CITY IN -21°C

Today was a glorious day. I went to Oulu, the largest city in the “neighborhood” (+165 km), with my friends Terhi, Nita and Pauliina.

We drove through sunrise to have a full day in the city (the ride is a bit more than 2 hours: +8-10 AM. We brought CDs).

 

(Yes, that is ICE on the INSIDE of the window.)

Second hand store, with an array of prom dresses…

Nita, Terhi and Pauliina needed to find some costumes for the traditional senior year dress-up, which brought us in a trick shop…

The place we ate at was “HARALD”, a Viking-themed place, and for lunch you paid one price, including salad buffet, a huge pitcher of cold water, the main course at choice (I went for grilled chicken) and coffee afterwards! (My final check: €9,70!)

Nita, Terhi and Pauliina!

The sign for the women’s toilets… :’D (transl.: Helgas)

Being a city does strange things to me. I told my friends that they were to prepare themselves for a bit of squeals, as I was in my “natural habitat”. I get excited about the stupidest things, like how I know how the parking system works or if I see a bus that’s like the ones we have in Belgium. I like how it’s busy, there are traffic jams (nothing compared to those in Belgium, of course) and that I’m used to it, too. Living on the countryside like this has cut me off from cities almost completely, and while I’m living daily life here (and loving it) I don’t consciously miss it. It’s just when I get into one again that it hits me like bricks. I love cities.

And Terhi and Pauliina have said that they’re coming to Brussels next summer (they’re going on an interrail trip!), stopping by on the 21st of July to be exact (our national holiday), and I’m already very excited about that. They (Terhi in particular… :D) sometimes got nervous today, like when cars drove faster even though there were other cars and pedestrians or their implications (humoristic, of course) that it was incredibly busy. (Again, Belgium.) So Brussels, on the busiest day of the year, is going to blow their minds. I hope so, at least. 😀

Today it was the coldest I’ve ever experienced Finland, with temperatures dropping as low as -21°C while we were in the city, and -24°C while we were driving back home. Such cold is hard to describe. It affects your body in ways you don’t even expect.

I need a new coat.

It was the best day.

 

E.