Airport Hotel Bonus Inn Helsinki

... krona or euros', so I promptly shouted the question to the bored man at the till. <br><br>He assessed the question and said "of course euros, you are not in Sweden" Good point. Felt a bit silly and was grateful for its emptiness. Had a horribly stewed hot drink and walked back to the ridiculously clean parquet floored airport. On to Delhi...<br>

... out over the Baltic Sea. A truly amazing thought and sight, to be seating in a sauna in the middle of the Baltic Sea, amazing! Anyways, the Russian were pretty cool and Igor was the one who could speak a little English. We talked a little bit about my trip and what not and then surprised he said lets go outside. I was a little confused but said ok and we took out towels and walked out onto the ferry deck and stood ...

... which Paivi had told me wasa very traditional Finnish country-style restaurant. So 'country' in style, in fact, that several of the tabl;es consisted of wooden shelves attached around old tractors... hold on a minute, I thought, I'm the wrong Colloby to be eating here! Stephen , you would have loved it! A bottle of Karjala beer, some stimulating conversation, and a huge plate of veg later, I finally collapsed into my Finnish bed for the night.

... plans for me these few weeks...hopefully, I don't get on her nerves too much :) <br><br>So a few great things about Finland to note:<br><br>SOOO many gluten-free options!!! Every grocery store carries something, and even McDonalds has a gluten-free bun, which they will put with any burger except for the grilled chicken one! Didn't plan on eating too much Mickey D's this time around, but exceptions will be made ...

... but when we got there, we were denied, as there was no access to the site. We sortof got lost and stumbled upon alot of residential areas, apparently therre are about 800 inhabitants of the island and 350 year round jobs, I retain some pretty darn useful knowledge eh? After our failed attempts at finding the open prison we decided to grab some coffee at Cafe Vanille, which was situated right outside the Greek-Orthodox Church of Suomenlinna. Jamara ...

... to 'make a fire'."Oohh, fun, I thought, who all is going to this bonfire?" "us two" "...hm, I think I'll stay here..." This is the guy who went to sleep in the woods one night, just because he thought it'd be fun. Seems like a cool guy, if a little different. Naveen, an apartment mate of Mark's, who cooks amazingly good-smelling concoctions. A whole assortment of other Americans who are studying abroad. Steve and Barry, who are in the ...

... of life here, even in the face of usual city stuff, is striking, and reminds one to contemplate what is truly important in one's life. I have learned a lot about daily life that, watching Finnish people, I know I can put into practice anywhere, and if I can't, I shouldn't be in that place. Of course, not everything is rosy. The school shooting, which left 11 dead, was tragic, but the news coverage hasn't been overwhelming. There's been some ...

... batteries &amp; a small recharger &amp; were uncertain about whether they held their charge, but that's what I've used for the last 24 hours &amp; they seem fine, so we have now recharged the 4 of them &amp; will use the "disposable" batteries we have as backups. Anyway ... We walked down to where the markets are - they were just finishing nearing 5 so we'd hope to look at them tomorrow. Saw the huge car ferries and the jet cat we'll be on ...

----Getting sick of this site....I'll spend a half an hour on typing an entry, and then I'll go to post it, and it doesn't work! I've learned to copy my entries now before I post them though... grrr.. I just sent a complaint to the administers of the site. Hope they fix it. Oh well------ :) Hey! As they say in Finland...not sure that that's how they spell it though...they tend to use an awful large amount of ...