April 24: Southern Finland tour – arrival in Tampere

Our final destination for the day was Tampere, another one of Finland's main cities, in the center of the southwestern quadrant of the country.

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Pre-spring road.

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Pre-spring bike path?

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Birch fractalview.

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A quick deep view into the far lobe of the field.

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Shoegaze contrail.

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Iceout in progress.

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A little bit of Constructivism, Finnstyle.

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The upper shore of Tampere; Tampere was built as a mill town along the Tammerkoski rapids connecting two lakes, Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi, over a 60' elevation change, and this is the Näsijärvi shore.

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This is an old public sauna that we partook in; it was a busy evening and we were squeezed in tight among the locals inside the sauna. It was extra hot in there, approaching 90°C, if I remember correctly. The cooldowns were out in this yard, and I was so chilled out by the sauna that I felt like I could have just sat there for hours staring at the texture of the front wall, especially given the prettiness of the clear early twilight. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

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Tampere's hilliness necessitates some pretty radical stairs. Jouni, our studio professor, stands before them. There's the nose of good ol' Pohjolan Matka as well.

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The crazee stairs at the Tampereen Omenahotelli.

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Part of the super-cool old Finlayson mill complex, where we ate dinner at a restaurant within.