Hey loveliesss! I went on a family vacation for the first time in years thanks to the pandemic, and it was to the beautiful Helsinki, capital of Finland.
The main reason for our trip was because the baby of the house – Joyce Olubusola Peters, had gotten admission to study for her Masters in Human nutrition and food related behavior at the fantastic university of Helsinki! So we all went with her to help with her relocation, as it’s a 2 year program, and to spend quality time together.
Unfortunately, upon arrival at Helsinki, KLM had delayed 3 pieces of our luggage, meaning Isaac and I had no clothes in Finland aside the clothes on our backs! They didn’t return our luggage till after a week of returning back to London either, but have asked us to present receipts of the emergency items we had to purchase as a result of their mistake. So we went shopping 😀
Helsinki was warm during the day, but QUICKLY became cold once the sun went down haha.
Each city has its quirks, I think it was the cleanliness in Helsinki that was most outstanding for me. Such a stark difference to other cities I’ve lived in, they have imbibed a culture that litter dropping is a crime right from among their toddlers!
We stayed in an Airbnb that I had found last minute and it was such a great apartment and with its central location we could practically walk anywhere we needed to go such as the mall, bank, restaurants etc. I’d recommend Antti’s place anytime!
The Finnish people place heavy value on education, we visited three state of the art libraries and were blown away by the architecture. Higher education is free for residents and EU citizens so they’ve invested greatly in their education system – my sister is in for a treat!
We visited out family friends and got to learn of how the entire 6 million strong populace of Finland can be safely hidden in the extensive underground network and how their military are trained on how to get everyone to their respective location in minutes! In fact, during their winters it goes lower than -30 degrees, during these times the street may be super scanty – because everyone’s gone underground rather than battling it out with the deep snow.
My family friend has a Youtube channel that’s got more than 100,000 subscribers and she’s only a teenager! She plays a children’s game online and has become a thought leader on the game, the game creators have invited her to their HQ too, so she just might do her work experience there – love to see a young Queen with early success, please Subscribe to her channel – Peachy on YouTube!
When we weren’t doing logistical things for Joyce’s move, we were sightseeing! Finnish people all learn English in secondary school so we were just fine when looking for places, the locals are so eager to help anyone that looks lost haha. They’d tell you the direction, the best time to go and their personal tip about what’s the best thing to see at a particular place – and that’s how everyone we met was like! Coming from London where people avoid eye contact on the train like it’s the plague, it was such a wonderful experience to feel that nationwide hospitality.
On Sunday, we went to a branch of Deeper life – our pastor in London connected my sister with the church in Finland and we were warmly welcomed; aside from being a place to worship, the church is also like a global family, so there’s home away from home. We’re rest assured she’ll be well supported 🙂
Our trip finally came to an end and we left Joyce at her new apartment after shedding a few tears haha, we’ll reunite at Christmas time by God’s Grace. I definitely see myself visiting her again, but not during winter as I can’t stand cold weather haha.
Few more photos for good measure? Sure thinggggg:
Till next time,
Dr. ETP xo
