Hello from Helsinki!!
I suppose the first item on the agenda is the fact that we arrived - with absolutely no delay or problems. Dad did get stopped at all metal detectors and inspected closely for weaponry in his metal knee, but other than that, no problems!
As for my overall impression of Helsinki, I think "Comfortable" has to be the most descriptive word. It feels just so oddly familiar. Yes, it is cold, cold, cold. Right around 20 degrees. But very refreshing and invigorating. Especially when you are properly attired. There is a lot of fur in town, but rather than seeming pretentious or unethical, it simply seems very practical. The women are very chic! And things are very expensive, but we need nothing, so it doesn't really matter. Perhaps the biggest inconvenience of all is that the computer keyboard is set up all funny and I keep hitting the ÄÖ and Å keys.
It is marvelously fun to listen to Dad drop all sorts of Finnish words into his conversations. Last night he overheard our bartender whisper to her coworker- "He understands more than he says he does." And he has been stopped mutliple times on the street and asked for directions.
Jeff announced just a few minutes ago that Helsinki may now be his all time favorite European city. Quite a proclomation! He admits that he has been won over by the sheer number of high end audio stores sprinkled all over the city. Combine that with good bread and beer with a little pickled herring and a lot of spicy ethnic joints now and then and he is very happy. English has not been a problem at all. Everyone speaks very good English.
What about the food? It is hard to say. We have started each day with a magnificent breakfast "bread table" at the hotel. We fill up on assorted fresh rye breads, meats and cheeses, the most marvelous smoked mackerel. Then move on to a table of assorted yogurt and cereals with a giant bowl of lingonberries. Then we move to the hot stuff with scrambled eggs, tiny weiners or bratwurst, lean unsmoked bacon, eggs and traditional warm and comforting rye tartlettes filled with rice. If that isn't enough, we can have an assortment of ginger cookies with our coffee, or toast and marvelous preserves. All with coffee or black currant tea. So, needless to say, we get stuffed by 8 am. A cinnamon pastry around two, a couple of beers in the afternoon with some crackers and cheese and dinner just seems excessive.
The market is just a few blocks away, so we have picked up some snacks - Dad loves the lingonberry pastries. Jeff and I have discovered the most amazing donut/weiner snacks (thin frankfurters and sweet mustard wrapped in a dough and deep fried). Today at the market I bought a bagfull of tiny fried fish. They were dipped in a bit of salty cornmeal and then fried crisp. They were cold and really a perfect snack for beer. I could totally see eating a bag at the movies!
Our only actual restaurant meal has been last night, were we went to a traditional neighborhood place that was recommended to us. Dad had a plateful of small pan fried Baltic herring, I had boiled reindeer with mashed potatoes, and Jeff had lamb stew. It was very home cooked, rather bland, but still a nice night. It has been just so nice to walk along the water, all bundled up and really experience Finland in the winter.
We are headed to St. Petersburg tomorrow!
Kitos to you all!
Susan
