Next stop, Tampere! Tampere is one of the biggest cities in Finland. In general you have this ranking:
- Helsinki (565186)
- Espoo (235809)
- Tampere (206480)
- Vantaa (190625)
- Turku (175284)
- Oulu (130526)
That are the 6 biggest cities in Finland, all the others have less than 100000 inhabitants.
We went to Tampere by car, which took us about 1h15min. One of the first things you see when entering Tampere by car is the amusement park situated directly at one of the big lakes (=Sarkanniemi Amusement Park). When arriving at the parking place, we started our tour on the 'mainstreet' of Tampere, Hämeenkatu. There are most of the shops, big malls, some of the main attractions and nice restaurants! One of the oldest churches in Finland, the 'Old Church' is located on Hämeenkatu, Finns call it 'Vanha kirkko'.
Quite near to the old church is the 'Harald restaurant', a kind of viking restaurant. It is mainly a spot for tourists, including us! The interior is totally out of rustic wood: the tables, the doors, the walls/ceiling, the bar, the steps, just everything. The interior was filled with viking symbols just as viking helmets, ship statues, animal furs, ship tools, viking weapons and so on. The meal was delicious, I'll recommend it at any time! Here are some pictures of it.
Another attraction is the St. John's Church or just 'Tampere Cathedrale', a stone-built church which is about 100 years old and equipped with a lot of paintings in its interior, for example the fresco 'Garden of Death' by Hugo Simberg. The next church who was on our plan was the Alexander Church next to the 'Metso'-library. It's location is in the middle of a nice little park with a lot of green fields and trees. From that point you have already a good view to the Näsinneula Tower, which is an observation tower with a great view over the Näsijärvi Lake. It is the tallest free-standing structure in Finland and the tallest observation tower in all the nordic countries. It is nearly 170 metres high and located in the amusement park. On the very top there is a restaurant - a very expensive one, I can tell. We just saw the menu in front of the entry, but in the end we decided to go to Harald's viking restaurant, so that we have some money left! ;-D Right below the restaurant floor is the observation desk, which costs about 8€, so we decided to do that. And it was really beautiful! The views up there are really amazing and breath-taking - we even had so much luck that the clouds went beside, so that our view improved! Here are some examples!
Before going for Tampere my nice neighbours Linh and Marko gave me a hint: MUNKIS! :-D What are munkis? Munkis look like doughnuts: round, sugary and fatty. But there is one thing which makes them different from 'normal' doughnuts. It is the spice cardamom, a spice that reminds you of christmas! Great! Tastes good and gives you a feeling of christmas celebration at the same time - perefect! And I think they are making a big business in selling munkis. The little café where they serve munkis is located in the Pyynikki Tower in a nice little forest at the northern shore between the big lakes. The interior is small or more precisely: tiny! The furniture is ordinary, quite old and it is just too little space for all guests, so that many of them have to sit outside on a bank - and it is very hard to find the way up to the tower. So, in total not the best conditions for a prosperous business... But still, there were all the time at least 5 people waiting to be served. The magic must be in the munkis! So, my next idea: start a munki business in Germany! I will let you know if I succeed in it! :-D
Another attraction is the St. John's Church or just 'Tampere Cathedrale', a stone-built church which is about 100 years old and equipped with a lot of paintings in its interior, for example the fresco 'Garden of Death' by Hugo Simberg. The next church who was on our plan was the Alexander Church next to the 'Metso'-library. It's location is in the middle of a nice little park with a lot of green fields and trees. From that point you have already a good view to the Näsinneula Tower, which is an observation tower with a great view over the Näsijärvi Lake. It is the tallest free-standing structure in Finland and the tallest observation tower in all the nordic countries. It is nearly 170 metres high and located in the amusement park. On the very top there is a restaurant - a very expensive one, I can tell. We just saw the menu in front of the entry, but in the end we decided to go to Harald's viking restaurant, so that we have some money left! ;-D Right below the restaurant floor is the observation desk, which costs about 8€, so we decided to do that. And it was really beautiful! The views up there are really amazing and breath-taking - we even had so much luck that the clouds went beside, so that our view improved! Here are some examples!
Before going for Tampere my nice neighbours Linh and Marko gave me a hint: MUNKIS! :-D What are munkis? Munkis look like doughnuts: round, sugary and fatty. But there is one thing which makes them different from 'normal' doughnuts. It is the spice cardamom, a spice that reminds you of christmas! Great! Tastes good and gives you a feeling of christmas celebration at the same time - perefect! And I think they are making a big business in selling munkis. The little café where they serve munkis is located in the Pyynikki Tower in a nice little forest at the northern shore between the big lakes. The interior is small or more precisely: tiny! The furniture is ordinary, quite old and it is just too little space for all guests, so that many of them have to sit outside on a bank - and it is very hard to find the way up to the tower. So, in total not the best conditions for a prosperous business... But still, there were all the time at least 5 people waiting to be served. The magic must be in the munkis! So, my next idea: start a munki business in Germany! I will let you know if I succeed in it! :-D
What can I say in general about Finish 'large cities': well, large related to the city size means in Finland I would say more than 100000 inhabitants. As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, there are about 6 cities that earn this predicate. Compared to other big cities in Europe you do not get lost in Finnish cities - after maybe one day you already start to get familiar and know approximately where you can find the right way. Cities are not that crowded and messy, and not to forget the amount of green area, which is really impressive.
Can I join your German Munki business, e.g. as sous-chef? Sounds quite profitabel as well as very delicious :-D.
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