Well-rested and bellies full of breakfast, the next morning M and I were bursting with healthy outdoor spirit and headed to the Koli National Park. Actually, we were there already: the highest peaks of Ukko- and Akka-Koli are only a couple hundred metres’ walk from the hotel.

Even though awkward posing is my specialty, don’t let it distract you. The views over there are spectacular! After a careful start, even M plucked up the courage to enjoy the scenery from the ledges, despite her fear of heights. Respect.

I almost felt like a fraud for being able to reach the highest peaks so easily. After our little panorama tour, we also took a longer walk around the area, finally broke a sweat and eventually got attacked by millions of mosquitoes. Along the way, there were funny-looking trees, shady forests and grassy meadows. It all really made me miss the golden 90s when my family used to live right next to the best forest in the world. Halssila City 4 life!

We knew it was time to move along when we ran out of snacks. Neither one of us had ever visited the city of Joensuu, so it was a natural choice for our next destination. The biggest reason, though, was that in Joensuu we could finally use the rest of our coupons.