Finland: Turku Part Two

We had a nice little morning routine during my stay. We would all have breakfast together, clean up the kitchen, and then the children and I would watch Finnish cartoons for a bit...my favorite was Pikku Kakkosen Posti! You can watch a bit of it here if you're really curious : )(straight chillax)

We also went to church. The bus took us downtown and we strolled the rest of the way. As you can see from the picture below, the church, or Turku Cathedral was large and the service was actually held in a smaller chapel that was located right inside and to the left of the entry way. This particular structure is considered a national shrine and a major source of Finnish architectural history. Some important individuals are buried here, perhaps most notably Karin Månsdotter (Kaarina Maununtytär in Finnish), the Queen of Sweden from 1550–1612. I enjoyed our Sunday service here very much, especially the echo of our voices when we would sing. It was enchantingly ancient! I love high ceilings!!

(to church we go!)

(it was a GORGEOUS afternoon in Turku)

(The Turku Cathedral...or "Turun tuomiokirkko" in Finnish...or "Åbo domkyrka" in Swedish)

(coming back from church/town after some delicious pizza!)

We took a few trips into town while I was there to run the usual daily errands and such. On one of these days we went to the ever popular Hesburger . Consider it the Finnish equivalent to McDonalds, and even though I've boycotted my mother country's major fast food franchise, I haven't boycotted Finland's! As they say, when in Rome........

(I ordered the then current special which came with meat, cheese, pickles, mayo, ketchup, onions, mustard, and a thick hashbrown cake in the middle!)

(but, I went sans mayo...note the "el vaalea majo"...apparently this isn't the norm. They're serious about their mayonaise. The cashier gave us a perplexed look when we placed the orders. Also couldn't figure out why my receipt was burnt and wrapped up with my burger?? Verdict: Glad I gave it the old college try!)

There was also an afternoon when we were graced with the presence of two of The Lindholm's friends, Meg and Geoffrey. Delightful folks! We had afternoon coffee, dessert , and excellent conversation.