Encore Day 040 Helsinki - somewhere on the Baltic Sea

Oh nooo, it's time to day goodbye again. That is goodbye to my dear dear
friends and goodbye to travelling. From now on I only go home. I spent the
morning talking with Yesmith. Once I had checked the location of the ferry
terminal I was shocked: it wasn't one of the terminals near to old town,
but it was way out of town. But there was still enough time to organize
everything and to call Alex back early from her trip to the center. Once we
had to say goodbye, Yesmith, Thomas and Luna promised me to visit Leipzig
next year - so this time it won't be 5 years until we meet again :o) We had
shared an important time in our lives, probably one of the times which
shaped us the most. It is great that even after nearly a decade, meeting up
with them feels as if these times were just yesterday.
The ride to the ferry was long: train to the main station, metro all the
way to the end station and another 3km of walking. But everything no
problem, we made it on time. I hadn't booked a cabin, just reclining seats,
but there is enough space for our camping mattresses in the reclining seats
area. I had however booked full meals, which was definitely a good idea:
very tasty, all-you-can-eat and even for vegetarians many options. Whatever
weight we might have lost on the cycling trip, we will definitely gain
again during the next 2 days!

Encore Day 039 Helsinki

Wellness day! Yesmith and Alex talked the morning away. Than we cycled into
the city to do the most finnish thing of all: Sauna. It was not fancy at
all, just a room with a huge metal oven - but due to the lack of fancyness
the experience felt much more real. Afterwards we were very relaxed and
considerably exhausted. We went to a cute, friendly, colourful cafe nearby
where we met up with Jenny, who had been couchsurfing at my place about 2
years ago. After cycling back I fulfilled my duty as the apprentice of
cooking master Thomas. In the evening a movie showed us the very scary
reality behind the fairytale Santa Claus.

Encore Day 038 Tallinn - Helsinki

We arrived! We took the ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki where Yesmith
waited together with Baby Luna for us :o) . She is muy cute! We went home
to have some food and talk and guitar playing. Later Alex and me cycled
into the town center. They have awesome cycling paths here. The city is
quite modern, there are some nice buildings every now and then but overall
it is not as amazing as Tallinn or Riga. In the evening we met up with Cam,
Australian writer who had just arrived in Helsinki where he had found a job
that allowed him to get paid for what he likes to do most. He couldn't
quite believe his luck yet. He was couchsurfing at my place. It was great
to catch up with him after such a long time. Once we had cycled back home
also Thomas had arrived. I know Yesmith and Thomas for 9 years now and I
had beem at their wedding in Mexico 5 years ago - it is wonderful to meet
them again and to say hello to their newborn babygirl.