Europe By Camper - Travelling Europe By Motorhome: Finland

Helsinki

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Senate Square & Cathedral</td></tr>
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Once again we've ended up slap bang in the centre of Helsinki by pure chance. We wanted to check out the port that we'll be sailing from so came down to the Harbour and in doing so stumbled across a Zone 3 Car Park which is free on the weekend (GPS: 60.15885,  24.96187). There is actually a fair few wild camping opportunities here some of them free during the week but I'll write about them when I round off Scandinavia.<br />
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So Helsinki, our fourth and final Scandinavian Capital. We've stopped trying to compare places to Stockholm because there is no comparison, but it's great being able to get three scoops of ice cream for €3 rather than €7! Yesterday we boarded the municipal ferry to Suomenlinna a fortress on an Island and another UNESCO where we promptly got soaked in a torrential downpour naturally as we walked at the furthest point so apologies for the lack of photos here. Back to the van (did I mention we were parked right in the centre?) for a change of clothes and then the sun came out - typical! We also stumbled upon the Lidl Roadshow again and duly stocked up on cooking oil, cartoned juice, bottled coke, cereal bars. There was also red and white liquid in glass bottles which turned out to be balsamic and white vinegar much to Sophie's dissapointment!<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Upenski Cathedral</span></div>
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Helsinki does the mix of old and new quite well, with relatively few 1970's concrete monstrosities instead glass fronted buildings rub shoulders with grand examples 1800's architecture. We did nose around some of the bars and restaurants but prices are still eye watering for eating out, Sophie got excited when she saw a glass of wine for €4 but turned out to be for 120ml, smaller than a standard measure! </div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Salu Market - Produce on sale from boats and stalls alike</span></div>
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Salu market came alive on Sunday where you could purchase fish and reindeer dishes for sensible prices, we opted for some fresh fruit - strawberries, peas and blueberries. I quite fancy a reindeer skin which are on sale everywhere for £50 and given that their primary purpose is for food you don't feel so bad in purchasing the bi-product but we've got nowhere to put it really.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Sibelius Monument and there's also a beach in Helsinki! </span></div>
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We managed a 5 mile walk around the city today up to view the Sibelius Monument which had the walk not been so rewarding it might have been a wasted journey, the weather stayed dry thankfully and we managed to see quite a lot of the city on foot. We have in the past wandered into Ghetto's using this method but we're happy to report that Helsinki is a very friendly place - dog friendly too, most neighbourhoods have a enclosed 'run' for dogs! </div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Parliament Building and a Guard named Penfold...</span></div>

Helsinki

Senate Square & Cathedral Once again we've ended up slap bang in the centre of Helsinki by pure chance. We wanted to check out...

Rauma, Turku & Hanko

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9TRlb3iNTrUrBdVLasF7GfSAt8QRdRimatUVIhThYcrhPzZnYEW3jVctp5mLsw2-DiK58n-Yp8PsFbMSAE02xuDq_G7J1x2vNmwstssSD5n4SgxpHk_OvMHjapfHZaFN9n2B-pu0ooLQ/s1600/SAM_5130.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9TRlb3iNTrUrBdVLasF7GfSAt8QRdRimatUVIhThYcrhPzZnYEW3jVctp5mLsw2-DiK58n-Yp8PsFbMSAE02xuDq_G7J1x2vNmwstssSD5n4SgxpHk_OvMHjapfHZaFN9n2B-pu0ooLQ/s200/SAM_5130.JPG" width="150" /></a>I'll sum up a typical drive through Finland for you. Trees, trees, trees, trees, trees, lake, trees, trees, lake, lake, UNESCO world heritage site. Most of these so far have either been rocks or islands but this one is buildings we decided to take a look. Picture about 400 wooden houses in various states of decay not helped by a particularly dull day and you get the idea. Some are lived in, some are made to look like they're lived in, some are quirky art gallery's and shops etc. I understand why they are listed given their age but not particularly impressive or well marketed.<br />
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We spent two nights in Turku while the rain belted down and we made arrangements for another part of our trip, I'm not letting on what that is yet but once we've done it I'll post all about it! We spent a couple of hours in the dry walking around the town's cobbled streets mixed with modern buildings such as the town's library. Lots of wild camping opportunities here and many campers were taking advantage of them. Next blog post - Helsinki!<br />
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Conscious that Helsinki is now under 100 miles away and we don't need to be there until Friday/Saturday we sought out other places to spend some time and stumbled across a gem in Hanko. The town seem's to exist in it's own mini climate - it was pouring with rain all the way here and when we tried to leave we got 5 miles down the road it did the same. We turned around, came back and it's been dry and warm since! Weird. The town is a sort of seaside resort but being out of season it is relatively quiet and peaceful. There are some pleasant gardens which we walked seeing some of the fortifications from it's time as a Soviet Naval base. Tonight we sat out on the beach with some cheap tinnies from Lidl enjoying some sun with some rest bite from the presence of the vicious mosquito's we found inland.<br />
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Overnight Location GPS: (60.44279, 22.24986) - Turku - Long
  Parking Strip. Max 12 hours but plenty of opportunity to move around within
  the area - other side of river etc. Doesn't appear to be enforced - lots of
  campers stayed 24hrs+</div>
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Rauma, Turku & Hanko

I'll sum up a typical drive through Finland for you. Trees, trees, trees, trees, trees, lake, trees, trees, lake, lake, UNESCO world ...

Finland - Oulu

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPlZFpapzCGMGdjuTV5hdZ6R33RwblL7wEUv2bvZYB_Od3QnVdeKKicQwxwsXv5A7lPzqQXve0J78YMX41eN4vQyqdUEe0IezphPAwdG6j4KfAahlXKMt5WkHa0QmCn7g56eCbVUKQiHk/s1600/Finland+Forrest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPlZFpapzCGMGdjuTV5hdZ6R33RwblL7wEUv2bvZYB_Od3QnVdeKKicQwxwsXv5A7lPzqQXve0J78YMX41eN4vQyqdUEe0IezphPAwdG6j4KfAahlXKMt5WkHa0QmCn7g56eCbVUKQiHk/s200/Finland+Forrest.jpg" width="200" /></a>Leaving behind a wet and misty Nordkapp we stopped at the border of Finland to use the rest of our coins on some overpriced fuel station sandwiches and pacify our fuel gauge with 20 litres of Norway's finest diesel just enough to see us into Finland and cheaper prices (we hoped).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZNixmeXxREPJbZs85p-V3bxNM_fUkOeZ5QFL2Hhhei1MDdl1CgZ1FHT-puHRV7005w_lMkTOvqWPebPkn8iq9RyGAMv04CB1NEOvUPsstbraLUfD1k84LYsT7JPBFrmFlsrdTZ8hT9zg/s1600/Forrest+Adria+Twin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZNixmeXxREPJbZs85p-V3bxNM_fUkOeZ5QFL2Hhhei1MDdl1CgZ1FHT-puHRV7005w_lMkTOvqWPebPkn8iq9RyGAMv04CB1NEOvUPsstbraLUfD1k84LYsT7JPBFrmFlsrdTZ8hT9zg/s200/Forrest+Adria+Twin.jpg" width="200" /></a>The scenery changes immediately and we are treated to perfectly straight roads and thousands of trees in every direction and next to no traffic and we pitch up in one of the many rest areas near one of the 100k+ lakes that make up Finland. Somehow we had totally forgotten that Finland was in the Euro and glad at last of cheaper diesel and food prices - £1.20 a litre for diesel and basics like bread, milk and meat are once again obtainable.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinqw9dyGESLRzNFG2b4oJ6cQ-8pPa8Xsv6FZYmHUVCp4uq7BG1qELhYgrlpXyo7gb47NCB2uzLM7LLAfbxR9F26q0waD6bhseekMHHqo8wVeG02hC0p_kmkhLKl9DA1bs0ZiM2BYhk_04/s1600/Lidl+Roadshow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinqw9dyGESLRzNFG2b4oJ6cQ-8pPa8Xsv6FZYmHUVCp4uq7BG1qELhYgrlpXyo7gb47NCB2uzLM7LLAfbxR9F26q0waD6bhseekMHHqo8wVeG02hC0p_kmkhLKl9DA1bs0ZiM2BYhk_04/s200/Lidl+Roadshow.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />We spent £30 and staggered out of K Mart with two bags full of vegetables and meat - and mosquito spray, more on them in a minute. We also found some beer - 33cl can for 80p about 30% of the prices in Norway - bliss.<br />
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We spent two days near Vikajarvi in a National Park (GPS: 66.61987, 26.18537) doing washing, resting and getting eaten alive by Mosquito's. I squashed one this morning I found in the van which turned out to be full of blood, no doubt taken from me in my sleep.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_N4ysCcRQ2ZiHItlbi6B6OnD4S4kdvFRBfheTIyVQ2RWAn84AGSA4jvGsulToJuezdHlxJzAtSYIsUniFedPYGWEsJ97w5E7i-0EHUuO1YkemKGrWLvmKX_tyG96hDzAAHejCCtS6WTw/s1600/Oulu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_N4ysCcRQ2ZiHItlbi6B6OnD4S4kdvFRBfheTIyVQ2RWAn84AGSA4jvGsulToJuezdHlxJzAtSYIsUniFedPYGWEsJ97w5E7i-0EHUuO1YkemKGrWLvmKX_tyG96hDzAAHejCCtS6WTw/s200/Oulu.jpg" width="200" /></a>We're currently in Oulu (GPS: 65.01882, 25.46251) - a town with free Wifi and also today only home to a Lidl Roadshow where girls in hotpants were handing out free food. Coke, Sausages, Potato Salad and cartons of Orange Juice. We stocked up of course!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNqEkr7Vvg3-35QgkFCT5L65vHi9mHNhb43hGf9ZzPYVnXg5CmK4cs4Lg4jF7S2LikGOCOUi1UFPZTaIeOpffxWFPEqbHY-jJ2bxr5-yECwxA03tzGR92gQi_ktrUAaFZZS0HSpRoy3_g/s1600/Temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNqEkr7Vvg3-35QgkFCT5L65vHi9mHNhb43hGf9ZzPYVnXg5CmK4cs4Lg4jF7S2LikGOCOUi1UFPZTaIeOpffxWFPEqbHY-jJ2bxr5-yECwxA03tzGR92gQi_ktrUAaFZZS0HSpRoy3_g/s200/Temp.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
The temperature this afternoon has been sweltering - the forecast said 30c but in the sun without any breeze it feels much more.<br />
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We're going to plan our route through Finland to Helsinki over the coming days but think that the mosquito attack may have some bearing on our route and we may stick closer to the coast then previously intended.

Finland - Oulu

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Finland - Oulu

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