How a girl in her twenties ended up to Turku and made the city her home? I came to Turku 14 years ago to start my studies and grew up to be a teacher and later a tech entrepreneur. I will reflect my experiences in my current home city Turku and its’ four lovely neighborhoods that I have lived in. My first post of the neighborhood series is about the Eastern Center of Turku.
Towards the unknown Turku
I applied and got accepted to study geography at the University of Turku in 2005. Back then, the capital city Helsinki was on my list, as well, yet higher housing prices and longer distances were kind of a turn off. In turn, Turku offered moderate housing prices, compact city center and campus area within walking or biking distance from almost everywhere, beautiful riverside and unique archipelago. I was excited about the adventure ahead in the former capital city of Finland, yet also nervous as I had visited Turku only once before and I didn’t know anyone.
To be honest, it wasn’t an easy start as I was quite insecure and lonely at the beginning, but I attended many student activities and soon made new friends. I ended up living in the Eastern Center of Turku, which truly was heaven for a young student. It took seven minutes to walk to University Hill, lunch places were next door and the activities of the City Center were within short walking distance.
First three years I lived together with a roommate and we truly had our fair share of fun. Looking back, those years were quite enjoyable and care-free times. In addition to evening activities, I spent a lot of time in nearby nature as I studied natural sciences. My favorite places, still, are Ruissalo island, upstream of the River Aura, and the archipelago as a whole.
Hämeenkatu - The main street of the Eastern Center
Hämeenkatu is the main street in the Eastern Center and the street and nearby areas have a great variety of services including many (ethnic) restaurants. Nowadays I still go weekly to have my lunch in the area. I claim that my favourite restaurant Yangtze is the best Chinese restaurant in Finland (please feel free to challenge me!). In addition, I also frequently visit a vegetarian restaurant Kuori and its famous falafel bar.
Even though Hämeenkatu has many services, it is also the downside of the area. Hämeenkatu and buildings within are a bit gloomy, especially in winter time, and the traffic is quite heavy. Anyhow, the area has a majestic Turku Cathedral and its well-maintained park, which truly delights passers-by.
Goodbye to the Eastern Center of Turku
During the end of my studies, our apartment building at Vähä-Hämeenkatu was decided to be demolished. I had to move and my only criterion was to find a place within walking distance from the city center. I ended up in Pohjola, a neighborhood in the Northern part of the city center, which was totally unknown area for me at that time.
I will reflect on my thoughts about living in traditional, yet dramatically developing Pohjola in the next blog post. Later, I will also write about my experiences on Kähäri (lovely word to be pronounced, isn’t it?) and Raunistula neighborhoods.
Have you lived and studied in Turku? Or planning to move to Turku? We’d love to hear your experiences in the comment section.
-Susanna
P.S. Explore more about the Eastern Center of Turku in the neighborhood page.
