Weekend Travels - Tampere
- Cat
- Feb 17, 2017
- 4 min read
Our first half week went smoothly. We found the grocery stores, post office, park, and other necessary places and things we will need regularly with ease. It snowed nearly every day (a light snow) and the grey darkness is still something we are getting used to.
So far, none of us have slept well - I attribute this to the jet lag although I've NEVER experienced such a difficult transition before.
"Weekend Warriors" will take on a new meaning for us over the next six months. Gone are the days of doing projects around the house, and instead we will be filling our weekends with experiences. As Adam works during the week, we have only 6 months of weekends to explore this beautiful country - and we are taking advantage of them!
We decided to spend our first weekend in a town called Tampere, Finland's third largest city. (Information on Tampere HERE.) It's about 100 miles north and slightly west of Helsinki.
We started with Finlayson - the mill that pretty much started the town - for some lunch. Being gluten-free, finding food options in another country, as well as being able to explain the allergy made us nervous. However, we have found that our grocery store stocks more gluten-free options than anywhere we have found in the states! Also, EVERY menu in Finland is marked with what items are or can be made gluten free! It's amazing, and wonderful. Adam has actually been able to eat bread that doesn't taste like cardboard for the first time in years, and he is enjoying it.
According to friends, many Finns have gluten and lactose allergies, therefore, the entire country is sensitive to it and there are options for both allergies anywhere you go.
At our first lunch out, we got the gluten-free lihapullat (traditional meatballs) with mashed potatoes and gravy. DELICIOUS! I will need to learn how to make these.
We then hopped on a bus to try to explore Pyyniki and Pispala, two areas we had heard were very nice and had traditional Finnish wooden homes along the lakes. Now I know that 'Y' is pronounced like 'YOU', but at the time, I had no clue. Trying to say Pyyniki didn't go over well with the bus driver and he had no idea where we were trying to go! (A full post on the language is coming - It's comical how terrible we are with the pronunciation as native English speakers.) We made it to Pispala, but it was -11 degrees and a bit chilly to walk in the wind. We caught another bus bask to the town center and just walked leisurely through the city. We found some neat architecture and cool rapids along the river Tammerkoski, ending the day with a nice hot chocolate!
The next day, we decided to try for Pyyniki on foot. We made it! We didn't bring a stroller to Europe with us, so G is really challenged to keep up. He's done well so far, but carrying him may be challenging if the need arises - now that he's a little bigger, heavier, AND bundled up like a sausage.
Once to the top of the world's largest esker, we climbed to the top of Pyyniki Torni for a view of the city and lakes. We were lucky and had a nice sunny day and the view was fantastic. At the bottom of the tower is a small cafe that has the best munkki (a Finnish doughnut) in town according to our sources. They were right, the munkki is good - even Adam, who never liked doughnuts, was amazed at how good they are - and gluten-free! They are served warm, and are soft cake-like doughnuts with a few spices mixed in the batter (I thought I saw poppy seeds, maybe some anise?). They are fried and then dusted with sugar. It's certainly no Krispy Kreme, but it is tasty!
Who started the rumor that Finnish food was no good? Although we haven't had many meals out, so far, everything we have tried has been wonderful!
We walked across the frozen lake to get back to town. This. Was. Awesome. Walking on top of a lake when you know the water beneath you is deep is surreal. There were many people walking, ice skating, and cross-country skiing around us. Got some beautiful pictures because the weather was so nice, and had an amazing experience. Definitely want to try this again!
Things we learned about Finland this week:
There are SO MANY gluten-free options here. Things on menus and even in grocery stores are much better marked than in the States.
The Finnish language is NOT EASY for native English speakers. We are hoping to pick the basics up, but it's MUCH harder than we thought it'd be.
Walking on a frozen lake is probably one of the coolest things we've ever done. Check the news before going, apparently, people are falling through the ice more often than normal this year due to the abnormally warm (Finnish standards, not ours) winter.
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