I arrived in Helsinki on Monday, August 22. I took the bus to the city center. If I wanted to take the train, I would have to wait until 2014. The apartment I rented was only a few blocks from the main train station, smack in the middle of Helsinki. I could not have picked a better location.
I found an amazing grocery store in the basement of Stockmans, a large department store. It reminded me of the food court in Harrods. I bought dinner, coffee and food for breakfast. The following day the sun was shining and the temperature was perfect. I walked towards the port, passing the city hall
and the presidential palace. There was a nice outdoor market near the port. I could have purchased a reindeer pelt, but there's no room in my luggage.
These are the only reindeer that I saw.
For lunch I had salmon paella. If you don't like salmon I think you're out of luck here. The prices were back in the normal range after Zurich.
I visited the cathedral which was very different from the rest I've seen on this trip.
In the afternoon I searched for a Finland cycling jersey. After five attempts I gave up. It started to rain so I took the opportunity to update my blog text - I'm over a week behind.
The following day I purchased a Helsinki Card - good for sightseeing, transportation and museums. The first thing I did was a sightseeing tour. Some things looked familiar, so when I got home I checked my pictures from my Baltic cruise in 1998. And guess what, I was here. Finland wasn't on my countries list, so I assumed I had never been here. I just added it as my 65th country that I've visited.
The two highlights of the tour were cathedral built in a rock formation and a modern sculpture. I had pictures of both from my previous visit. We also drove past the 1952 Olympic site (postponed from 1940 due to the war).
After lunch I visited Suomenlinna, one of the world's largest maritime fortresses.
I ended the day by visiting the Design Museum and the Contemporary Art Museum. Both were small and not very inspiring.
Are you surprised to see another train station?
These outdoor urinals are at the Olympic stadium. I've also seen them on the streets in Amsterdam.
On the following day I planned on doing an 8 kilometer walking tour of the city, but to my surprise, I had already seen everything. After visiting the Olympic site I returned to Stockmann's department store and bought an excellent bagel with lox.
The bagel was as good as NYC. I think I bought most of my meals there, and probably spent less in four days then I did for one day in Zurich.
Later in the afternoon I took another walk since the weather was amazing.
As I write this blog, I'm enjoying a split of Champagne - thinking of Ann and Norman.
Tomorrow my journey ends and I fly home through London. This turned out to be a good thing, since my original plans had me changing planes in JFK just as Hurricane Irene was passing through.
I hope you have enjoyed the postings from my August 2011 trip to Europe.
I found an amazing grocery store in the basement of Stockmans, a large department store. It reminded me of the food court in Harrods. I bought dinner, coffee and food for breakfast. The following day the sun was shining and the temperature was perfect. I walked towards the port, passing the city hall
and the presidential palace. There was a nice outdoor market near the port. I could have purchased a reindeer pelt, but there's no room in my luggage.
These are the only reindeer that I saw.
For lunch I had salmon paella. If you don't like salmon I think you're out of luck here. The prices were back in the normal range after Zurich.
I visited the cathedral which was very different from the rest I've seen on this trip.
In the afternoon I searched for a Finland cycling jersey. After five attempts I gave up. It started to rain so I took the opportunity to update my blog text - I'm over a week behind.
The following day I purchased a Helsinki Card - good for sightseeing, transportation and museums. The first thing I did was a sightseeing tour. Some things looked familiar, so when I got home I checked my pictures from my Baltic cruise in 1998. And guess what, I was here. Finland wasn't on my countries list, so I assumed I had never been here. I just added it as my 65th country that I've visited.
The two highlights of the tour were cathedral built in a rock formation and a modern sculpture. I had pictures of both from my previous visit. We also drove past the 1952 Olympic site (postponed from 1940 due to the war).
I ended the day by visiting the Design Museum and the Contemporary Art Museum. Both were small and not very inspiring.
Are you surprised to see another train station?
These outdoor urinals are at the Olympic stadium. I've also seen them on the streets in Amsterdam.
On the following day I planned on doing an 8 kilometer walking tour of the city, but to my surprise, I had already seen everything. After visiting the Olympic site I returned to Stockmann's department store and bought an excellent bagel with lox.
The bagel was as good as NYC. I think I bought most of my meals there, and probably spent less in four days then I did for one day in Zurich.
Later in the afternoon I took another walk since the weather was amazing.
As I write this blog, I'm enjoying a split of Champagne - thinking of Ann and Norman.
Tomorrow my journey ends and I fly home through London. This turned out to be a good thing, since my original plans had me changing planes in JFK just as Hurricane Irene was passing through.
I hope you have enjoyed the postings from my August 2011 trip to Europe.
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