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It was hectic this day! We arrived in Turku at 8.00. I have a special feeling for this city. I spent 4 unforgettable months here when studying in the local university. That is why my heart started working with double power when I stepped on the Turku’s land.
The city was founded in 1229 by the Swedes. The evidence of their presence on this land is located in the mouth of the Aura River. It is the Castle of Turku, built in the end of the 13th century. Actually it was near the harbour, so we could see it as we arrived. The Swedish name of Turku is Abo. This city is the ancient capital of Finland. To some extend it must be said that Finland was under the protectorate of both Sweden and Russia, but in the different periods.
We got to another important tourist object of the city in several minutes. I mean the Turku Cathedral, built almost immediately after the Castle. The group stopped there to watch it, while I was going to the University. I hoped to see my teachers. I reached the Department of Geography, which was on the fourth floor of the Main Building, soon. I could met only Taimi Sitari, the docent of geography, but nevertheless we were glad to se each other. She agreed to make a little excursion for us. And Taimi did it in the best way she only could. It was very interesting to know about the scientific researching, which was being carried on by the Finns at the department. Our group was happy about gained opportunity to know how the foreigners teach. We thanked Taimi and went back to the Cathedral. Unfortunately for me, we spent only 2 hours in Turku.
We moved to the west. Our next destination is the capital of Finland.
Two hours later we arrived in Helsinki. It is the biggest city of Finland. 560 000 people live there.
First we stopped near the monument to Jan Sibelius, the Finnish most famous composer. To let our bus drivers have a break, we got off on the square close to the railway station. We made a couple with Viktor Mikhailovich and went to discover the city. Alexandr gave us 4 hours.
It was not my first visit of Helsinki, so I knew where we should have gone. Viktor Mikhailovich and I got to the Helsinki Cathedral, which was on the Senate square (like in St.-Petersburg). It was built during the reign of Alexandr the second. At that time Finland was a part of the Russian Empire. The statue of our monarch stands in the middle of the Senate square.
We suddenly felt we had got hungry so we moved to the Kauppatori (the Market Square). After lunch we went to watch another site, important for the Russians. It is the Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral. This church is like a remaining of Russian presence in Suomi. During the next couple of hours we had got tired and desided to return to the bus. The group departed from Helsinki at 17.00.
We had to go faster to have time to cross the border without any corks on the road. Our group leader knew that the trucks going to Russia could have made something like a tail, which complicates the road traffic. That is why we crossed the Russian-Finnish border at 21.00 (Russian time).
At late night we “put off” the Voronezhers in St.-Petersburg, because they were going to take the train to get Voronezh. The students from Tver said their colleagues “good bye” and fell asleep in the bus, which continued to go.
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