University of Helsinki
Today was a day full of physical exercise! The morning began with a good breakfast, as we were going to need all the energy for our football match against the local team. As we started to walk towards the field, our team was getting a bit nervous… But nevertheless, we were ready to play! Fortunately, the weather was cloudy at first, so we weren’t baking in the sun, although it was still quite warm for us.
The football match was played in good spirits, and the atmosphere was phenomenal! Each team was scoring one goal after another, and the game ended in a tie. Then was the nerve-racking time for penalty shots, as five players from each team tried their best to score the winning goals. And would you believe it, our team won! Although sweaty and exhausted, we were extremely happy and most importantly had fun.
In the afternoon after lunch we ventured for a walk to the peak of Yale (also called Iyale) mountain, which stands at 2 100 meters above sea level. The plan was to climb to the top to see the sunset, and then walk back in the dark. The walk started from the east side of the Yale forest and proceeded into the thick vegetation. Some parts of the forest had once been agricultural fields, and some of the benches were still visible. We also saw a really big fern.
The climb was a bit challenging at times, as the slopes were quite steep and the rocks and roots were slippery. The journey got a bit scary even, as the paths went occasionally very near the steep cliffs. But that didn’t stop us! We were actually an hour ahead of the schedule, and had a good time hanging around at the top, watching the sun set behind the cloudy mountains. We were a bit worried the big rainclouds would cover the sunset completely, but luckily they moved just enough for us to see a glimpse of the setting sun.
As the sun went down, we started our descent from the top. After a while, all we could see were the lights we had and the path they illuminated, and we had to be careful not to slip down the difficult parts of the path. In the end, we all made it safely back to the bus that was waiting for us, and we even got to admire the amazing stars twinkling above us.
