MY Camp hit the old towns
On Sunday, after hopefully well-slept night, it was time for sightseeing and other tourist activities. The MY Campers got to see Porvoo, one of the oldest towns in Finland, and Helsinki, which has been the capital of Finland 200 years this year.
Simona Zimová and Laksmi Satria sightseeing in Porvoo. All photos: Elisa Lautala.
To dust off after the long flights of yesterday, some of the campers started the first whole day of MY Camp at the hotel swimming pool. The rest of the day too was a bit more casual and relaxed than the following ones that will be packed with activities at universities and companies around the Helsinki region.
First the campers headed to Porvoo. Founded in 1380, it is either the second or third oldest town in Finland, depending on whom you ask. The idyllic and picturesque old town, with wooden buildings and church dating back to the 1500 century as well as many little shops selling souvenirs and chocolates provided a pleasant surrounding for sightseeing tour and picnic, even though the weather could have been a Celsius or two warmer.
Pavithra Parthasarathy and Jovana Vidovic on board the Helsinki Archipelago cruise ship.
However, just when it was time to jump on a bus from Porvoo to Helsinki, the sun appeared and the cruise around the Helsinki archipelago got a good start.
After lunch on board the cruise ship, most of the Campers gathered on the sun deck on the roof of the ship to take some pictures and admire the view.
Later in the afternoon, they got to visit downtown Helsinki and admire the sights like Helsinki Cathedral, and visit museums and shops.
Mariami Tkeshelashvili, Monica Foszto and Noora Vainio by the Helsinki Cathedral.
Half of the Applied Mathematics group decided to familiarize themselves with Finnish fauna at the Museum of Natural History. “I didn’t know that reindeer really existed,” one of them marveled while looking at two of them stuffed at the museum.
Little did she know that only a few hours earlier some of the members of Renewable Natural Resources and Energy group had actually tasted the animal typical to Lapland on a sandwich.
An Ran Chen at Finnish Museum of Natural History.
Apparently the day had been nice as the bus ride back to the lodgings was bubbling with discussion. “I had high expectations but this has been even more,” said one of the Campers Valeria Staneva from Bulgaria on the bus.
The Climate Change group doing project work.
To add a little bit of serious business to the end of a fun day, the campers had a visit from their expert guides in the evening. These experts representing for example the University of Helsinki and international Finnish-based companies like Nokia gave the campers inspiration and ideas on how to get started with their project works that will be presented at the end of the Camp.
Who are the 2012 MY Campers? Have a look at their profiles at MY Camp Profiles.
Check out also the MY Camp Video Channel on Vimeo and MY Camp Photo Collection on Flickr.
Elisa Lautala works as web editor for University of Helsinki's Faculty of Science. Elisa likes all kinds of cultural events, good books, warm weather, and aqua-jogging.