My semester abroad in South Korea was a very nice and educational experience for me. You can make friends for life there! In addition to that it showed me, that I have a need for visiting other countries.
That´s why I am so happy about my friendships with people from different cultures. And somehow we befriended some Finnish people at the other end of the world (to be precise: it was in Sinchang, in South Korea…).

Therefore we visited those (very Finnish) friends for the first time in 2018 in their hometown Jyväskylä. It was my first time ever in Finland and it was, despite the short time we spent there, a very nice trip! I actually fell in love with this country. 🙂

What about Jyväskylä?

Not only the breathtaking scenery had done it to me, but also the atmosphere in this yet very natural city. If you don’t know Jyväskylä yet, you should know the following few things:

• The town Jyväskylä was founded in 1837
• Jyväskylä is located about 270 km north of Helsinki on the northern shore of Lake Päijänne.
• Jyväskylä is a university and school town in Central Finland.
• There are three universities and is therefore well attended by students. If you look at the city from above, you can see how many buildings and houses nestle around the lake Jyväsjärvi and around it you see only trees. So a city in the middle of the green.
• Jyväskylä is the namegiver of the region around the town
• Furthermore there a more lakes near the city like Tuomiojärvi or Palokkajärvi and many small ones
• In the Jyväskylä Region you can visit four national parks
• It is also possible to visit two UNESCO World Heritage sites there
• In 2020, there were approximately 143.400 inhabitants living in the city of Jyväskylä

And if you like to drink tea, then Jyväskylä has some good tea places as well. For example the T-House or TakeT teekauppa Jyväskylä, where you can also buy tea supply like Cups, measures and stuff like that. Unfortunatly I haven´t enough time to spot every place for tea.

Trees are everywhere in Jyväskylä

If you haven´t yet noticed there are trees everywhere around the city. The region is also very known for their four national parks:

• Leivonmäki National Park
• Southern Konnevesi National Park
• Pyhä-Häkki National Park
• Salamajärvi National Park

If you like to go hiking, then there is plenty options for you to do that. For example the Pyhä-Häkki National Park with his ancient pines is a wonderful place to walk around on old wood paths. Founded 1956, this park is on of the oldest of Jyväsklä Region´s national parks.

You will sometimes find some campsites with a fire place there, where you can grill some sausages or other things. The first time I was surprised about how clean the place looked. You can feel that the finnish people value highly their community property. In Germany you have to be lucky to find such clean places.

The other good thing is that you can do wild camping in the forest, except for the national parks, wildlife reservats and some beaches. But beside that you can go where ever you want to go and sleeping in you tent in one of the hundred of thousand forests in Finland.
Last year I slept in my hammock somewhere near Helsinki. That was a really cool experience!

Jyväskylä by night

The city by night is very spectacular. It feels like everything is illuminated and as a photography enthusiast I couldn´t resist to take some long shots during the night. And one of a good motive is the Kuokkala Bridge by night or other buildings which are illuminated. I am glad I got some nice photos out of it. Because I am not always able to get a good spot for night photography. So I am always happy if I have the chance to take some night shots.

Because of the pandemic situation I couldn´t make more trips to Finland but I hope that will change in the future. Until then I am going to edit some of my photos of previous Finland trips and reminisce about it. 🙂

Have you ever been to Finland? What did you like there? Let me know in the comments below or on our social media platforms.

Julia

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