Hotel Holiday Inn Helsinki

... tour and we were hungry. I had a small sandwich and a traditional cinnamon bun. Both were really good, also Stan bought with the company card so that was even better. Once finished we headed back to the main square and Stan went back to meet up with the team and I went walking again. This time I knew about a tram route that would take me to the Olympic center. This was really cool. I was able to take an elevator to ...

... the Carneys back into the centre, dropping them off at their hotel on the way. It was only later last night (that being Saturday night) in a bar that we learned that the trains run all night. It could have been a cheaper journey home, but at least it wasn't as long as the last journey back from the girls' hotel.

Yesterday we went for a walk round the western part of the city. As usual we started walking through the Esplanade (it's the most interesting road off ...

... Madonna. Pauliina arrived, we got our supplies, scoffed at the looky-loos, and went on with our day. Later on the news, we saw that Madonna had left her hotel five minutes after we walked past the hotel for the last time... Sigh...could've seen Madonna's car....

As it turned out, we were on Soumenlinna at sunset, and were able to hear Madonna's concert!! So...I mean, we were practically there... right? We thought we were. As we were ...

... Czech Republic) and Seo (a doctor from Korea). We had a bit of a look around, and saw some interesting products for sale...amoungst the reindeer and moose meat, dried meats and salamis, we also saw tinned bear meat, bear, moose and reindeer pate, seafood and a chocolaterie...which had some very convincing looking 'rusty nuts and bolts' made of chocolate. Not quite sure why nuts and bolts though..

When we left we decided to ...

... that oddly enough used to produce cable) that has been converted into a 15 hectare arts and culture centre. It's closed on the weekend, but some of the museums are open, and I wanted to see the photography exhibit. I rolled off the tram and saw a crowd of people. My, what a crowd. Sojme were dressed in Chinese hats, and others were dressed as Peter Pan, and some had their faces entirely covered in one big bandage (the ...

... locals stopped and started taking photos of the cars. They really loved Team Blackbeards and Team Putt Pirates. Girls were reaching out of cars, Policemen were taking photos and soldiers were cracking jokes. There was even a few games of arm wrestling with a few locals. I think we had all expected to recieve a lot more "Attention" in Russia from the authorities. The reality was that the locals thought the whole thing quite funny. Leaving after 6 ...

... One by one people dropped out. Things died down around 2 AM, with Katri's father playing lullabies on the guitar and Katri actually singing along (anyone who knows her should have their eyes raised at this point). Needless to say, the shed didn't get built. They'll do it some other time, I guess. Later that weekend, we moved out of Katri's grandparents' apartment in Helsinki into a student apartment in Espoo, shared with Katri's good friend Vilma. The ...

Nuputan, kuidas nad auto seekord rongist kätte saavad, kui võti minu käes. Aga rahvas lastakse autovagunisse, kust igamees saab omale sobiva auto valida. Tagasitee sadamasse leian suht lihtsalt, haakides ennast liinibussile sappa, aga edasi on küll väike probleem. Lüiajalise parkimise parkla on täis ja mul tuleb seal välja tagurdada. Jätan siis auto check-inni ridade kõrvale suvalisse kohta ja lähen kassat otsima. Selgub, et järgmine laev läheb tunni aja pärast ja sinna ...

... the same sense when the other relevant environmental factors are not there supporting them. I knew I would feel so, and that is partly the reason why it took me two months to write this text. But now enough time has passed that I think I've established to myself that I have not yet become a complete idiot, so I can feel a bit less embarrassed, detaching myself from these thoughts. Yeah - time goes on, life goes on, waves may rise, but I can row, if the boat doesn't turn.

The train ride was very nice and it allowed us to see allot of the Finland's landscape. We enter Helsinki to a large crowd gathered on the capital steeps watching a hockey game. The harbor was packed with large ships which are used for breaking ice. This is a place that I would like to return to.