Finland!

I'm running out of things to write about in this space... A quick summary, perhaps? We just got back from Finland and spent a couple of days here in Västerås. In less than 12 hours we'll be off to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Cairo, and Copenhagen. Finland was pretty excellent. We went with our Finnish friend, Taija, and saw three cities in three days. We started out in Turku where Taija studies, then took a day in Helsinki, and spent our final day in Punkalaidun—Taija’s home town.

The Friday before we took off, we walked by the Västerås market again and it was positively bustling.

I got a pretty picture of a flower while we were there. Spring has definitely arrived.

On our way back, we stumbled upon a house wares shop that was having a grand opening. The espresso machines were up and running for samples.

This one made pretty good coffee. Maybe we should try some others, though.

There was also a waffle maker on display. We assessed it.

As if our day of samples and freebies hadn't been sufficient, Friday also comes with TACO NIGHT! Just livin' the life.

That night, we went on a can hunt and it seemed that our lucky streak might continue forever. We found 3 beers, a half a wine, half a vodka, a champagne flute and that big ol' sack o' pants ('pant' is the Swedish word for the deposit on cans...you take the cans in to a grocery and get money back). Lately we've made it an activity to compete with the bums for cans thrown by club go-ers in lieu of clubbing.

On Saturday, we had waffle night. I convinced mine to smile for me.

After waffles, we participated in an earth hour wherein we turned off the lights and socialized by candle light.

Come Tuesday, we got on a bus to Stockholm--the first step to getting on a boat to Finland.

We stopped in front of Stockholms slott (not pictured--it's actually behind the camera) to get our bearings and have a look around.

Nearby, there was a demonstration. I think the police outnumbered the demonstrators. Those people had something against China.

Stop by the water for a picture train.

We got to the boat station and it was time to wait. Why does Tyler look so weird?

Ah...

Even after we got to the second level of the boat station, it was still waiting time. Everyone failed at this impromptu...some women were confused by what was going on with the camera abandoned in the middle of the hallway and their reactions were fairly comical.

It's good to be back on a boat. Just kick back, relax...

...and throw on your finest pair of shades.

There's always a mirror for roll-call on a boat.

Finally, Finland! I should have waited a bit to take this one so that you can see that the blue square that Tyler is photographing is the welcome-to-Finland sign.

It was a beautiful morning, and the first sight we saw was some old castle near the boat yard.

Don't mess with the Finnish Frontier Guard...

We were walking past this one boat, and we saw a bike laying in (on) the river. See it?

Well, it's right there.

And it actually turned out to be two bikes. The treasures of Turku...

Walking past the electrical company, we noticed something cool. Check out the smoke stack.

The main thing to see in Turku is churches. This one had a map nearby. The more I look at it, though, the less I am convinced that the church on the map represents the church behind that map.

I got a coffee later on in the day and it came with a pretty cool spoon. How does that spoon hang on to the glass like that?

I see...

Someone placed these reflective orbs all over Turku. Taija told me that they were for something other than pictures. I don't remember what it is, but they are also good for pictures.

Later that night, we went to an under-ground restaurant (literally…that's why there are no windows).

Tyler and I shared a pizza and a burger.

The next day, Helsinki! Our first glimpse of the architecture...

The first sight we saw was this white church. A nice lady on the street saw me and Tyler arguing about how to orient the map and asked if we needed help. We asked where we should go first, and this is where she sent us.

Inside they had seats with doors to get in them.

Next, we ended up at this place. It's the oldest stone building in Helsinki.

Inside was a strange museum with exhibits like this. Night was the theme. That's why the spooky woman is dressed in such a way. I don't remember why she wants through that door, though. Probably to steal something.

Since we had nothing else to go by, we just started visiting all of the landmarks on the tourist map that we got from the train station. A lot of those were churches.

We passed by this place. It's odd that they think that the Restroom is as much of an attraction as the Karaoke Bar.

Did you know that Helsinki hosted the Summer Olympics in 1952? Tyler and I had no idea until we walked past the stadium on our way to eat a sandwich with some organ pipes.

The last part of the previous caption sounded fake, didn't it? Well it was true. That's us eating a sandwich with some organ pipes (look on the left). The organ pipes were re-purposed to form a monument to some famous Finnish composer.

One of the last things we saw in Helsinki was the modern art museum. We didn't think we would see it since it wasn't on our map and we felt guilty for buying postcards depicting it. But then, by some stroke of luck, we were walking in just the right place and BAM! there it was.

This place was one of my favorite buildings in Helsinki. I think I like it so much because in Finland more than anywhere else, glassed-in balconies (like a regular one, but with the option to close it off with glass) are extremely pervasive. I think that characteristic of Finland is captured nicely in this office building with the glassed in hallway on the right part of the building there.

There's Taija's house. They're Honda fans (FTW!).

We went to the forest near her house. Tyler got some snow in his shoe and tried to get it out while he set up for a group photo.

Right about here, we went to play innebandy with Taija, her brother, and her father against some youngsters. It was loads of fun, but I got no pictures. An interesting side effect arose from the kindness of her brother who lent me some shoes that were a tad too small. More on that in a bit.

Fun fact about Finland: every house has a sauna. That's just the way it is. So we had to get the Finnish sauna experience. It involves getting in a super hot sauna for a bit, then running outside for a bit. After several cycles and a few beers it's hard not to understand the tradition.

Later that night, we worked on some homework.

The next morning, we got up early and made some "Finnish sandwiches" to bring back on the boat with us. A Finnish sandwich always consists of a buttered roll and cucumbers along with some combination of meat and cheese. They're pretty good.

Taija dropped us off at the boat station. It was time to get back on a boat and say goodbye to Finland.

It never really occurred to me before, but boats basically drive on roads too. The ice makes it easy to tell. We went straight.

Chillin' on the deck.

After getting off the boat, we had to find our way back to the bus station, but we had some time to kill. So we found some nice places to take pictures.

Stockholm at sunset.

A church up a street.

Some water at dusk.

Easter! After a hard night of trekking through Stockholm, my toe was really bothering me. This is what happens when you play innebandy in shoes a size too small then walk hundreds of kilometers through Stockholm.

Later that night we had a lovely dinner with Johanna and Heini at a nice Italian place.

The next day, I got a package from home.

And today, we had class. Here's everyone chatting after three hours of lecture.

That's all for now. Check back in two weeks or so and maybe I'll have a post from the Netherlands-Egypt-Denmark by then.