Aug 25, 2006 - Finnland....Helsinsky

Helsinski: From Estonia in the Baltic it is easy to hop a ferry for 2 hours trip to Helsinski. I spent nearly a week here and the pictures attached are not labeled due to internet time..but they are general scenes from the streets, people watching, everywhere there was someone playing a musical instrument, scenes of places I visited. Founded 700 years ago by a Swedish King, it was taken over and occupied by the Russians until Finland declared Independence in 1017. Most of the archetectural sights are situation near the harbor and within...

Aug 23, 2006 - Cruise: Helsinki [Finland]

Arrived around 7:00 and start 4-hours tour to Porvoo at 8:35. Great day. Early cloud gives way to bright sunshine by around 10:30. Porvoo is about an hour by coach from Helsinki, giving us a good opportunity to see the Finnish countryside. Wide and flat. Lots of vegetation. A mixture of trees, crops (barley, oats and rye) and lakes (188,239 of them!) Only 30% of Finland is populated. Porvoo is a mediaeval town dating back to 1358. (or so they think. In doing some maintenance on the old town square, the workers have just found that it seems...

Aug 11, 2006 - Finnish Fly-by

Tallinn and Helsinki, Finland are separated by a 3 hour ferry across the beautiful Baltic sea. From the welcoming staff at the ferry terminal to the efficient, clean-energy tram system, the myriad of bike paths, tree-lined streets filled with alfresco style restaurants to a stylish hotel room inspired by nature, Helsinki was an inviting city - everything runs smoothly, efficiently and looks good (less than we can say for some places we've made it through in the last year!). With 1 day to explore, we had plenty of time to wander the city,...

Jun 30, 2006 - helsinki and see you sunday

First off, happy birthday to Vicente! Yesterday! V - I was going to call you with a long alliterative birthday wish (something like "Halee here in Helsinki hoping you have a happy birthday") but phones are confusing and time is confusing, sorry. I'll run off the plane on Sunday singing happy birthday to you at the top of my lungs instead! Which is a reminder - Vinnie, don't forget to pick me up from the airport on Sunday night! After Rovaniemi we stopped at a campsite in a little village called Keuruu...and it was raining and yucky there so...

Jun 23, 2006 - Finland. Food, fun and midsummer madness

Friday morning saw an early start mainly due to the lack of darkness being so far north. There was a twilight phase from about 11.30 to 2.00 am and by 3.00 am it was light again. Combined with our ever changing body clock, we were both up at 5.00 am but had to leave the hostel to catch the train to Kouvola. As we were checking out of the hostel our grumpy host became gracious all of a sudden, insisting we have coffee and breakfast and he took great care and devotion to stirring his porridge for us. We sat next to some French people and I...

Jun 22, 2006 - Hong Kong to Helsinki

After a ten hour flight we arrived in another warm and sunny city, but a bit further north in Helsinki, capital of Finland. We checked into the hostel which was more of a dive than Chungking mansions, coupled with a very grumpy hostel manager. We walked around the city for as long as the jet lag would allow us, finally crashing at 7pm but with the sun still bright... dont know how we are going to get used to these long days being so far north. Alas we missed the world cup games due to our need for sleep, but were glad to hear of the...

Feb 27, 2006 - Epilogi

Kotona on vierähtänyt jo kolmisen viikkoa ja sopeutuminen on ollut yllättävän helppoa. Olin selvästi valmis palaamaan. Sopeutuminen ei kuitenkaan tarkoita, että minun tulisi mukisematta hyväksyä maassa yleisesti vallitsevat arvot ja ilmapiiri. Matkan aikana mieleeni palautui taas jotain olennaista ja arvokasta, josta haluan pitää kiinni. Että elämän perusarvot eivät ole kiinni uraputkesta, ansaitsemisesta tai omistamisesta. Että taloudellinen köyhyys ei ole yhtä kuin henkinen köyhyys tai onnen, värien, musiikin ja elämän köyhyys. Niinpä...

Oct 17, 2005 - Helsinki, Finland

October 17 - We got into Helsinki harbor around 9am, seeing the island fortress of Suomenlinna from the ship. We hopped off the ship to find much colder air and a real need for hats and gloves. At first glance, the town appears more industrial than Copenhagen and Stockholm, however our opinions were swayed as we succumbed to the capital's charm. Our hostel was located in the heart of the city, and close to the Senate Square, our first sight and arguably the most noticeable. We then headed to Tempeliaukio, a church built into a cave - it...

Sep 26, 2005 - Helsinki, Finland

Our trip across the Baltic Sea was a wonder.....the SuperFast Ferry had a crew that was so nice to us....we being Americans always wanted ICE....something that is hard to find anywhere in Europe....but the bartender on the ship was happy to refill our glasses anytime we wanted......we had bought a couple of bottles of tax free booze at the docks so we needed something to mix it in....ha ha... We got into Hanko,Finland late in the evening...the lady told us that it was a ten minute walk to the train station....well she must have had some...

Sep 18, 2005 - Helsinki

Start: Inkoo End: Helsinki Weather: Overcast Ride: 60km Awoke 8.30am and wrote journal entries. Packed up underneath overcast skies then headed off east at noon with a strong southerly wind providing a bit of a tailwind. The wide shoulder narrowed after about 20km, but was soon replaced by a dual-use path. This took me into a town where I hoped to buy lunch from a supermarket, however all three were closed (Although it was a Sunday, all the supermarkets I had passed while riding in Finland had Sunday opening hours), so I ate at McDonalds...

Sep 17, 2005 - Inkoo

Start: Salo End: Inkoo Weather: Sunny then Overcast with light Rain then Sunny with Clouds Ride: 110km I was woken by rain during the night, but it was sunny when I awoke just before 8am. While I was packing up dark clouds built up overnight and it started to rain, but fortunately it was light and brief. By the time I got underway at 10.30am it was sunny again, but half the sky was overcast. A few hundred metres down the road I saw a McDonalds, so I stopped for a hot chocolate (I was given a cup of hot water and a sachet of 'kaokao', but it...

Sep 15, 2005 - M:Musings about Helsinki, Tampere and Rovaniemi

We left Finland, as we arrived, through the port of Helsinki, on a huge cruise-boat. The weather has been less generous than in the Baltics, but we did manage to squeeze-in some interesting nature walks, and otherwise loitered in the museums. The higlight of my experience was of course the visit to Santa's Village at the Arctic Circle (near Rovaniemi), where, at 32 years of age I was very excited to find out that Santa really exists!! This question has caused much deliberation in my younger years, and I can finally prove wrong all my...