Today we made a dash northwestwards to the strangely popular lakeside city of Tampere.
The objective was to see a little of the fabled Finnish lakes, and the countryside, which we did, via a very nice first class cabin in a double decker train
But once we arrived, we discovered a pleasant town nestled on three lakes, and the waterside factories dominating the waterside. It’s known as the Manchester of Finland, which, we were assured by a Mancunian we met on a lake cruise lunch, is an accurate nickname.
Like Helsinki, large statues of nekkid men dominate the scenery. This one was angrily shaking his socks at the world. We don’t know why
The lakes are quite nice, but the cruise was pleasant (with an excellent buffet), rather than spectatular
The canal side is a lovely heart to the city
The Mancunian lady told us the orthodox church was not to be missed. Not exactly sure why, as it’s nice but not amazing
For the story behind the “love padlocks”, you can read this.
And tomorrow, we go to Turku, to meet up with an old friend, Maija, and her hubby. Yay!
You missed the Lenin museum! I’ve never actually been there, but it’s supposed to be a bit camp but interesting.
We went for lakes, not Lenin 🙂