FINLAND: TAMPERE ~ Beautiful places of Barcelona and Catalonia

sábado, 4 de abril de 2015

FINLAND: TAMPERE

We arrived at Tampere by train from Helsinki at 4 pm in the afternoon after a journey of almost two hours. We left the station to the main street and walked toward a park at the other end of town.

We crossed a canal that connects the two lakes next to which this city is located. At this point we saw some of the factories that betrayed the industrial past of Tampere. Nowadays almost all of them have been converted into spaces for cultural activities.

We went from Helsinki to Tampere in this train

Factories in Tampere beside a canal

We kept walking down the wide sidewalk of this cobblestone street to the Town Hall Square. In front of the City Hall was the theater. This square was the only place with some charm I saw in the city center. We didn't see anything else interesting until we reached the large park beside the two huge lakes.

We walked through this street of Tampere from the train station to the large park at the other end of town

Theatre of Tampere in Finland

The City Hall of Tampere and the theatre are located beside the same square

At the entrance to this park we passed a church and we came to a partially snowy area. It was our first contact with the snow in Finland. We followed one of the paths in the park looking for an old watchtower, the Pyynikki Observation Tower, where currently there is a cafe.

In this park of Tampere we saw the snow in Finland for the first time

We walked through this park until we found an Observation tower with a cafe inside

From the top of the tower and after paying about 2 € we enjoyed beautiful views of the park and the lakes. Unfortunately it was cloudy and cold, because otherwise the view would have been fantastic.

Tampere is a city located beside two large lakes

Lake beside Tampere from the Pyynikki Observation Tower

One of the lakes beside Tampere from the Pyynikki Observation Tower

Quickly we went down to the cafe because of the cold where I took a hot cappuccino. The cafeteria was rather small so we were lucky to be able to sit. After the snack we began our way back through a parallel street to the previous one to try to see different things.

Cafe in the Pyynikki Observation Tower of Tampere

Already in the center we found an old factory where inside there were several premises, including a huge pub and brewery.

Brewery and Pub in a former factory of Tampere in Finland

We kept walking to the station and just before turning right the cathedral appeared, which at that time was closed. I liked the medieval look of the cathedral built in gray stone and surrounded by a small green area.

Cathedral of Tampere

Detail of the cathedral of Tampere, built in grey stone

It was getting dark when we reached the train station where we had dinner in a pub before boarding at 10pm on the train that would take us to Lapland.

In Tampere we spent six hours and definitely it was enough. Of this industrial city I only would highlight how it has managed to integrate the old factories in the city and the natural environment of the two lakes and the huge park between them.

This was our trip route in Finland and Estonia:

Day 1 - Helsinki