we head next. We did some stretching and exercising some mornings in our apartment. We actually enjoyed more down time in Turku as the city is very compact and the public transport makes places easily reachable.

Thursday, September 10: We sadly left Finland behind, taking a train from Turku to Helsinki and from there a flight on Norwegian Air to Bergen, Norway, where we will stay for seven nights. We will be in Norway for a month.

five nights in vaasa (& the kvarken archipelago) in finland

wanderessence1025's avatar September 4, 2026

These posts cover our slow trip through the Scandinavian/Nordic countries from August 4 to October 30, 2026. I will be posting one long post a week about each area where we stay. I like to write one post about a particular place so that I can revisit our travels in one spot on my blog, according to location. I can also refer others to the post if they plan to travel to the destination and want ideas. I welcome you to read the entire post, read parts of the posts that interest you, simply look at the pictures, or not to read it at all. All who would like to come along are welcome.

You can find our itinerary here: anticipation & preparation: a slow motion journey through scandinavia.

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Sunday, August 30-Friday, September 4: This week we moved from Tampere to Vaasa, on the west coast of Finland.

Tampere to Vaasa, Finland

On Sunday at noon, we caught the bus from Pasila and took it directly to the Tampere train station, where we caught the 1:02 p.m. VR train directly to Vaasa, arriving at 3:17 p.m.

It seems the public transportation options in Vaasa are very limited because we had to walk about 17 minutes with our luggage to our Airbnb apartment.

Our Airbnb apartment: Condominium in Vaasa; Kirkkopuistikko 1, Vaasa, Finland

Our apartment in Vaasa is near a bay off the Gulf of Bothnia. It has plenty of light, a decent living area, kitchen and bedroom, and probably the largest bathroom we’ve had so far. It also has a sauna and a washing machine, but no dryer. Interestingly, every apartment we’ve rented in Finland has a bidet.

Visiting markets

It was cloudy upon our arrival in Vaasa, and of course we had no groceries so we had to go out to the nearest market, which was the modern City Market in the heart of downtown.

On Monday morning, we went to the Vaasa Market Hall, which was mostly empty. We don’t know if the modern City Market (which reminds me of a Target or Walmart in the U.S.), only a block away, has ruined the Market Hall, or if it was slow because it was a Monday. Many of the stalls seemed permanently vacated. It was a bit sad to see the old market hall usurped by the modern supermarket.

Vaasankauppahalli (Vaasa Market Hall) is a Gothic-style market hall in the city center. It includes only seven different shops, including the fish store Ruostsala Snickars and the café Wasa Konditori. It is much smaller in scale than the Tampere or Helsinki market halls. The lower hall was completed in 1902 and the upper hall in 1927.

Dining in

After picking up Arctic Char and pike perch at the Vaasa Market Hall, we cooked in, making the Arctic Char, cabbage with red onion, and Ben’s Original Thai Style Sweet Chili Rice. Another night, we repeated the same meal, except with pike perch, a flaky and moist white fish. One night we ate leftover mushroom soup we’d had for lunch accompanied by crackers with salmon spread and Brie. On our last night, trying to get rid of food before we moved to Turku, we had greens with Skagen, and sauteed spinach with cherry tomatoes, garlic and cubed cheese in chili oil. That concoction was actually pretty good!

Dining out

Dinner #1: For dinner on the day of our arrival, we went to Tom Yum Thai Restaurant for a buffet in a modern shopping mall downtown because we had to get groceries after. Also, it seemed most restaurants were closed on Sunday. The food was cold and not very good; it seemed they were in a hurry to close down for the night. And we usually know better than to get buffets. We can never eat enough to make it worth our while and the food is never hot enough. Oh well, we win some and lose some.

Dinner #2: Faros Restaurant Ship & Terrace is an old lightship that came to Vaasa in 1989 and has ever since worked as a restaurant. In 2018 the restaurant expanded and opened a second restaurant, FYR, on its adjacent terrace. FYR has high ceilings and a panoramic view of the sea.

I wanted to eat on the ship, but it was closed for special events, so we ate at FYR. The menu was the same one as the ship menu. I had a Cava and Mike a beer, and Mike ate Baked potato with skagen and salad, while I had whitefish fillet, potatoes, dill crème fraiche and roasted vegetables. This was another one of our top dining experiences during our travels!

Lunch #1: For lunch, we stopped at Pharmacy House Café and Bakery where they had a salad bar for 14 euros. It looked good so we got that for lunch. We were loaded down with groceries from both the Vaasa Market Hall and the City Market, so we didn’t feel much like looking around too much for a lunch spot.

The one bad habit we’ve picked up is stopping for pastry and a latte each morning or afternoon. While in Jakobstad, we got out of the rain by stopping for a while in Fika Cafe. How can one blame us for coming in out of the rain?

After zipping around on our scooters, we stopped at Aveny Café in Vaasa for more pastries and latte.

Activities and Sights in Vaasa

Vaasa is the provincial capital of Ostrobothnia, a province in western Finland located on the Gulf of Bothnia. After Vaasa was destroyed by fire in 1852, the city was moved closer to a better harbor location due to the rising land. Vaasa is a university city, a major port city and a significant center of Finnish-Swedish culture. In Vaasa, 62% of its 71,000 citizens speak Finnish, while 23% speak Swedish.

General City Sights

An impressive building in the downtown area is the former Vaasa Joint Stock Bank, now occupied by Bank Food & Wine. The restaurant offers modern, clean Scandinavian flavors in the middle of Vaasa.

The Z. Topelius sculpture memorializes Zacharias Topelius (Jan 14, 1818 to March 12, 1898), a Finnish writer whose first language was Swedish. In modern-day Finland, both Finish and Swedish are official languages. Topelius today is known as a prolific writer of poetry, prose and children’s books.

The city is laid out on a grid pattern with wide boulevards and tree-lined medians, so it is quite a pretty and easy-to-navigate city.

The Statue of Liberty is a monumental bronze sculpture complex located in the Market Square of Vaasa. The statue celebrates the victory of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War in 1918. It was unveiled in 1938.

A day trip to Jakobstad & the Kvarken Archipelago – of wine and gold wooden buildings

We rented a Volkswagen Golf for 24 hours so we could explore a town north of Vaasa, Jakobstad, as well as the Kvarken Archipelago.

Maxmo: Klemetsgårdarna

Outside the small town of Maxmo, we found the closed-for-the-season Klemetsgårdarna, a museum with a cluster of typical west Bothnian houses. The farm group, dating back to the 18th century, is preserved for visitors. Many of its residents had fled to Sweden during unrest during the Great War, so Klemets’ homestead stood empty. The oldest cottage dates to the 1730s and others were built between the 1730s and 1760s. We had fun posing in front of the yellow doors of the cottages.

Jakobstad: Skata

Jakobstad (Pietarssari in Finnish), founded in 1652, has about 20,000 residents. The town is bilingual: 53% speak Swedish and only 30% Finnish. Industry drove migration in the town; by the end of the 18th century the city was Finland’s largest ship producer.

The city is a peninsula bordered by the brackish waters of the Bothnian Bay to the west, the mouths of two rivers to the east, and the freshwater basin of Lake Luodonjärvi. The town center has wide streets and esplanades separating city districts.

The city is the birthplace of the national poet, JL Runeberg.

Skata is the largest continuous wooden housing district in Finland. With the exception of a few stone houses, it was the only one to escape the city fire of 1835. It has been a protected district sine 1981.

Jakobstad Church

Jakobstad Church is a Lutheran church built in 1731; it was built of wood in the shape of a like-sided cross. It was one of the first churches in Finland built like a cross.

Pedersöre kyrka

Pedersöre kyrka is one of the oldest medieval churches in Ostrobothnia. The church lost its medieval design when it was rebuilt into a cruciform church in the late 18th century.

It has a 65m high spire modeled on the tower of Storkyrkan in Stockholm from the 1490s. In July of 1985, the spire was destroyed in a fire, then completely renovated and reopened in Advent 1986.

Replot Bridge

We drove over the Replot Bridge, a cable-stayed tuftform bridge connecting the island of Replot with the mainland in Korsholm, near Vaasa. It is 1,045 m (3,428 ft) long and it is the 2nd longest bridge in Finland. Its two supporting pylons are both 82.5m (271 ft) high. It was inaugurated in August of 1997.

Svedjehamn

Svedjehamn is a picturesque little harbor with rust-painted boathouses on Björko’s north coast. We found this place to be atmospheric and photogenic; it reminded us of places we visited in Nova Scotia, Canada in 2022. Again, we loved posing in front of the golden doors of the boathouses.

The main fishing harbor was the village of Björköby back in the 1920s. However, the harbor became too shallow as a result of land uplift, and the villagers gradually moved their boathouses to the new harbor at Svedjehamn. These days Bodback and its old boathouses and storehouses are a museum area.

Kvarken Archipelago: the Bodvattnet Nature Trail

We walked a short distance on the 4km loop through the Kvarken Archipelago on the Bodvattnet Nature Trail. On the trail, former sea bays, De Geer moraine ridges and land uplift forests are evident. On the land uplift shores, plants take over land areas that have been under water since the last Ice Age.

The plants grow in a specific order on the emerging land. Sedges and hay grasses grow on the shoreline. A little further away from the shoreline are bushes and grey alder. Birches and spruce forests grow on the highest land areas that have been above water the longest. Pine forests may also grow in the drier areas.

Kvarken Archipelago: Saltkaret Observation Tower

Kvarken Archipelago is Finland’s only natural heritage site on the UNESCO World Heritage List; it was added to the list in 2006. The area is unique because of the continuously and rapidly rising rocky archipelago formed by the Ice Age. The region’s land uplift is the best seen in the world due to its speed.

During the Ice Age, northern Europe was covered by a continental ice sheet. The center of the glacier laid in the Kvarken region, with an ice mass up to 3 km high depressing the earth’s crust by approximately 800-1000m.

In the final stages of the Ice Age, the margin of the melting continental glacier retreated north-westwards, creating ridges up to 5m high and up to 100m wide on the seabed, along the margin of the ice. These are known as De Geer moraines. They form the characteristic landscape of the World Heritage site, being reminiscent of an old-fashioned washboard, emphasized in the village by the fields cleared between the ridges and stone walls.

The land will continue to rebound gradually, at an increasingly slow rate over thousands of years. At Kvarken, the present rate of land uplift is 8-9 mm per year.

We climbed the Saltkaret Observation Tower which overlooks the De Geer moraines. The tower is 20m high, corresponding to around 2000 years of land uplift. About 2000 years ago (AD 1), the land was lower than now by around the height of the tower. In the next 2000 years, Kvarken – the shallow strait between Sweden and Finland – will be almost cut off. However, this process may be slowed down by climate warming, which is raising sea levels. 

We loved the amazing views from this tower! When we reached the top of the tower, the sun came out, so it was especially beautiful.

Björköby Church & Björköby

Björköby is a village on Björkö in Korsholm; the settlement has 294 inhabitants while the whole village has around 380. The pretty red Björköby Church was built in 1859 and was named Maria after Alexander II ‘s wife.

Ostrobothnian Museum (aka Pohjanmaan museo)

We went to the only museum open in Vaasa: The Ostrobothnian Museum (also known as the Pohjanmaan museo). The museum building was completed in 1929, and in 1967 a new modern exhibition wing was added.

We started in the Terranova: the Kvarken’s Nature Centre constitutes the museum’s permanent natural science exhibition and demonstrates how plants and animals took over the new land arisen from the sea.

The historical basic exhibition offered stories and items from the Ostrobothnian peasant and merchant culture, as well as the history and folk art of Vaasa. 

The Hedman collection consisted of art and antiquities. The nationally significant art collection included the works of masters from the golden age of Finnish art, as well as domestic impressionists and expressionists.

Trinity Church

Vaasa Holy Trinity Church is a 900-seat red brick church in the English Gothic style. It was inaugurated on September 5, 1869.

a stroll down City Bay Trail & University students in Vaasa

After dinner at FYR, we strolled back to our apartment along the City Bay Trail (Kaupunginselän reitti in Finnish, Stadsfjärdsleden in Swedish).

Vaasa is a major university town that boasts four (some sources say six) universities, so it has a youthful vibe. Degrees are offered in Finnish, Swedish and English, attracting a diverse local and international crowd. Apparently every 5th person in the city is a university student. We saw new students in groups playing bonding games. When school starts in September, many student associations organize their own “fuksi-kastajaiset” (Finnish) or “gulnäbbinstagning” (Swedish) involving a series of small competitions and challenges for the new students.

One trademark of student life at Finnish universities are durable overalls (called haalarit in Finnish or halare in Swedish) in bright colors decorated with imaginative patches and badges, intended to convey a sense of community. Students usually acquire these overalls during their first year of studies. The color depends on the university and the field of study. The overalls are plain when they are bought; they are a clear canvas onto which students can pour their personality. They usually get patches for participating in student events, then stitch or glue them onto the overalls. They become a cherished memory from their university years.

our first Ryde scooter experience

I was hoping I wouldn’t end up with broken bones or dead when Mike suggested we rent the Ryde scooters on which we saw the students zipping around town. Luckily, I got the swing of it rather easily. However, Mike did crash into me from behind early on and caught me before I hit the ground.

We rode first to Hietasaari island, where we saw the public sauna, Vaasan Pingviinit (swim club & sauna). We had read you could only pay with Mobile pay, which we cannot get because we are not Finnish or EU citizens. However, when we got there, we discovered we could have paid any number of ways. Sadly, we didn’t have our bathing suits with us.

We rode by a marina and then to Pyhän Nikolaoksen kirkko (St. Nicholas Church), an Eastern Orthodox church in Vaasa. The church was surrounded by a well-preserved area of 19th century wooden barracks.

Homebody Stuff

Every morning, like clockwork, I continued to do my NY Times puzzles: Wordle, the Mini, Connections and Strands. In the evenings, we watched our regular shows: Sommerdahl, The New Adventures of Old Christine, AnotherSelf , Ted Lasso, Old Money, Trying, The Killing, Furious, Broadchurch and Ride or Die. We enjoyed watching The Summer Book based on the book of the same name by Tove Jansson, about a young girl and her emotionally-distant father staying on a Finnish island with the girl’s grandmother.

We did a little shopping one rainy day in Vaasa at a men’s store called Aukia. There Mike bought two pairs of pants and a flannel shirt. We returned there another day to look for a black long-sleeved shirt, which he found and bought.

Mike went swimming the morning before we returned our rental car because the swimming facility, Vaasan uimahalli, was a long distance from the apartment. He also got a haircut our last afternoon in Vaasa by a Palestinian guy at Turkkilainen Parturi who said he’s a university student but doesn’t much care for his studies. He enjoys being a barber. We both thought, I’m sure his parents will be pleased to find out he wants to be a barber after spending thousands of euros on his education!

I’m in the midst of reading two books: Don’t Look Back by Karin Fossum and The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama. I find I’m not making as much time as usual to read, as I usually spend most of my time editing photos, writing my blog, reading up on places we visit, plotting out our transport options, and keeping touch with the family at home. We had a long chat with Alex after Jandira wrote a letter to her new boss about defining her role more clearly and she wanted our feedback on the letter.

Friday, September 4: On Friday, we made our way to Turku in Southwest Finland at the mouth of the River Aura.

the august cocktail hour: a few last days in virginia, then on to denmark & finland

wanderessence1025's avatar September 1, 2026

August 31, 2026: Welcome to our August cocktail hour. Let’s have a nice summer cocktail like a Gin & Tonic Sgroppino, with its scoop of refreshing lime sorbet. We have finally escaped the heat and humidity of Virginia and are enjoying cooler climes in Denmark and Finland.

I have a variety of soda or seltzer water for those of you who don’t drink.

August marked the first of our three month stint of slow travel around Scandinavia. We started off the month finding out that Jandira got a new job, and we all went out to celebrate on the night before we took off for Denmark.

Homebody stuff & a walk in Vienna, VA

It was still hot and humid in the days before we left Virginia on the evening of August 3. One evening I got Allie to cuddle up with me while watching a movie in our basement which is always freezing in the air-conditioning. I went for a walk in Vienna and it was as miserably hot as July had been.

I finished 3 books in August bringing my total to 44/48. I especially enjoyed Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout. We watched a movie that fit in well with our Finnish experience: The Summer Book. It really gave us a feel for summer on a Finnish island. We started watching a couple of new series or new seasons of old series: The Killing, Furious, and Ride or Die. We finished watching The Four Seasons (S2). We continued watching AnotherSelf (Zeytin Ağacı) (S3);  The Bear; Sommerdahl (S1); Thank You Next (Kimler Geldi Kimler Geçti) (S3); Grantchester  (S6); Old Money (Enfes Bir Aksam) (S1); and The New Adventures of Old Christine (S5). We can’t access some of the shows we were watching in the U.S. so we’ll have to watch those when we return home.

Dining out in Virginia

Jandira had spent months applying for jobs and finally, after numerous interviews and numerous rejections, she got a new job which is not in sales and leaves her weekends free. All of her jobs have been in sales and have required her to work on weekends. Now that she has a family, she wanted to get out of sales and have weekends with the family. This new job will give her a new position, as a supply chain manager for a women’s skin care start-up company. When she got the news on Sunday, we suggested going out to eat at Seasons 52 to celebrate her success.

Arrival and a week in Copenhagen, Denmark with forays to Roskilde & Helsingør

August 4 – August 11: We flew into |*Copenhagen, Denmark*| on August 4 and stayed there for 7 nights. We wandered around the city, visiting Marmorkirken (the Marble Church) and Designmuseum Danmark before watching the changing of the guards at Amalienborg Palace. We had the famous (and not very good) Copenhagen hot dogs at Emmis Place and then visited the colorful harbor of Nyhavn and took a fun fact-filled Netto Boat Tour. We traipsed to The Little Mermaid, a national symbol inspired by the story by Hans Christian Andersen. We happened upon St. Alban’s Anglican Church and ate pastries at Glace in Strøget; there, I bought two new shirts and a scarf at Ann Ricci Boutique. We wandered through the magical and mesmerizing Tivoli as the sun went down; we were captivated by the blue light and the colorful lights that decorated the amusements. And we might have enjoyed the Swing Carousel more if we hadn’t just eaten dinner! 🙂 We rented Donkey Republic bikes and rode through Christianshavn to Reffen Street Food where we enjoyed the food, the vibe, and people-watching.

We took a day trip west to |*Roskilde*| to see Roskilde Cathedral, burial place for Denmark’s nobles, and the Viking Ship Museum, which has five original Viking ships, from 1070, excavated nearby in 1962. We took a train north to |*Louisiana Museum of Modern Art*| , beautifully situated on a bluff overlooking Niva Bay. With its extensive sculpture garden and its exhibits by Lucian Freud, Sophie Calle, and Alberto Giacometti, along with photos from the home of star Elizabeth Taylor (“700 Nimes Road”), the excursion was captivating. We took the train further north to |*Helsingør*|, home to Hamlet’s Kronborg Castle and the setting for the TV show, Sommerdahl. On our final day, we met a Danish friend of Mike’s friend Louis, Jorn, who kindly drove us around all day to his favorite spots around his hometown of |*Koge*|: Gjorslev Gods; Stevns Klint; lunch at Hjortholms Bistro No. 1; the limestone quarry where most of Copenhagen gets its building materials, Faxe Kalkbrud; and the castle Vallø, where widows and lonely old noble women live. Jorn and his wife Kirsten also invited us to their cozy home for cake and coffee.

We fell in love with Denmark’s biking culture, its cleanliness and tidiness, the fashionable young people, and the cute little children always properly dressed for the weather.

A week in Aarhus, Denmark

August 11 – August 18: We made our way by FlixBus from Copenhagen to |*Aarhus*|, which by the end of August, was our favorite town so far. We found a great farmer’s market (Wednesday & Saturday) where we could people-watch and buy fish, veggies, bread and cheese. We took an endless walk to the Infinite Bridge (Den Uendelige Bro) and then watched a pretty lame partial eclipse. We visited Den Gamle By (“The Old Town”), an open-air town museum that focused on town culture rather than village culture. We also strolled through the Latin Quarter, ate a dinner at The Spice of India and a lunch at Nori Bar. We dropped into Aarhus Cathedral and the small street, Møllestien, with its colorful cottages and hollyhocks. We rode Donkey Republic bicycles around the harbor area and were blinded by the Isbjerget (Iceberg buildings) and then we went to the modern Markedshallen Nicolinehus for a Vietnamese lunch. We enjoyed lounging at the Harbor Bath (Havnebadet) on a warm summer day and even dipped into the jolting harbor water. Mike found a local swimming pool where he swam three times during the week. We visited the interesting ARoS Kunstmuseum with its collection of Danish and international art and strolled around the rooftop “Your Rainbow Panorama.” We visited the Moesgaard, a museum that traces the history of human evolution and showcases the remains of Grauballe Man, the world’s best preserved bog body, as well as a Viking boat, weapon caches, and rune stones. We rented bicycles another time and rode around the botanical garden and the Latin Quarter and stopped for a beer and fries at Aarhus Street Food. What a fantastic city!

A week in Helsinki, Finland

August 18 – August 25: We took the FlixBus from Aarhus to Copenhagen followed by a FinnAir flight from Copenhagen to Helsinki, where we settled into our Helsinki apartment and then had Korean food at Ding Ding Restaurant. We explored the South Harbor and the Old Market Hall, truly a great destination for food of every kind, with plenty of restaurants and food vendors. We sampled Story’s salmon soup and Story’s meatballs with gravy. We bought lingonberries, cloudberries and wild blueberries at the Market Square then climbed uphill to Helsinki Cathedral, which dominates the city center but is plain and rather boring inside. We enjoyed the sauna in our apartment three times. We took the ferry to Suomenlinna Sea Fortress and were caught in the rain unprepared; luckily cheap plastic ponchos saved us. We enjoyed this wild windswept place at the edge of the world. We strolled in the rain along Esplanadi, dipped into the marimekko store; I did a little shopping at a shop called miela. Mike went swimming in a huge exercise facility in Helsinki three times. We visited the Helsinki Central Railway Station, the curvaceous wooden Oodi Library, the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, and the outdoor part of Amos Rex. We sat for a bit in silence in the Kamppi Chapel and then witnessed a wedding party leaving Helsinki Cathedral, chirping off in a gold Volkswagen Beetle. We visited the beautiful University Library Kaisa and, on another day, the Ateneum. We lingered over a two hour Finnish meal at Cella Ravintola. Finally, we walked through a cute historical working neighborhood called Puu-Vallila and then visited another market hall called Hietalahdentori, where we ate a Filipino lunch. We prided ourselves on figuring out and using extensively Helsinki’s amazing public transportation system including trams, buses, trains, and ferries.

We took a day trip to |*Porvoo*|, an adorable little town with an Old Town area, the Porvoo Cathedral, hearty Finnish food at Hanna Maria, and cool photogenic red barns along the river.

Five nights in Tampere, Finland

August 25 – August 30: We made our way by VR train from Helsinki to Tampere, less than a 2-hour journey. In Tampere, we stayed in a “Holiday House” in Pispala, a neighborhood full of wooden houses and narrow alleys. We visited Tampere Market Hall where we ate Finnish food at Kahvila Aniitta, then strolled through the Central Square where we saw the impressive Tampere City Hall, Tampere Theatre, and the Tampere Old Church. In the Finlayson area we learned about Tampere’s history as an industrial town and its substantial influence on the labor rights movement. The rapids that connect the two lakes, the Tammerkoski, greatly contributed to the growth and industry of the town, making it known as the “Manchester of the North.” We learned about a successful merchant, Kalle Kaihari, who promoted projects in Tampere and believed in giving back to the community, a rare thing for people of wealth these days. We returned to Tampere Market Hall to stock up on food for our stay.

We ate fried doughnuts and took an elevator to the top of Pyynikki Observation Tower to see views of Tampere, ate lunch at 4 Vuodenaikaa (Four Seasons) in Tampere Market Hall, and then visited the Moomin Museum where we learned about Tove Jansson’s famous Moomins and their long saga. Lastly, we visited Tampere Cathedral with its gorgeous interior artworks.

We rented a Volkswagen T-Roc from Sixt for two days and took two road trips into the Lakeland area: First, we drove to the north to see |*Ruovesi and its church, Helventinjärvi National Park, and Virrat and its church*|. On the second day, we drove south to |*Hämeenlinna*| to see Iittala Village, home to a glass factory and artisan shops, and then to Häme Castle, one of three large medieval castles in Finland. At both places we enjoyed colorful and exuberant art exhibits: naive art and carnivalesque art, respectively. To top off our second road trip, after returning our rental car to Sixt, we enjoyed delectable tapas at Inez Tapas Bar in town.

Arrival in Vaasa, Finland

August 30 – 31 (we stay until September 4): We took a 2 hr 15 minute VR train from Tampere to Vaasa on Sunday the 30th. When we arrived we went out to eat a Thai buffet that was cold and mediocre. We found out Monday morning, of the three museums we wanted to visit, two were closed until Wednesday and one seemed closed for the season or permanently. We headed to the downtown area and Mike found a men’s store in a mall where he bought two pairs of pants and one flannel shirt.

We walked to the Vaasa Market Hall which seemed on the edge of becoming defunct, bought some Arctic char and some pike perch, and then bought a few more groceries from City Center. Then we stopped for lunch at Pharmacy House Café and Bakery and came home to relax. It was rather rainy and cloudy, so we were happy to have a day to do nothing but read, use the sauna, make dinner in, and watch the movie The Summer Book, based on a book by artist and author Tove Jansson.

Family Happenings

While traveling, we love getting photos of the family. It seems Adam is recovering nicely from his health scare. He is now back to walking fully on his left leg, chopping wood, lifting little Mikey, and swimming three times a week at Ojo de Agua. Cristy was once again queen of her class. The family sold all the pigs they wanted to sell and Adam is still busy working on various projects on his farm.

Alex and family went to Virginia Beach for a weekend and on the way, they stopped in Richmond to visit Aunt Sarah. Sarah had begged me to bring a cheap butter dish back from Costa Rica, which I did. Sarah got Allie a kitchen set that included a butter dish, and the two of them posed with their butter dishes. Allie had a great time visiting with her auntie and she loved Virginia Beach. The family also went out to Great Falls for an afternoon. She also started back at day care and she is loving playing with the other kids. She has always been fascinated by heavy construction equipment so she was thrilled when she got to “touch the trucks” at day care. She has a habit of playing for long periods while holding a banana or some kind of food in one hand; we thought it was hilarious to see her holding an ice cream while climbing on the trucks! 🙂 Just like her grandmother (she calls me “Birdie”), she loves to sort things by color. We got a call from the family one day while we were walking around in Tampere. Alex said Allie wanted to talk to Birdie! I love that and miss that little munchkin.

My Summer BINGO card

This month, I completed a few more things on my Summer BINGO card.

  • Finalize sale of Mitsubishi with Suzanne in Costa Rica (Received final payment and she closed on August 3 when she arrived in Costa Rica) ✓
  • Copenhagen & Aarhus, Denmark ✓
  • Amusement park – Tivoli ✓
  • Finland: Helsinki ✓, Tampere ✓, Vaasa (arrival) ✓
  • Bikerides in Copenhagen & Aarhus 111 ✓
  • Day outings (too many to count) ✓
  • Farmers markets ✓
  • Enjoy weather at an outdoor restaurant (Porvoo) ✓
  • Read 3 books: The Song Reader by Lisa Tucker, The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters, Lucy by the Sea (Amgash #4) by Elizabeth Strout ✓
my Summer BINGO card

five nights in tampere, finland

wanderessence1025's avatar August 31, 2026

These posts cover our slow trip through the Scandinavian/Nordic countries from August 4 to October 30, 2026. I will be posting one long post a week about each area where we stay. I like to write one post about a particular place so that I can revisit our travels in one spot on my blog, according to location. I can also refer others to the post if they plan to travel to the destination and want ideas. I welcome you to read the entire post, read parts of the posts that interest you, simply look at the pictures, or not to read it at all. All who would like to come along are welcome.

You can find our itinerary here: anticipation & preparation: a slow motion journey through scandinavia.

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Tuesday, August 25 – Sunday, August 30: This week we moved from Helsinki to Tampere, which is in the Lakeland area of Finland.

Finland is called “Land of a Thousand Lakes” but there are actually 188,000 of them. Of those, 187,888 are over 500 square meters. These lakes originate from the last Ice Age some 10,000 years ago, when moving glaciers acted like sandpaper; they scraped and gouged the bedrock. This left behind a flat, impermeable landscape where meltwater pooled into depressions, valleys and basins.

The topography of Finland is very flat and about 200 meters above sea level. Because of this, water flows slowly, pools easily, and has almost no mechanism for escape.

The lakes define Finnish summers with people enjoying cottage life, swimming, fishing, and saunas by the water.

Helsinki to Tampere, Finland

We left our Helsinki apartment at around 10:15 on Tuesday morning and made our way to the Pasila train station, about a 10 minute walk from our apartment. We took the VR train to Tampere at 11:06 and arrived in Tampere at 12:53. We had bought our tickets ahead of time on the VR app. The train ride was comfortable and efficient and had free WiFi on board.

Our Airbnb apartment: Uittotunnelinkatu 7B 15, Tampere, Piirkanmaa, Finland

Our apartment, hosted by Sari, is referred to as a “Holiday home” and is located in Ala-Pispala near the shores of Lake Pyhäjärvi. The apartment is compact but cute and super well-organized. This may be the most efficient place we have stayed so far. We have a balcony, a sauna and a washing machine.

Pispala is a distinctive residential area and popular outdoor spot known for its narrow streets, colorful houses and gardens.

In order to check in, we were told to walk from the train station to a bus stop to catch one of many buses to Pispalantori. At the bus stop is a pizza restaurant called Koti Pizza; at that restaurant, I was to pick up an envelope with my name on it and a key inside. Then we walked downhill to the apartment, which is on the second floor of a yellow wooden building.

We had talked with Adam and Alex & family over the weekend, so we called our daughter Sarah and had a nice long chat with her. Then we took a stroll down by the lake. There was a swimming dock but it looked rocky underneath and didn’t look that inviting for a swim. Mike found out the water temperature in the lake was even colder than the temperature in the Helsinki harbor. Also, the boats all around the shore looked as if they hadn’t been used in quite some time.

Visiting markets and dining in

We checked out Tampere Market Hall our first day in Tampere, ate lunch there, and then returned at the end of the day to stock up on goodies. When we returned later we got fresh pike, veggies, cheese, berries, sliced smoked reindeer & blackberry jam.

Tampere Market Hall

Tampere Market Hall, opened in 1901, is in the heart of the city of Tampere. It is the largest market hall in the Nordic countries. Inside are 174 sales outlets, of which about 40% are cafes and restaurants. The most popular restaurant is 4 Vuodenaikaa (“Four Seasons”) which is a hit with both locals and tourists.

Dining in

We ate in a number of times; one night we had a delicious pike fish with fresh cheese bread and broccolini, but I forgot to take a picture of it. We also had leftover pizza one night, which wasn’t very exciting. We had grilled bread cheese on bread and shrimp spread on crackers and olives for snacks. Our last night, we had orecchiette with havarti cheese, cherry tomatoes and chopped olives (Mike’s concoction). Mike added sliced turkey to his.

Dining out in Tampere

Since we were only staying in Tampere for five nights, we didn’t eat out as much as on our 7-night stays.

Koti Pizza

Dinner #1: We’re a bit far out from the town, about a 12 minute bus ride, so on our day of travel we were too lazy to make a trek for dinner. We strolled uphill to the same Koti Pizza where we had picked up our keys and ordered a “Mexican Pizza” which had jalapeños and, for some strange reason, pineapple. It was good and easy for our first night, and we also had leftovers for another meal.

Inez Tapas Bar

Dinner #2: We enjoyed drinks and the vibe at Inez Tapas Bar after returning our rental car to Sixt on Friday night. We loved our tapas meal of meatballs in tomato sauce, shrimp in garlic butter, sweet & spicy halloumi and pomegranate, sliced beef, roasted beetroot & goat cheese. Yum! It was an all-around scrumptious and delightful experience.

Kahvila Aniitta

Lunch #1: We ate lunch at Kahvila Aniitta at Tampere Market Hall. For lunch, we had a salmon salad sandwich with dill pickles, Karelian pasty with egg salad stuffing, and toast with sliced hard-boiled eggs and fish (sardines or herring?).

4 Vuodenaikaa (“Four Seasons”) at Tampere Market Hall

Lunch #2: We returned for lunch on Saturday to Tampere Market Hall, where we ate lunch at 4 Vuodenaikaa (“Four Seasons”). We had pike, potato croquettes, broccolini and tomato sauce.

Kahvila Runo

We found a old-timey cafe, Kahvila Runo, on a street corner and popped in for some delicious sweet treats and a latte.

Activities and Sights in Tampere

Tampere is considered the most important urban, economic and cultural center in the whole of inland Finland. It is wedged between two lakes, Lake Näsijärvi and Lake Pyhäjärvi with an 18m (59 ft) difference in the water levels. The rapids that connect them, the Tammerkoski, has been an important source of power throughout the city’s history, most recently for generating electricity. The city is known as the “Manchester of the North” because of its past as a center for Finnish industry.

The city was long known for textiles and metals industries but those were replaced largely by information technology and telecommunications in the 1990s.

Tampereen Raatihuone (Tampere City Hall), Tampereen Teatteri (Tampere Theater), & Vanha kirkko (Tampere Old Church)

We started in the Central Square, the heart of Tampere, surrounded by the important buildings of the city:

Tampere City Hall (Tampereen Raatihuone) is a neo-Renaissance building; the original building was built in 1890. The palacial building has many halls and the City hosts many events here. During the Great Strike in 1905, the so-called “Red Manifest” was read from the balcony of the Tampere City Hall.

Tampereen Teatteri (Tampere Theater) is one of two main active theaters in Tampere, along with the Tampere Workers’ Theatre. The building was designed in the National Romantic architectural style and was started in 1904.

Vanha kirkko (Tampere Old Church) was built in 1824 and was the first church in the city of Tampere. The church was designed by the Italian-born Charles (Carlo) Bassi (1772-1840). The Old Church is one of the sixteen churches of the Evangelical Lutheran Parishes of Tampere. Its style is that of a Neoclassical cruciform church.

General city sights

Tirkkonen House is a three-story commercial building in Tampere that was completed in 1901 in the Art Nouveau style. It housed the owner’s fabric store and his mother’s yarn store; the family lived on the top floor.

We found a statue honoring Aleksis Kivi (1834-1872), a Finnish writer.

Finlayson Area

The Finlayson Area is a historic industrial setting in the Tammerkoski river area.

The city’s industrialization in the 19th century was greatly influenced by the Finlayson textile factory, founded in 1820. By 1850, the factory employed 2,000 people while the city’s population had grown to 4,000. Many more industries flourished here as well.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Tampere was a city of workers and women, with one-third of the population being workers and more than half of those women.

The textile industry was heavily focused on bilateral trade with the Soviet Union but, in 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed, the industry lost most of its customers. The red brick Finlayson building has now been put to other uses such as museums, galleries and restaurants.

Mike in front of the Finlayson factory building

Finnish Labor Museum Werstas in the Finlayson factory building

The Finnish Labor Museum Werstas is a national museum of working life and social history situated in the heart of the old Finlayson factory area.

Kalle Kaihari’s life

We saw an exhibit about Kalle Kaihari (1899-1989) who came from a working class family and became a major influencer in many areas of life. He made his career as a successful merchant. Nationally, he was known as a versatile sportsman and one of President Urho Kekkonen’s closest friends. He has been described as a common-sense man with the ability to inspire confidence and create networks. He was particularly determined to advance projects in his home town of Tampere.

The businessman didn’t forget his humble beginnings. In an interview he reminded readers that “If you get rich in business, you have to give back, not pocket everything.”

He seemed like a moral and generous man who was utterly unlike the money-grubbing leaders of today such as Donald Trump, Elon Musk and so many more.

Finnish Labour Museum Werstas

We dipped into Finland’s largest free museum, where we learned stories of the working class and the labor movement in Finland.

The Industry Museum tells the 200-year-old story of Tampere’s industry. The exhibition describes how Tampere became the largest industrial city in the country, and thus became the center of the labor movement. Inspired by the general strike of 1905, the factory workers also became involved in the activities of the workers’ association and local trade unions. In the following years, the factory workers took radical industrial action, demanding wage increases and eight-hour workdays.

An exhibit called “Punished Without a Crime: How Finland Dealt with its Undesirables” tells the history of Finnish correctional labor facilities. Surrounded by barbed wire, the correctional labor facilities chastised and disciplined debtors, promiscuous girls and other undesirables from the 1920s to the 1980s. Freedom could be earned by collecting points, but many had to spend years in these institutions.

Tallipiha Stable Yards

Tallipiha Stable Yards is an old wooden district with artisan boutiques (mostly geared toward children), handcrafted chocolates and a cozy cafe. We were there on weekday where things seemed rather lackadaisical.

Vapriikki

Sitting along the Tammerkoski rapids is Vapriiki, now a diverse museum center with changing exhibitions which explore a wide variety of topics from history and technology to natural science. We walked into the building but were burned out on museums, so we didn’t explore the ones here.

We were surprised that there were no rapids; the river looked rather dry, maybe because of the time of year, at the end of summer.

A country drive north of Tampere: Ruovesi, Helventinjärvi National Park, and Virrat Harbor

We rented a Volkswagen T-Roc for two days so we could take some country drives around the Lakeland area of Finland.

Ruovesi

We drove north through magical pine and birch forests to the small town of Ruovesi.

Ruoveden kirkko ja hautausmaa (Ruovesi Church and Cemetery)

Ruovesi Church, officially known as Sofia Magdalena Church (Sofia Magdalenan kirkko), is a historic wooden cruciform church in the town of Ruovesi. Built between 1777 and 1778 by master builder Matti Åkerblom, the church was named in honor of Queen Sofia Magdalena of Sweden and opened on August 25, 1778. It seats approximately 1,100 people.

The adjacent cemetery contains graves dating back to the mid-19th century, a memorial for the victims of the steamship Kuru disaster, fallen soldiers from Finland’s wars, and a traditional church boat housed in a shed.

Unlike most nations during WWII, Finland’s military leadership mandated that fallen soldiers be evacuated from the front lines and returned to their home parishes for burial, regardless of rank. The graves of those lost from 1939-1945 are laid out in simple lines in a designated area.

During Finland’s 100 Centennial Celebration in 2017, young men were recruited to stand guard at graves of fallen soldiers, with each recruit matched to the age of the fallen soldier when they died. The visual impact of so many young men (mostly in their late teens and early 20s) brought a heartbreaking reality to the horrors of war.

Ruovesi marina & swimming beach

We enjoyed warm fried doughnuts at a cafe beside the Ruovesi marina and then strolled along the shore to look at the boats and the swimming beach.

Helventinjärvi National Park

We made a brief stop at Helventinjärvi National Park but I lost interest quickly in walking the 4km loop walk through forest to see a gorge that probably looks similar to Mather Gorge in Northern Virginia at Great Falls. We found a yurt sauna and pier to the lake, but I got eaten alive by mosquitoes, so we didn’t stay long.

Virrat Harbour

We continued north to Virrat Harbour, where we found a swimming beach and diving platform, plenty of boat moorings, and some gorgeous cloud reflections.

Virtain kirkko ja hautausmaa (Virtai Church and Cemetery)

Built between 1772 and 1774, Virtai Church and Cemetery is a historic wooden Ostrobothnian cruciform church featuring a unique renaissance-style bell tower (completed in 1776) that serves as the main entrance, linked via a narrow connecting corridor. The church is one of the most prominent masterworks of the famous self-taught Finnish church builder Antti Hakola.

The cemetery was first established in 1702. It features a large military cemetery (sankarihautausmaa) containing the graves of 336 fallen heroes from World War II, complete with a hero’s cross.

Red flowers at Finnish cemeteries are most used to decorate graves of soldiers who fell in Finland’s wars. Begonias, geraniums or roses symbolize sacrifice, honor and blood shed for the country’s independence during conflicts like the Winter War and the Continuation War.

Day trip to Hämeenlinna

With the rental car, we took another day trip southeast to Hämeenlinna to see Iittala Village and Häme Castle rising on the shores of Vanajavesi lake.

day trip to Hämeenlinna

Iittala Village & Naivistit Iittalassa

Iittala Village is the center of Finnish glass-making and home to the only Finnish glass factory operating in Finland and the home of the Iittala brand. The first glass was blown in November of 1881.

In Iittala Village, we found a wonderful Naive Art Exhibition (Naivistit Iittalassa) that featured 50 naive artists and over 500 new works. This is an annual summer exhibition in the village.

Naive art depicts everyday life, celebrations and people with a gentle and often humorous touch. It is characterized by clear expression, bright colors and subjects drawn from daily life. Realism or accurate perspective are not main concerns. What matters is personal expression and an individual way of seeing the world.

The movement took place in Western Europe in the 20th century and arrived in Finland in the 1960s and 1970s and has since become a distinctive field of art.

Häme Castle & “Carnival – IT Art at the Castle”

Häme Castle was most likely built during the late 13th century to serve as a military base in the border zone between Sweden and Novgorod, the capital of the Novgorod Republic, a city-state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries in northwestern Russia, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the Ural Mountains in the east.

The castle got its current appearance in about 1520.

Hämeenlinna was declared a city in 1639. During the Great Northern War the castle fell under Russian rule (1713-1721) but returned to the Swedish crown later. In the 1770s, the castle was fortified with bastions and a moat by order of Gustav III of Sweden.

In 1837 the main fort was converted to a prison for women. The castle was opened to the public in 1979 after 20 years of restoration.

Today, the castle was setting up for a wedding. In addition, the second floor was hosting an art exhibit titled: “Carnival – IT Art at the Castle” which showcased contemporary visual folk art. The artists drew their material and themes from their own living environment and personal worldview.

The works in the exhibition were full of joy, the courage to try new things and the boldness to challenge the establishment. The laughter, mockery and criticism that are part of the carnivalesque tradition resonate particularly strongly at a time when freedom of speech and expression are being curtailed in many places.

Vanaja Church & Holy Cross Church

Vanaja Church is a 15th Century stone church with excellent acoustics, making it a popular venue for choirs. It is renowned for a rare outdoor pulpit, which we couldn’t find.

Holy Cross Church in Hattula was built at the end of the 15th century and is dedicated to the Holy Cross. It is built of a distinctive red brick, unusual as most churches built at that time were built of grey stone.

Sadly the church was closed and a construction crew was working on the exterior. The grounds were overgrown and unkempt.

The church is famous for its 200 historical paintings done in al secco technique: the pictures are painted on a dry surface with colors dissolved in lime-water. We were sorry not to be able to see these paintings.

Lepaa Manor

Lepaa Manor was established as early as the 13th century although parts of the current main building were built in the late 17th C. We could never identify which building was the Manor House. In addition to the stunning manor grounds, Lepaa also features a horticultural college, a garden museum, and a winery that produces wines from its own harvest.

Pyynikki neighborhood and its hill with a viewing tower

Pyynikki is a scenic ridge area just outside of the Tampere city center. At the Pyynikki Observation Tower, visitors can enjoy the famous freshly fried doughnuts and coffee while enjoying views.

The attraction has the cafe set up for success. In order to buy the ticket to the tower, one must stand in line at the cafe, where, heck, after standing in line you might as well buy the doughnuts with the tickets. Mike and I have been eating way too many Danish and pastries of various types on this trip, so we got one to share. It was of course delicious!

We took the creaky elevator to the top and enjoyed cloudy views of Tampere.

World’s only Moomin Museum

Tampere-talo (Tampere Hall) is the largest concert and congress center in the Nordic countries and hosts hundreds of events, concerts, meetings and other occasions every year. It is home to the Tampere Philharmonic and the Moomin Museum, among others.

The Moomin Museum showcases experimental art for Moomin fans and art lovers of all ages. The museum reveals how the Moomins came to life and what happened next. Although I have never read any of the Moomin books by author and artist Tove Jansson (1914-2001), we enjoyed diving into the adventures of the Moomins through the artist’s original illustrations.

Tove Jansson created the Moomins and their whimsical valley as an escape from the anxieties of war. Her art and stories celebrate diversity, empathy and togetherness. At the museum, one is able to follow the full Moomin story – from the great flood that first brought the Moomin family together to their mysterious disappearance one grey November.

A special exhibit at the museum introduced the 2.5m tall Moomin-house tableau built in 1979 by Tove Jansson, Tuulikki Pietilä and Pentti Eistola. The house has dozens of different windows, carefully crafted miniature objects, and hidden secrets.

Tampere Cathedral

Tampere Cathedral (The Church of St. John) was built out of natural stone in the quarter of Kyttälä between 1902 and 1907 to meet a need for a church on the east side of the Tammerkoski rapids.It is one of the city’s most significant monuments in the National Romantic style in Finland. It is famous for its remarkable interior artworks, which hold a place in Finland’s cultural history.

Artists Hugo Simberg (1873-1917) and Magnus Enckell (1870-1925) carried out the decorative work of the cathedral. The altarpiece Resurrection, a fresco by Magnus Enckell, depicts the central theme of Christianity in a timeless, simple manner.

Simberg designed a sharp-thorn garland to surround the gallery edge. The Garland of Life is carried by 12 naked boys. The children represent the disciples of Jesus.

The Wounded Angel fresco’s factory chimneys reveal that the painting is set in Tampere. The Garden of Death portrays Death as a considerate figure, tenderly caring for his plants.

Biblical themes come to life in the stained glass windows as well.

When we arrived at the Cathedral, a wedding was in progress and we almost left before seeing the interior. But a man from the church had seen us peeking in the back window and came out to tell us the wedding would be over in 20 minutes and then the church would open to visitors. We waited and were richly rewarded by the stunning interior.

We figured that the turquoise car outside the church would be used for the bride and groom after the wedding.

Homebody stuff

Sauna culture

Tampere was officially declared as “Sauna Capital of the World” because it has the most public saunas in the world. We were going to go to a public sauna in Tampere but time got away from us and we ended up simply using the sauna in our apartment.

The public saunas in Tampere are many, including: Kuuma sauna (modern city-center sauna, open all year); Rauhaniemen Kansankylpylä (lakeside bathing facility dates from 1920s and heats up every day); Kaukajärven sauna has a long platform for dipping into the lake; and Kaupinojan sauna (open year round and has a kiosk to buy Finnish sausages to grill over an open fire).

Every morning, like clockwork, I continued to do my NY Times puzzles: Wordle, the Mini, Connections and Strands. In the evenings, we watched our regular shows: Sommerdahl, The New Adventures of Old Christine, AnotherSelf , Ted Lasso, Old Money, Trying, The Killing, and Furious. We started Ride or Die on the recommendation of my friend Mona Lisa. In Tampere, I finally finished reading The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters (it was mediocre) and I continued reading Lucy by the Sea (Amgash #4) by Elizabeth Strout. Strout’s book is a hard one to read because it takes place during the pandemic and the political upheaval of January 6, 2021, when neo-Nazis and Trumpers attacked the U.S. Capitol.

I find I’m not making as much time as usual to read, as I usually spend most of my time editing photos, writing my blog, reading up on places we visit, plotting out our transport options, and keeping touch with the family at home. While in Tampere, we had a good long chat with our daughter Sarah and a Saturday chat with Alex and Allie.

Sunday, August 30: On Sunday, we made our way to Vaasa near Finland’s western coast.

a week in helsinki, finland with a day trip to porvoo

wanderessence1025's avatar August 25, 2026

These posts cover our slow trip through Scandinavia from August 4 to October 30, 2026. I will be posting one long post a week about each area where we stay. I like to write one post about a particular place so that I can revisit our travels in one spot on my blog, according to location. I can also refer others to the post if they plan to travel to the destination and want ideas. I welcome you to read the entire post, read parts of the posts that interest you, simply look at the pictures, or not to read it at all. All who would like to come along are welcome.

You can find our itinerary here: anticipation & preparation: a slow motion journey through scandinavia.

Tuesday, August 18-Tuesday, August 25: We made our way from Aarhus, Denmark to Helsinki, Finland where we spent a week dipping our feet into Finnish culture. With our visit to Finland, I have now traveled to 45 countries! We still have three places to visit in Finland: Tampere, Vaasa, and Turku.

Aarhus to Copenhagen

We checked out of our Airbnb in Aarhus on Tuesday morning at about 6:20 a.m. to make our way by bus to the central bus station and catch the 7:20 3 1/2 hour FlixBus back to Copenhagen. We thought we were going to be dropped at the Copenhagen bus station and then would have to make our way by train to the airport, so we were surprised and relieved when the bus driver told us that we could stay on the bus until the last stop – at the airport! Whew!

Flight to Helsinki on FinnAir

We made it to the airport in time for our FinnAir flight from Copenhagen to Helsinki Vantaa, a 1 1/2 hour flight.

As we took off from Copenhagen, we could see the Øresund Bridge connecting Denmark to Sweden. It is the 2nd largest bridge in Europe and combines railway and road in a single structure. It runs nearly 8km (5 mi) from the Swedish coast to the artificial island of Peberholm in the middle of the strait. The Øresund is completed by the 4km (2 1/2 mi) Øresund tunnel from Peberholm to the Danish island of Amager.

Construction began in 1995 and the bridge opened to traffic in July of 2000. The bridge lends its name to the Nordic Noir TV series The Bridge, which Mike and I have watched in its entirety.

We landed in Helsinki around the scheduled time of 16:20 and made our way to our Airbnb apartment in the Uusimaa neighborhood of Helsinki.

Our Airbnb apartment: Aleksis kiven katu 43B 27, Helsinki, Uusimaa

The Airbnb host is Miira, but Mira lives in northern Sweden and works in Malmö. Her mother Anja met us and showed us around the wonderful apartment. Anja was married to a diplomat who is now deceased. They served a stint in Moscow and then another immediately following in Washington, D.C., which she loved. She told us she does a super water aerobics routine several times a week and Mike perked up when she revealed there was a pool nearby, Mäkelänrinteen Uintikeskus. Yes, the Finnish language, which we don’t know at all, has super long unpronounceable words!

Our apartment is the best so far on our trip. It’s not at all cluttered, as Miira doesn’t stay here much unless she’s in Helsinki to visit her mother or her sons. It has a nicely stocked kitchen, nice firm king-sized bed, a comfortable living room, a sauna, a washing machine/dryer, and a glassed in balcony. It’s on the 3rd floor and it has an elevator.

Most of the apartment complexes in Helsinki, especially in our neighborhood, seem very new, with green spaces and playgrounds for children.

Visiting markets and dining in

On our travels we immerse ourselves in sights, history and culture, but we also love our culinary explorations. Every culture has its own foods, many of which we love to sample. How else to live like a local? How can one really understand a place without checking out markets, supermarkets, cafés and restaurants? Not only are the foods unique to a locale, but each market or café has its own aesthetic. As someone who loves design and organization, I find the way markets and restaurants are organized and designed fascinating.

Because we are staying in Airbnbs throughout Denmark, Finland and Sweden (only two in Norway), we seek out the local markets immediately upon our arrival. Here in Finland, we have found every kind of salmon, from fresh to smoked to flamed, as well as other seafood. We also love to sample the seafood spreads we find in supermarkets. Here in Finland, we’ve tried shrimp with chili/mayo sauce, whereas in Denmark, we feasted on crab spread, salmon spread and ham spread.

On our first day, we headed straight to Helsinki’s most famous Old Market Hall, as well as Market Square.

Old Market Hall

The Old Market Hall is the oldest market in Finland and has been serving customers since 1889. A red brick structure, it sits in Helsinki Market Square along the South Harbor. It has an amazing number of restaurants serving everything from moose dumplings to meatballs to salmon soup to reindeer egg rolls. On top of that, there are vendors selling every kind of seafood imaginable, especially salmon and the famous vendace, or Coregonus albula, found in lakes in Finland and Sweden.

Market Square

Market Square sits catty-corner from Old Market Hall. Here fruit and vegetable vendors are set up under tents. We understand some of the tents are heated for winter eating. The booths here sell traditional market foods and treats, as well as handicrafts and souvenirs. Prepared food is also available. Here we bought a good sampling of berries: lingonberries, cloudberries, and wild blueberries, as well as apples and vegetables.

There is a new Market Hall near our apartment but we simply walked through to check it out. It mostly has restaurants and bars in it. It also has a supermarket.

Hietalahdentori kauppahalli

Hietalahti Market Hall is another of Helsinki’s old market halls, located near another harbor in the city; here are restaurants that offer international foods such as Japanese, Filipino, Portuguese and Italian cuisine. The 1903 building was originally believed to have been a Russian horse barracks, but it has functioned as a market hall since its inception.

We’ve prepared snacks such as vendace, crackers with brie and lingonberries, crackers with hummus, and crackers with shirmp chili mayo spread. For lunch we’ve made pumpkin soup and ham & cheese sandwiches and we often make sandwiches to take along on outings. For dinner, we’ve made salmon & cod cakes or flamed salmon with zucchini and potatoes, along with a sauce concocted by Mike of yogurt, Dijon mustard, raspberry jam, and a tomato, garlic and pepper seasoning. One day for lunch we enjoyed a Caesar salad with halloumi and flamed salmon.

Dining out in Helsinki

We’ve been good so far at keeping our dining out to a minimum. We eat out dinner two nights and lunches three times. We find lunches out make the most sense because we’re usually out and about during the days. At night, we’re too exhausted to go out. We’re pretty much nighttime homebodies. But we love to eat out because we thrive on sampling the different foods offered and to check out the decor and feel of the places.

DingDing Restaurant

Dinner #1: Our first night in a place tends to be a night we eat out. For one, we’re tired from the move and two, we haven’t had time to buy any groceries. Our first night in Helsinki we ate at a little hole in the wall around the corner from our apartment, DingDing Restaurant. It was cutely decorated with umbrellas on the ceiling. We shared Shrimp Bibimbap and Steamed Buns with Chicken. The Steamed Buns were especially delectable!

Cella Ravintola

Dinner #2: We ate dinner out at the cozy Cella Ravintola (Restaurant) that serves traditional Finnish fare. We ordered Blinis with wild mushroom salad accompanied by diced pickled cucumber, red onion and sour cream; Classic Borscht with bread and butter; and Hunter’s schnitzel with wild mushroom sauce. We topped off our meal with a warm Chocolate Beetroot Cake with cream cheese and beetroot frosting. It was a delicious and cozy experience, especially on a cold and windy Sunday. We lingered for nearly two hours in this place.

Old Market Hall: Story Restaurant

Lunch #1: We had our first lunch out at Story Restaurant in Old Market Hall. I loved Story’s Salmon Soup and Mike enjoyed his Story’s Meatballs, accompanied by mashed potatoes with lingonberries and creamy sauce.

Hanna Maria

Lunch #2: In Porvoo we ate lunch at Hanna Maria, a cafeteria-style spot where I got meatballs with gravy and mashed potatoes and Mike got a ground beef patty with mushroom sauce and mashed potatoes. Ice cream was also included in the lunch. Mine was a delicious pear flavor.

Lunch #3: We ate our last lunch at Kamalig Filipino Eatery at Hietalahti Market Hall. Most of the restaurants in this market hall were international rather than Finnish. Our lunch here was mediocre. We had pork dumplings, crispy pork belly, and vegan spring rolls.

We often stop for coffee and a Danish in the mornings between breakfast and lunch. Here, we enjoyed a snack time with a cinnamon bun and latte at Espresso House, across from the Helsinki Central Railway Station.

Activities and Sights in Helsinki

There is a lot to see and do around Helsinki, so we were busy going to and fro. It helps that the city has an excellent transport system.

Transport in Helsinki

Helsinki is abuzz with every imaginable means of transportation darting here and there, with access points everywhere: trains, metro, trams, buses and bicycles. In an article we found from the World Economic Forum, we found that “Helsinki has topped rankings as the world’s most future-ready city for urban transport thanks to government funding, electric vehicle use and public transport.” The city makes large investments in transport infrastructure, which pays off. It is the top city, followed by Amsterdam, Stockholm, San Francisco and Munich.

The city is also aiming for 30% of all vehicles to be electric by 2030. To make this possible, the city is “installing hundreds of extra charging points, thanks to $14 million in funding from Finland’s central government.”

This is what good governance looks like. Here’s pointing at you, U.S.A.!

South Harbour (Eteläsatama)

South Harbour is a bay and harbor area next to Helsinki’s city center. Each year, some 4.7 million passengers in liner traffic and some 37,000 international cruise passengers travel through it, as well as tons of cargo. Most of the harbour’s traffic is to Stockholm, Sweden and Tallinn, Estonia.

Helsinki Cathedral

The neoclassical-style Helsinki Cathedral was built from 1830 to 1852 as a tribute to the Grand Duke of Finland, Emperor Nicholas I of Russia. It is the  the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran cathedral of the Diocese of Helsinki. It sits imposingly on a hill and then atop a raised platform and thus dominates the landscape.

Mike didn’t want to go inside, but I paid 10 euros to go in. The interior is plain and unadorned and even a bit boring. It sits on the edge of Senate Square, where a statue of Emperor Alexander II stands in the center of the square. 

Suomenlinna Sea Fortress

We spent what turned out to be a rainy day taking a ferry to Suomenlinna Sea Fortress, a sea fortress composed of eight islands, of which six have been fortified. The fortress was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1991. It is also a maritime district of Helsinki, where about 800 residents live and, depending on the season, about 400-500 people work. About 200 buildings from different eras are spread out over 80 hectares of land. Many of the buildings have been converted to cafés, shops or museums.

The fortress alone has about 6 kilometers of walls and over a hundred cannons remaining.

As soon as we got off the ferry, it started sprinkling, despite a weather forecast that called for rain at 4:00. As we planned to do our outings in the morning, we stupidly had left our umbrellas and raincoats in the apartment. We wandered around in the rain, stopping for pastries at Café Vanille, and getting soggy as we walked. Luckily we came upon a little shop that sold cheap rain ponchos, which we bought.

I love these kinds of windblown places at the edges of the world. There is nothing that mesmerizes me so much as grasses blowing in a breeze. Though it was cold and damp wandering through the fortress, it was still atmospheric and lovely in a wild kind of way.

The Swedish Crown began construction of the fortress in 1748 as a defense against Russia. Russia seized the fortress in 1808, which led to their eventual seizure of Finland in 1809 and the subsequent establishment of the Grand Duchy of Finland, an autonomous state within the Russian Empire. Russia abandoned the fortress after Finland declared independence in 1917.

Esplanadi, Marimekko, & miela

After our outing to Suomenlinna, we walked down Esplanadi, colloquially known as Espa, an esplanade and urban park perpendicular to the harbor. The edge of the park is lined with upscale shops and classical imposing buildings.

Mike almost lost his life as he stood at the edge of the park with his back to the road taking a picture. A silent electric bus ran inches away from his back. One step off the curb and he would have been flattened.

Of course we had to dip into the upscale marimekko store, a Finnish textile and clothing company that sells stylish and very expensive clothes and housewares.

On our way to a bus stop, we stopped into a store called miela, where I bought a very cute Finnish top with a black and white design that will be my “anniversary present.” Mike says I have a shell game going on at this time of year because I have my birthday in October, our anniversary in November, and Christmas in December. I start buying things and say, “This will be for my birthday (or anniversary or Christmas).” He now makes a note in Quicken to keep track of all my shenanigans under the guise of “gifts.” He’s nixed the idea of “gifts” for other isolated holidays such as Goundhog Day, Thanksgiving, Veteran’s Day. But I keep trying! 🙂

A day trip to Porvoo

We took a day trip by OnniBus to the town of Porvoo, about an hour ride east from Helsinki. The labyrinthine alleys and wooden houses dating from the 18th and 19th centuries and the shore barns in Old Porvoo are reminiscent of the medieval town of Porvoo.

I know towns such as these are touristy, but I love them all the same. Old Town Porvoo was charming and colorful and had lots of cute shops, cafes and restaurants. We were also lucky to have blue skies and cool dry weather, so the whole experience was quite pleasant.

We stopped at Porvoon Paahtimo, a waterside cafe, to try the town’s famous Runeberg Cake, named after the famous Finnish national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804–1877), who lived in Porvoo from 1837 until his death. I fell in love with a little shop called Cococo Porvoo that had the cutest melamine cups in Japanese-inspired designs; I bought two of these, one for my daughter Sarah and one for me. I also bought a cute kimono there. :-). We stopped at a chocolate shop where we bought some decorative chocolate bars and saw a plate of chocolates that mimicked the Runeberg cakes.

We were incredibly impressed by this neat, tidy and inviting town! I highly recommend going as a day trip from Helsinki.

Porvoo’s riverside landscape is dominated by the steep-roofed Gothic Porvoo Cathedral, which took on its current form in the 15th century. There was already a wooden church with a stone sacristy on the same site in the 13th century, and a small grey stone church in the 14th century. It is located along the medieval King’s Road.

The most scenic part of the Old Town of Porvoo is seen by strolling along the far side of the Porvoonjoki River and looking across to the line of red-ochre painted riverside warehouses; they are one of the most photographed national landscapes in Finland.

The Helsinki Central Railway Station

The Helsinki Central Railway Station building, with its granite face, was inaugurated in 1919. The building is known for its clock tower and the Lyhdynkantajat (“The Lantern Bearers”) statues created by Emil Wikström. Helsinki Central was chosen as one of the world’s most beautiful railway stations by BBC in 2013. It has become the symbol of the entire railway network in Finland.

The railway tracks in Helsinki were built in the 1860s. There are a couple of gorgeous restaurants inside the station.

Oodi Helsinki Central Library

Oodi Helsinki Central Library is a public library in Helsinki but despite its name, it is not Helsinki’s main library; the name reflects its central location in the city. Still, it stands out as a reflection of the Finns’ desire to learn. A design competition in 2012 to build the library was won by the Finnish architectural firm ALA Architects over 543 other competitors.

Apart from the top floor, Oodi’s facade is made entirely from wood, which softens the general appearance of the architecture around Töölö Bay. The wood used for the exterior wall is spruce. The building, with its passive solar design, is regarded as energy-efficient due to its use of local materials and its use of sunlight. It uses almost no energy.

In December of 2016, it was announced that the new library would be named Oodi (“Ode”) in Finnish and Ode in Swedish; it was chosen from a pool of some 1,600 names proposed by the public. “Oodi” was chosen because it’s easy to remember, easy to say, and easy to translate. The selection jury also did not want to name the new library after a person.

Inside is a gorgeous and airy space that invites the public to play chess, read books, play, study, socialize, or relax. As someone who loves books, it was my idea of heaven. It had enough activity not to be stodgy and enough light to make it playful. I wandered through the stacks, picking up books to flip through them time and again, and dreaming of all the other worlds I could experience here.

From the rooftop of the Oodi, we could see the Finland Parliament building and The Helsinki Music Centre.

In the square in front of the library, we found the interesting sculpture Laulupuut or “Song Trees” (Pikes song) by Reijo Hukkanen. The sculpture was erected in August of 2012. The pike at its center has alder branches entwined around it. Next to the pike are two towers made of concert grand pianos and piles of firewood. Apparently, it was inspired by Aaro Hellaakoski’s poem in which a pike rose from the sea and began to sing a song so melodic that the birds in the trees stopped singing.

We also saw a marathon going on in the square, with runners passing at around the 22-mile mark.

Outside Amos Rex

Amos Rex is a contemporary art museum in Helsinki. A key feature of the museum’s design is its interactive rooftop domes, which serve as both artistic elements and functional skylights, allowing natural light to filter into the underground spaces. We had decided to choose two museums to visit in Helsinki, and this wasn’t one that we chose. Thus we just walked around the rooftop domes.

Kamppi Chapel

Unveiled in 2012, the Kamppi Chapel was intended as a place of silence for everyone, regardless of their outlook on life or religion. The building consists mainly of a simple silent space void of religious symbols. The acoustic design aimed to prevent outside sounds from invading the silent space. It is wooden in structure: the facade consists of a veneered spruce batten. The interior is clad in tar alder and the doors are ash.

National Library of Finland (closed) and a glimpse at a wedding party leaving Helsinki Cathedral

The National Library of Finland was closed the day we stopped by, but directly across from it, we saw a wedding party departing Helsinki Cathedral. The bride, groom and a driver chirped off in a gold-colored VW Beetle. It was so cute!

Helsinki University Library Kaisa

Established in 2010, the Helsinki University Library is the largest multidisciplinary library in Finland. It is an independent institute of the University of Helsinki and is open to all information seekers. Anyone over the age of 15 who lives in Finland can borrow books from it.

We wandered around the architecturally intriguing library in complete silence. For such a large facility, it was nearly empty. We wandered around looking at the stacks, grouped by subject matter. I couldn’t help but think how little knowledge I have of anything. The amount of information to be had in this world is overwhelming. My interests are so limited. They most definitely do not lean toward the sciences or math. As an English major, I have spent much of my life immersed in fiction, particularly Literary Fiction. I love most of all reading about human beings in their everyday lives; I’m interested mainly in the human condition, the challenges we face, the relationships we hold on to and those we leave behind, the struggles we have living in often dysfunctional families and in a harsh world. To me human nature is the most interesting subject in the world. My other interests are broad rather than specific: politics, international affairs, cultural affairs, design and architecture, travel, photography, and languages (even though I’m unsuccessful at retaining them).

To think of all the information I COULD have at my fingertips, at places such as this and, nowadays, a click away on the internet. Any day, I could decide to broaden my knowledge. I could walk into a library and pick up a book on any subject and educate myself in that subject. It is truly amazing what is available to us as humans in this day and age.

Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma

Kiasma is a contemporary art museum that is part of the Finnish National Gallery. Its mission is to showcase contemporary art and celebrate the art of our time.

The Kiasma museum building was designed by American architect Steven Koll. His entry, Chiasma, won first prize in the 1993 architectural design competition for the museum of contemporary art from a total of 516 entries. Kiasma opened to the public in May of 1988.

Kiasma has galleries on five floors, connected by ramps, stairs and elevators. It uses Finnish light to great effect.

The gallery had a number of interesting exhibitions the day we visited:

  • “Dawn till Dawn” by Edith Karlson. Humans, animals and mythic creatures made of clay, silicone, and more, as if the sculptures were unfinished or had emerged out of the mists of time. We sense a transition to becoming something new. Humans and animals are united by a tenacious drive to live and the ability to adapt, even to extreme situations. Alongside crises and losses comes hope.
  • “We Who Remain: Sámi Art in Focus” – Before the Nordic nation-states came into existence, there was Sápmi – the land of the Sámi. As the Sámi people’s ancestral homeland, Sápmi challenges familiar Nordic ideas of statehood and nationality. The exhibition traces what the Sámi have endured in the past and what they continue to face today.
  • “A Dream in Four Colours” – explores how artists draw inspiration from dreams and the subconscious.

Ateneum

Ateneum is one of three museums forming the Finnish National Gallery. It has the biggest collections of classical art in Finland, including Finnish art extensively from 18th-century rococo portraiture to the experimental art movements of the 20th century. The collections also include some 650 international works of art. 

Ateneum

We visited Ateneum on a dreary Sunday afternoon and saw three exhibits there:

1 ) Eero Nelimarkka is known as a painter of the landscapes of South Osstrobothnia, but he was also skilled in portraying people. His work includes many characterful portraits, as well as many self-portraits. I especially enjoyed the landscape and town paintings and the loving portraits of his wife, Saima.

2) “A Question of Time” sheds light on today’s big questions through the mirror of visual arts. The exhibition offers a fresh look at Finland’s oldest and most extensive art collection.

3) Elga Sesemann (1922-2007) is known for her expressive style. She began her career in the 1940s and continued to work actively until the mid-1990s. Her range is extensive and her style of expression changed many times over the decades.

I loved her early portraits, especially self-portraits. I admired the heavy brushstrokes and wondered why her eyes were almost always scrubbed out. I didn’t care for the last change in her style to totally abstract art, which I didn’t photograph.

Puu-Vallila

Puu-Vallila is a residential area in the Vallila District of Helsinki, built in the 1910s. It was under threat of demolition for a long time, but was renovated in the 1980s. The area is protected as a block of residential buildings of cultural and historical value and of urban design.

The planning of Puu-Vallila began in the early 1900s. Later, industry began to emerge in the vicinity and workers moved there. Two-story wooden houses were built in the area, with apartments typically consisting of a spacious room and a kitchen. In the 1920s, 70 % of the residents were low-income workers.

We always enjoy finding cute residential areas in cities we visit, and this one was quiet and quaint, although it seemed that most houses could use a refreshing coat of paint.

Street art & street scenes in Helsinki

Helsinki doesn’t seem to be known for its street art. One guide book suggested we take a walk along the Baana pedestrian and bicycle path from the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma to Ruoholdhti. We started to walk there but a marathon was being run and the only “street art” we saw was what I call graffiti, with a few of the marathoners running by. Another day we found the cute Bear on the Anthill (sculpture in Kallio) in a pretty garden area. We always enjoyed the flower boxes on some pedestrian-centered streets.

Homebody Stuff & Finnish Sauna culture

We continued with our normal routines on this trip, and in Finland, we’ve added another routine: the Finnish Sauna. Since we had an electric sauna in our apartment and the sauna is so important to Finnish culture, we definitely took advantage.

The sauna is an important part of Finnish identity and cultural heritage. Typical saunas today are continuously heated wooden saunas in summer cottages and electric saunas in city apartments. It is estimated that there are 3 million saunas in Finland. In the private sauna, people enjoy silence and relax by lounging on the benches. Public saunas however are social places where people chat with strangers.

Traditionally, saunas are taken without clothes but it depends on the place and company. The sauna has nothing to do with sex; any mention of sex is considered tasteless by Finns.

The typical sauna is done as follows: 1) Take a shower. 2) Use a cloth or disposable seat cover under your bottom. 3) Sit in the sauna for 10 minutes. 4) Take an equally long cooling break outdoors or in a cold shower. Three steam rounds is common.

The normal temperature is 70-90 degrees. 100 degrees is also common. 120 degrees is only for tough people! The lower benches are not as hot as the high ones. Only the upper bench people are allowed to throw water on the stones, which sends a hot blast of steam into the whole sauna.

It is recommended to drink plenty of water or beer or both!

Normal routines

In the evenings, we watched our regular shows: Sommerdahl, The New Adventures of Old Christine, AnotherSelf , Ted Lasso, Old Money, Trying, The Killing, and Furious. In Helsinki, I’ve been reading The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters along with Lucy by the Sea (Amgash #4) by Elizabeth Strout. Whenever I start an Elizabeth Strout book, I’m flabbergasted by how much I love her writing. I find I’m not making as much time as usual to read, as I usually spend most of my time editing photos, writing my blog, reading up on places we visit, plotting out our transport options, and keeping touch with the family at home. This week we talked to Adam, Alex & family, and Sarah.

Mike found a great swimming and exercise facility, Mäkelänrinteen Uiniikeskus, which has an indoor 50-meter pool, a diving pool and platforms, a kids’ pool area, saunas, jacuzzi-type pools, basketball sports hall, indoor track, and exercise and weight rooms. Biking is prevalent in Helsinki but it’s hillier here than in Denmark and we never tried bike-riding in the city. We love the hustle and bustle of the Helsinki. It’s a great place for people-watching.

On Tuesday, August 25, we headed by train to Tampere, where we’ll stay for 5 nights.

a week in aarhus, denmark

wanderessence1025's avatar August 20, 2026

These posts cover our slow trip through Scandinavia from August 4 to October 30, 2026. I will be posting one long post a week about each area where we stay. I like to write one post about a particular place so that I can revisit our travels in one spot on my blog, according to location. I can also refer others to the post if they plan to travel to the destination and want ideas. I welcome you to read the entire post, read parts of the posts that interest you, simply look at the pictures, or not to read it at all. All who would like to come along are welcome.

You can find our itinerary here: anticipation & preparation: a slow motion journey through scandinavia.

*******************

Tuesday, August 11-Tuesday, August 18: We left Copenhagen on Tuesday morning the 11th and took the FlixBus 3 1/2 hours tthrough the Danish countryside to Aarhus, Denmark. The bus ride was rather cramped, with about the same amount of leg room as an Avianca flight, but at least there was a bathroom abooard and the ride was smooth and scenic.

Passing the town of Vejle, we saw Bølgen (The Wave), some of Denmark’s most expensive apartments. They sell for anywhere from 400,000 to 1.8 million euros. The architects were inspired by the surrounding hilly landscape and the Sydney Opera House.

Our Airbnb apartment: Strandparken 9 1th

We walked from the bus station about 17 minutes with our luggage to our apartment at Strandparken 9 1th, Aarhus, in the Frederiksbjerg neighborhood. This is the second place we’ve stayed so far where the host lives in the apartment and had to vacate for our arrival. We didn’t get to meet Lars, the host, but he was very communicative and welcoming.

I loved the aesthetic of this apartment and its location, although some of the things crammed in here are very old. It could use a good decluttering!

Strandparken in Aarhus is a residential housing complex consisting of 303 individual apartments ranging from 28 to 180 square meters. It sits on an elevated site near both the forest and the bay in central Aarhus. It is a Bauhaus-inspired functionalist complex, designed by architect Alfred Morgensen (who later became the city architect), built between 1935 and 1938. It was Jutland’s first “park-style” residential layout, featuring freestanding blocks surrounded by green spaces to maximize sunlight, fresh air and views of Aarhus Bay.

Wandering around and about in Aarhus

Aarhus dates from the late 8th century when it was founded as a harbor settlement at the mouth of the Aarhus River and quickly became a trade hub. It is the second largest city in Denmark and sits on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat Sea, about 187km (116 mi) northwest of Copenhagen.

We were on the go a LOT in Copenhagen, but we quickly realized that if we are traveling for 13 weeks, we cannot continue to expend so much energy. We need to build in some down time.

We loved the smaller city of Aarhus because it had things to do but there weren’t an overwhelming number of choices and we could take our time lingering in markets, resting at the apartment, visiting places at a leisurely pace. It was fun to feel a part of the neighborhood and to soak up its laid-back atmosphere.

Wandering around Aarhus, we found cobblestone streets, colorful buildings, fashionable people, and groups of university students riding bikes or striding along the street confidently. On one of our strolls through town, we met a cute dog with his head out the window. On the window was written: “Hi, my name is Kayo. I am the happiest dog in the world. If you take a picture of me then tag me @kayivinduet”. We were happy to tag Kayo and whenever we walked past her house, we looked for her in case she was out people-watching.

Street art in Aarhus

In a street art project titled “17 Walls,” international artists created large gable paintings inspired by the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Dining out in Aarhus

We have made a goal to eat out dinner twice in each week and lunch 3 times in a week. We always eat breakfast in, though we often stop for a Danish and coffee during our wanderings. This week we did pretty well at limiting our meals out.

We had a lovely dinner at The Spice of India in our neighborhood, with me enjoying Palak Kofta (spinach-based dumplings simmered in a creamy, herb-infused sauce) and Mike Shahi Paneer (Royal style paneer curry made with cream, saffron and aromatic spices. Once again, Mike’s meal was better than mine. Luckily we had enough to bring home for leftovers.

While wandering through the Latin Quarter, we had lunch at Nori Bar, where we had a seaweed salad, Uramaki Spicy Tuna (tuna, mango, avocado, kimchi sesame, chili may0) and a Kaburimaki Red Dragon (shrimp tempura, avocado, cucumber, topped with chili mayo & yuzu sauce).

Markedshallen Nicolinehus

While on our bikeride through the harborfront, we stopped for lunch at Ma Phan House Vietnamese Food at Markedshallen Nicolinehus, the harbor market, where we enjoyed RISNUDELSALAT & Bao Combo, along with a limeade.

Markedshallen Nicolinehus has 12 unique food stalls from all over the world and a beer, wine and cocktail bar.

Drinks & snacks at Boule

We sat out on the sidewalk at Boule in our neighborhood and enjoyed watching the Danish families. We sipped on beer and prosecco and ate a snack of grilled padrones. The young Danish woman had knitted her sweater vest and her little boy’s sweater from yarn scraps. Across the street from Boule is a yarn shop.

Pizza at Via-Vai

On our last dining out experience, we ate a Spicy Pizza (tomato sauce, mozzarella, fresh padron peppers, spicy salami) at the cozy Via-Vai a few blocks from our apartment.

Eating in

We knew from the onset of our planning stages that the Scandinavian countries would be expensive and we couldn’t eat out as much as we usually do when we travel. We figured that we would need to seek out local markets, either grocery stores or farmer’s markets, and eat breakfast in (which we always do anyway), make lunches in our apartment or make sandwiches to go, and cook most dinners in.

We discovered a Wednesday and Saturday market on Ingerslevs Boulevard. We wandered among flower vendors; seafood, sausage and meat vendors; and fruit and vegetable sellers in the middle of the Frederiksbjerg neighborhood. We sat and people-watched while enjoying a cardamom bun and a lemon cake, then bought sweet peas, smoked salmon, cherries and potatoes to make dinner in our apartment. I also bought a linen top from a woman selling clothing she has shipped from Italy. At the Saturday market, we bought more goodies for dinner, and I also bought a pair of red linen pants from the same vendor from whom I got the linen top on Wednesday, Solvar.

We prepared a number of light lunches and several dinners in the apartment.

Activities & Sights in Aarhus

Walk to Den Uendelige Bro, or The Infinite Bridge

One day, we walked 31 minutes south on a pathway along the beach.

Our destination on this endless walk was Den Uendelige Bro, or The Infinite Bridge. Originally, the bridge was displayed in conjunction with the Sculpture By The Sea event in 2015. The people of Aarhus fell in love with it so much that the municipality contributed to reconstructing the bridge as a permanent piece of art – and an infinitely beautiful pier. The bridge is removed every winter; it is rebuilt every April and stays up until October.

It was a beautiful, cool and breezy day. Mike was foolhardy enough to take a dip in the Bay of Aarhus. The neighborhoods we walked past on the way back and forth were stunning, with whitewashed houses and manicured gardens.

Observing the partial solar eclipse in Aarhus

After dinner we walked back to Ingerslevs Boulevard to watch the partial solar eclipse, the peak of which was at 8:03 with 1 hour and 45 minutes from first to last contact. Only about 84.1% of the sun was covered at the peak. Because the sun was going down, it actually wasn’t very noticeable. We didn’t have any eclipse glasses to watch it sadly, so it wasn’t such an event in Aarhus.

Den Gamle By

Before we figured out the rather simple bus schedules, we walked 2.1km to Den Gamle By (“The Old Town”), an open-air museum which opened in 1914. It was the first open-air museum of its kind, focused on town culture rather than village culture. The museum consists of 75 historical, mostly half-timbered, buildings collected from 20 townships all over Denmark. They were originally built between 1550 and the late 19th century and were dissembled and moved to Aarhus during the 20th century. The buildings are open to visitors. Rooms are decorated either in the original historical style or organized into larger exhibits with ranging themes.

We journeyed through 400 years of Danish history. The Old Market Town (1600-1900) represent a Danish town in Hans Christian Andersen’s time and earlier. From 1900-1927, the town became modern with pavement, street lamps, public telephones and color ads everywhere. From 1950-1974 the town represents the heyday of the welfare society, famous for broadmindedness, the women’s movement, and experimentation with new forms of living. The part of the town from 2000-2014 is our time.

Five gardens represent periods of time from the mid-17th to early 20th centuries. Spread throughout the small town are six shops including a bookstore, a post office, and a bakery to add to the illusion and feel of a real town. There are also five diners and cafes offering food to visitors. People walk around in historical costume, reminding me a bit of Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, except the buildings there weren’t moved to that location; they were originally built there.

Latin Quarter & Åboulevarden

The Latin Quarter is the oldest part of Aarhus and is itself part of the inner city. Some of the oldest houses date back to the 16th century. Here we wandered among cafés, restaurants, boutiques and department stores.

Aarhus Cathedral

The Gothic style Aarhus Cathedral, also known as St. Clement’s Church, is the longest and tallest church in the country at 93m (305 ft) in length and 96m (315 ft) in height. Construction began in the 12th century. A number of fresco paintings date from 1470-1520.

As is the custom in many parts of Denmark, a ship hangs at the crossing as a reminder of those lost at sea and of Denmark’s close connection to the sea. The cathedral’s ship is the Enigheden (“Unity”) and might have been built in Holland.

Møllestien

Møllestien (“mill path”) is a narrow lane of 28 small colorful cottages edged by hollyhocks. The lane predates the 1200s. Though the lane today looks idyllic, its history is full of witch trials, infanticide, poverty and prostitution.

Salling ROOFTOP

At the top of the Salling department store, an Aarhus institution since 1906, is an urban space on the roof with room for reflection. It has gardens and art installations, a 360 degree view of city, sea and sky, and food and music experiences. The 2000 sq. meter, 175 ton urban space opened in 2017, the same year Aarhus was named European Capital of Culture.

We wandered up the rooftop and all around to enjoy views of the city and the sea.

Renting bicycles and riding around Aarhus Ø: the harborfront and Isbjerget (Iceberg)

From Salling, we rented two Donkey Republic bicycles, Tomas and Vanilla, and rode around Aarhus Ø (Aarhus Island), the docklands neighborhood in Aarhus.

We first enjoyed views of Isbjerget, the Iceberg, an iconic residential neighborhood that mimics the shape of an iceberg. Designed to maximize sea views from its 208 rental apartments, the building is broken up in a criss-cross pattern, evoking the sight of icebergs breaking up. The rooftops rise and fall in peaks and valleys. All 208 apartments are different.

Havnebadet (Harbor bath)

After our lunch at the harbor market, we went to Havnebadet, the harbor bath. It is impressive in size with four pools, a sauna (not open in summer), outdoor showers, toilets and good changing facilities. The pools include a 50 meter pool, a children’s pool with a sloping bottom, a pool for juniors and a diving pool.

We hung out here for some time. We took turns dipping into the icy harbor water, which I thought was rather jolting, although Mike didn’t consider the water that cold. We relaxed on the deck for a while, with me falling asleep and Mike waking me when I started snoring! Ouch.

ARoS Kunstmuseum

The ARoS museum has five galleries and an entire floor dedicated to immersive installations. It has a great collection for Danish and international art, some 8,000 works from the 18th century to the present.

We began by walking around Olafur Eliasson’s “Your Rainbow Panorama” at the rooftop of the building, enjoying the city and harbor views in technicolor. This is a permanent work of art consisting of a circular 150m-long and 3m wide circular walkway in glass in all colors of the spectrum.

We especially enjoyed the “ARoS Collection – Human Nature” which revolved around the themes of life: nature, religion, philosophy and science.

The “ARoS collection: 1960-now” was also interesting and showed art since 1960 in a diversity of artistic experimentation.

“Svend Wiig Hansen (1922-1997) – Walking, falling, standing” reflected the dark post-war period and posed questions about what it means to be human in an increasingly chaotic world.

We were a bit confused when we walked into “The Populace” by Nina Beier and John Miller. The large number of staged mannequins stood face to face with photos of portrait paintings from forgotten archives on the wall. At first no one was moving, but within a couple of seconds a man walked out of the mannequin set, making it seems as if any one of the mannequins could come to life.

“Boy,” Ron Mueck’s oversized sculpture (4.5m in height and 500kg in weight) showed a great attention to detail: the surface of the boy’s skin has veins and hair follicles clearly marked. The figure’s crouching posture draws inspiration from Australian aborigines vigilantly scanning the plain for game.

We finished our visit by relaxing under the sky as a pure field of color: “As Seen Below – The Dome, a Skyspace by American artist James Turrell.”

Moesgaard

On Sunday, we took a bus 30 minutes south of Aarhus to Moesgaard, an architecturally intriguing museum that covers the history of humankind. It covers the steps of evolution, the Stone Age, The Bronze Age, The Iron Age (including Grauballe Man), The Viking Age (including the Gokstad boat), and The Middle Ages.

One of the highlights of the museum is Graubelle Man: On 26th April 1952, Grauballe Man was discovered in a bog in central Jutland. In the Iron Age, more than 2000 years ago, his life was given to the gods in a plea for fertility and a good harvest.

The bog locks the earthly remains of all living things in a dormant state, where the biological clock comes almost to a halt. Year after year, the bog archives everything that lands on its surface, and remains from landscapes going back to the Ice Age are preserved here.

The Gokstad boat is a small boat found on the deck of the large Gokstad ship in Vestfold, southern Norway. The Gokstad ship is one of the most famous and well-preserved vessels from the Viking Age. A chieftan, killed in battle, was buried in the ship in AD 900-905, a time when Danish kings periodically ruled over a realm that also included southern Norway and Sweden.

A bikeride to Aarhus Botanical Gardens, through the Latin Quarter and to Aarhus Street Food

On the final day of our stay in Aarhus, we rented Donkey Republic bikes, called Tomas and Bruno, for 3 hours and rode through downtown, to the Aarhus Botanical Gardens, and through the Latin Quarter. We made a stop at Salling department store to look for a jacket for Mike, but he didn’t find one. I, however, found a cute top that will be a birthday present for me in October. Finally, we stopped at Aarhus Street Food, an industrial-style food market near the bus station.

Mike got a blonde beer called Chimay Jaune from Punk IPA and we got an order of Za’atar fries with yogurt sauce for a little snack. Mike found out Chimay Yellow is a unique beer made by Trappist monks at the Abbey of Scourmont in Belgium. The monastery also makes four varieties of cheese.

As with all Trappist beers, the beer is sold only for financial support of the monastery and good causes. The majority is distributed to charities and for community development around the region. As of 2007, sales figures for Chimay products exceeded $50 million per year. The beer is transported to the bottling company 12 km away, which can fill 40,000 bottles per hour. The beer is then refermented in the bottle for 3 weeks before being shipped around the world; 50% of Chimay beer production is sold on the export markets.

Homebody stuff

We are trying to continue our normal routines on this trip, usually watching an hour-long TV show and one 1/2 hour show every night unless we go out. Back at the apartment in the evenings, we watched our regular shows: Sommerdahl, The New Adventures of Old Christine, AnotherSelf , Ted Lasso, Old Money, and Trying. We started a new series set in Copenhagen, The Killing, and another set in NYC, Furious. In Aarhus, I’ve been reading The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters. I find I’m not making as much time as usual to read, as I usually spend most of my time editing photos, writing my blog, reading up on places we visit, and keeping touch with the family at home. We also have been taking a lot of naps, as we’re often exhausted after our outings, especially those to museums.

Aarhus is a town where I could easily live. It has all the things Mike loves too, like a local swimming pool, the Aarhus Svømmestadion, which has an indoor 50-meter pool and an outdoor pool with diving boards and platforms. Both of us really love the biking lanes and the flat landscape for biking; Mike loves it even more than I do as he is an avid biker. And the local market is fabulous. We love the chill vibe of Aarhus. The only thing we might not love are the cold winters and super short winter days. Summer days here in Denmark, and probably spring and fall, would probably be our perfect place, if not for being so expensive!

On Tuesday morning, the 18th, we left Aarhus at 7:20 a.m. on the FlixBus to Copenhagen, where we caught a flight to Helsinki on FinnAir at 1:55 p.m.