That would be me. I am the slowest woman in Turku. I am not exactly a slow walker in Vancouver, in fact I am often frustrated that people don’t walk fast enough – we are generally a fairly easy going city by global standards. A temperate climate is just one of the reasons for that – Im sure you can name some others. But every single person I came across today passed me – and I am sure they were miles behind me when I started out on this journey today. Because not only did they pass me, some actually lapped me. I am positive I saw several people at least 2 or 3 different time today – and they all came from behind. Children passed me, pregnant women passed me, senior citizens using a cane passed me. And for about 10 minutes I shamed myself for it. And then remembered, I just arrived in this city this morning. I can’t walk like these people, I have no idea where I am going, and I deserve to appreciate the beauty of this city – and the best way to do that is to walk slow, pay attention, throw my map away and wander. And wander I did. I wandered so well, that I got lost.
My sole mission was to walk along the Aurajoki, and go to the Sibelius Museum. Mission accomplished. And in that order. But when I was walking along the river, I somehow got turned around and ended up in the completely wrong direction – and ended up on a trail adjacent to the river. I suspected that I was going in the wrong direction because, well because, I don’t exactly know why I thought that. It just felt wrong. But it also felt wrong to turn back – I had been walking for over an hour, surely it had to amount to something good. Weird how even tho we know that we are wrong – it is so hard to admit it to ourselves. I walked for another km or so, (yes Im stubborn), and came upon a fitness circuit, and saw a man wearing a tshirt that said, “you are meant to be headed in the other direction”. That’s the sign I needed. I turned around and headed in the direction I just came from, and an hour later found myself in surroundings that looked somewhat familiar. Ended up in the university district, and just when I was about to give up on going to the museum, I ended up exactly in front of it. Getting lost led me to exactly where I needed to be. How lost was I? I wandered for 7 km before turning the other way. Thank you t-shirt guy for guiding me back to where I was wanting to be. But I think we both know I was meant to wander his way – that message was definitely intended for me.
So I got to spend my afternoon at the Sibelius Museum after all. What a glorious place. I am the first person to admit, that I need some brushing up on Sibelius, he is not widely known in the guitar circles that I travel in. But I got to spend 2 hours in a gorgeous building, listening to classical music (some of which was composed by Sibelius himself), got to play interesting instruments, read snippets of his letters, ogle over odd pianos, and spend time with the Hundred Years of Scholarly Creativity exhibit (worth it!). If you are interested in musicology and folklore, it’s an interesting room to spend some time in.
After my trip to the museum, I wandered back over to the river – this time the correct part in relation to where I am staying, and managed to get back to my hotel without the help of my map app. Perhaps one of these days I will learn to use one when I am out wandering – but then again, it wouldn’t be nearly as interesting. We don’t often get signs from the universe when our noses are buried in our phones.
Here is a rundown of some of the other things that happened today.
- During my ferry trip from Stockholm last night, my phone did not change time zones – so I was an hour behind all morning. Somehow amongst that chaos I managed to get off at the correct ferry terminal (Turku). I dont know how that happened. I actually thought I had an hour left until we sailed into that port. I could have ended up in Helsinki, and that would have been a costly mistake.
- Upon arriving at my hotel, I discovered that reception doesn’t open until 9am (It was 7:38am when I arrived). Everything was locked up with a note on the door saying “please go to the Shell gas station and pick up the swipe card, if the door is locked and you haven’t registered yet”. I can honestly say, I have never even heard of such a thing before today. I got to the gas station – and they had run out of swipe cards.
- Apparently Finland is the place where I learn to drink coffee like a grownup.
- I know that tap water is clean and delicious in Finland, but why is it so hard to find bottled water here. The ferry had free flowing wine but no drinkable water to be found, other than the bathroom taps. Coke Zero was the closest thing to water that I could find being sold in stores.
- And finally, travelling makes my eating habits all wonky. In the past 3 days, I have had 2.5 meals. Tonight, I made sure I ate something substantial because tomorrow is my last travel day – and I will be back in charge of my cooking – but also be really busy setting up what I am going to accomplish at this residency. So burger and fries it is. It filled the requirement of necessary protein and it being within one city block of my hotel. Definitely edible. Definitely decent. Fries tasted like potatoes and not salt. Was it worth $28 Canadian. Not exactly. I am all about everyone making a living wage. And I am happy to contribute to that. But it does hurt a little, when I am paying 3 times the price for something that I can get in Canada. It does hurt less though, knowing that the person who made my dinner tonight can live well in a beautiful country. Something that still needs addressing in my own home country.
Here are some of the things I saw today
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