One Night in Helsinki

Last night, Tim and I left on the bus for Helsinki as today was a day off. Before that, while we were in the gym lifting, the temperature dropped about 20 degrees and a serious wind came up. I got back down to the cabin just in time to turn on the lights as the power went out. Yes, there was no back up power in the cabins and as it was after 4:00 it was PITCH BLACK. So with some creativity, we turned on our laptops and lit up the cabin enough to change and get ready to head out. Tim had asked the lady at reception about the busses and the one to Lahti, where you change to head to Helsinki, does not run that often, but is only 5 Euros. So, he was asking about getting a ride there and she said a cab was only 16 Euros. So, we had a cab meet us at the cabins and headed out. As we looked at the meter, it was already at 17 Euros, so we asked the cabbie the price and he said 50 Euros. After some translating from the dispatcher on the cell phone, we got out and waited for the next bus. We got on the bus, transferred in Lahti and was on the next Helsinki bus in less than 10 minutes. We arrived at the Helsinki Bus Station at about 10:00 p.m. We had a couple ideas on a hotel, but no reservations. So we took a walk to the closest ones… For fun we asked at the Radisson the cost, and it was 150 Euros so we left. We headed to the nicest hostel according to the “lonely planet guide” and they were full, but recommended the place next door, which was also in our book. They had rooms and was only 50 Euros, so we were in. We headed back out the train station so Tim could make a phone call. Then we checked out the local pubs. We found a couple nice ones and even met a nice Finnish man named Jorma. He was actually living and working in Paris, but back in Helsinki on business for a few days. He gave us lots of great information and history about Finland. He was very interested in our challenge in working with the Chinese hockey team. He had played a couple years of High School hockey and football in St. Louis when he was young. We got home late and crashed in our beds.

Today, we got up and did our own walking tour of downtown Helsinki. It was an interesting and fascinating city and we both took lots of pictures. I even caught some video of the noon time changing of the guards at the president’s house.

Tomorrow, I will post a pictorial tour of Helsinki. But for tonight, here are the contents as I emptied my pockets on returning from the trip, including a passport, map and three different paper currencies (Yuan, Dollars, Euros).



Good night again from back in snow covered and frosty Vierumaki!