A town between lakes

The city of Tampere, around 150 km north from Helsinki, lays between two lakes: Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi. It has been quite an industrial city which in the last years has turned all the industrial premises into cultural centres. According to the Tampere Tourist Office, the cathedral has been voted as the most beautiful Finnish church. Another one of its attraction is the Lenin Museum (???).
It also has Näsinneula, the highest tower in Scandinavia, which provides amazing views of the two lakes. On top of it, there is a restaurant, quite posh at a first glance, but when paying the bill, it turns out not to be so posh. I strongly recommend having lunch or dinner there, with such a view. Besides, the restaurant turns and completes a tour in approximately 45 minutes, which also is the average time our meal will need.

In the narrowest place between the two lakes, we have Pyynikki, the highest ridge in the world. It is a beautiful forest, with a lot of paths and with an observation tower quite impressing too. Tampere’s people love going for a walk there when the sun shines and some of them even have a bath in the southern lake, Pyhäjärvi.

I booked my train ticket back to Tampere one hour later than I wished, by mistake and then I had some “free time” to spend walking in the city centre. I discovered then a cool concert in a park, with a small jazz orchestra performing music from TV series. After that, I went to a bookshop and started to look into the books, pretending I can read Finnish (which is, obviously, false). Two writers were signing their own books in the library but I did not dare to ask them for their signature in a book I have no chance, ever if I lived ten lives, to understand.

In conclusion, Tampere, the most northern place I have ever been to, is worth a visit. Cool place.