Bus through darkened woods

In the middle of November, followed one day after my trip to Bruges, I found myself heading to visit a friend who lived in Northern Finland. It would be a great way for me to disconnect, despite the general populace not speaking very good English, and me not speaking any Finish except for hello and thank you. I bought an expensive uber and went to crash out for a night.

The next morning, every uber was busy - except one. Thank goodness my bus (OnniBus, specifically,) was late by five minutes, or I would have surely missed it. But, the journey ahead, and a bus with free wifi, I had plenty of time to catch up on studies and blogging. And, wishing I knew more of the crazy language.

And somehow it would come to pass, that the sun would set at 3:30 in the afternoon. I was on a bus for right around 10 hours (stopping only for food in Vaasa that i needed to translate the title of), speeding towards Kemi, a small coastal town just below Lapland in North Finland.

Architecture in Helsinki

After waking up at a couchsurfing spot hosted by four individuals from Finland, Sudan, Canada, and Spain respectively, I sprinted to the bus station to try and figure out how their bus system worked.

Before I knew it, I was on a bus for nine hours once again. I missed my stop on purpose and ended up in Helsinki, the country's capital.

Besides not being able to speak a drop of Finnish, Helsinki reminded me almost exactly of a colder and darker London. Old beautiful buildings, lovely cafes, the unfortunate issue of homeless beggars, and so many things to do in a five-mile radius. I had to catch a train back to the Airport, so I didn't stay long. However, the beautiful introverted people of Finland made a lasting impression on me that may have me coming back one day.

Central London

From here on out, many of my travel notes are scattered.

Although the day before class started was cold, rainy, and otherwise miserable, There was still some enjoyment to be had. I was to meet with friends for an exciting day in Central London and see the beauty of the National Gallery.

And so, after getting off the train at Trafalgar Square, I did just that. I met up with my friends and set my sights on the gallery, where I saw some of the most beautiful religious and renaissance work that I have ever seen.

After this, we took a stroll in the park that lead us to see the outskirts of Buckingham Palace. We then had gelato in Picadilly Circus from Grom and saw an extremely good street band. After this epic conclusion, we headed home.

One of the most impressive aspects of London is that you can see everything you want practically for free. For instance, Bar 31 in The Shard provides a lovey view of the entire city, and the historic Tower area is full of photo opportunities. The British Museum was free as well and also well worth the visit.

So whatever you do, make sure you visit London at some point!