I must first mention that we came to Finland not knowing anything about the country other than some bits and bobs on the Internet and that this is based off of a couple of days of bumbling about Kuopio but alas this is ‘first impressions’, things may change with time. *I also believe Helsinki (like every other capital city) is in its own league of behaviours/expectations/standards although I must say the train station is supremely well organised albeit with ongoing construction work.

The trains
I can sum up my hope in the efficiency of Nordic railway systems by looking at the Google Play store and seeing the 4.7/5 review for VR and 4.8/5 for the Swedish railway company SJ.
Tranquility
It is very quiet here
Cost
To be honest, after Georgia I obviously anticipated a price hike for basic necessities but compared to the reality of going to K-market/S-market
Finnish customs
Solid thumbs up to the finnish way of life and how people behave in public (I don’t mention
NATURE
It is stunning here, simple in many regards, yes bla bla bla ‘It’s just lakes!’ I hear you say ‘it’s just forests!’ I hear another cry. But my goodness isn’t it just spectacular – the fresh air, the Everyman’s right, the pristine clear sunset and colourful skies, I’ve never seen anything like it.



Random things of note that I feel are worth an honourable mention

Top Gear /suomi/
Haven’t seen Top Gear in years in the UK but it just rocks up on the telly here every now and then, oh and there’s also a finnish version.
Kuopio library
Never have I ever seen such a versatile and logically constructed library! I don’t even need a library account to use the computers to print something, oh and the printing instructions are clearly found above the printer and online – what more would you need? Oh, I know! Free WiFi, it’s available!
temperature
This probably isn’t just Finland but 2-4 degrees Celsius is usually horrendous in Ireland or the UK and here it’s just fine like ok maybe I’ll put on a hat but its nowhere near as cold, maybe it has something to do with *embed Kippen climate*
The quality of electric scooters (ryde/dott)
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