My visit to the beautiful Finnish city of Tampere was coming to an end but there was still enough time for me to visit the Vapriikki Museum located by the Tammerkoski rapids in the centre of town.
Vapriikki is located in the old factory building of the Tampella engineering company who produced locomotives, turbines and linen fabric. When production ceased in the 1970’s, the historic premises were transformed into a museum. Under one roof numerous small museums are brought together, and these are: The Natural History Museum, The Media Museum Rupriikki, The Mineral Museum, The Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame, The Museum of Dolls and Costumes, The Postal Museum and the Finnish Museum of Games. Admission for adults is €12 with free admission each Friday between 3.00 – 6.00 p.m. The Finnish idea of bringing several small museums under one roof really works as I’m certain this results in lower running costs and higher visitor numbers.
The main reason for my visit was to take a look in both the Doll and Post Museums as I have a love for toys and anything post related and always try to seek out these collections on my travels.
The Museum of Dolls and Costumes was enchanting with its beautiful collection of dolls and a large scale furnished dolls house that visitors could enter. From 1966, this collection was originally displayed in the henhouse of the nearby Haihara Manor when the lady of the manor opened it to the public with 300 dolls. It has since been transferred to the museum and now contains almost 5,000 exhibits.
Continuing on to the Post Museum, it was interesting to see the uniforms of workers since the postal service was introduced in Finland in 1638. The collection also includes postal signs, vehicles, postboxes and stamps through the ages. Of particular interest was the world’s first e-letter computer from 1986 which looked very dated now.
It was then time to return to the lovely Lapland Hotel Tampere to collect my luggage and start the long journey home. Bus 1A runs between the city centre and Tampere airport however the timetable is irregular so it’s best to check out departure times in advance. There was ample room for my luggage and the journey, taking about 40 minutes passed through picturesque snow covered forests on its way to the airport.
Tampere Pirkkala Airport is quite small, making checking in and security checks quick and easy. Ready to board my plane, I settled down with a cup of coffee and a cinnamon bun and struck up a conversation with a passenger returning to Vienna. I learnt that he had been in Tampere to discuss arrangements for the IAAF Under 20 World Athletic Championships due to take place in Tampere in July. It was interesting speaking with him and to learn that such a large sporting event would be taking place in the city.
My Finnair flight to Helsinki departed on time and took just 30 minutes to reach the Finnish capital from where I had a very short connection for my onward flight back to Manchester. As usual, with the ease of transferring through Helsinki Vantaa Airport, I had no problems reaching my gate on time.
My return flight to Manchester was on board an Airbus A319 airliner which was larger than the aircraft I had arrived on. Finnair operate a modern fleet and once we were underway, complimentary refreshments were served twice during the two and a half hour flight.
I returned home with so many happy memories from such an amazing few days in Tampere. During my stay, I was introduced to so many aspects of Tampere from its cultural attractions, beautiful lakes and forests to its innovative technology hub, which attracts many visitors from home and abroad to this Nordic city.
I would like to thank the Talent Tampere team for selecting my blog as their winning entry in their competition and for hosting me during my stay. It was a pleasure to spend time with them and hopefully it won’t be too long before I’m able to return and experience even more that the Tampere region has to offer! As always all views and opinions are entirely my own.
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