Arrived in Helsinki about 1pm, caught a bus to city centre and looked around. One if the first things that strikes you is how mental the Finnish language looks written down... However we realised its not so difficult to pronounce once you know what the deal is. I'm sure to learn it properly would be a bit if a nightmare though....

Our couchsurfing host had had to bail on us at the last minute, because he got sick, which was a bummer. Because of this we managed to organise accommodation at a hostel which was formerly the 1952 Olympic Village using the wifi at Hesburger, a common burger chain in these parts.

Not long after we paid for the hostel we got accepted to couchrequest somewhere else, so we would go there tomorrow instead. Bad timing, but at least we would save money the next night.

We did a supermarket lap and bought some interesting stuff to eat, such as Piirokka. We also realised how much more stuff is available at supermarkets here than in Pontevedra. I love Galician food but sometimes the variety is limited.

Later on after finding the hostel we went for a walk through the park with the Sibelius Monument (he was a Finnish composer) and saw some of the main buildings, such as the Helsingin Tuomiokirkko (Helsinki Cathedral). We also saw some people playing kayak water polo, which definitely looked pretty fun.

The weather in Finland wasn't much different to Galicia at that point (fairly rainy and not that hot), which was a bit of a shame. Fortunately it would improve the following day...