Helsinki

We are enjoying our time in Helsinki and as we prepare to leave tomorrow morning, I want to share some of our adventures so far. Jon and I have done a lot of exploring, both on our own and with our group. The fish market is wonderful, full of produce including beautiful berries, and also fish. It is right downtown by the harbor and is similar to Pike Place in Seattle. There are many craft booths as well as food (cooked, like crepes and salmon, and raw). We have been to the market twice and had lunch there both times. Yesterday we took the 3T trolley all around it's one hour circular route. It went past the opera house, soccer field, amusement park, many residential areas, and was quite interesting. We got off near the Church in the Rock, a beautiful Lutheran church made by blasting out granite. When I get my photos downloaded, I will try to post one or two of the church. Next door to our hotel is Kampii, a huge mall, multi floored, with a bus depot and metro station at the bottom. There is also a grocery store and I decided that I wanted to get a couple of pastries to have for dessert/snacks. I decided I could go over and get them myself. Our hotel enables us to use the elevator at one end of the building to enter a tunnel system that leads right into the mall. So I took that, wishing a bit that I had breadcrumbs to leave to find my way back to the elevator. I was able to get to the grocery store and after wandering around a bit, found the bakery area. I happily bagged two rolls and walked to the check out line. When it was my turn, the friendly clerk said that I had to go back to where I'd got them and weigh (?!) them. She tried to explain how to do that, but our communication broke down a bit. It might have been my terror at this new and unexpected development. I went back, found the scale but could not figure it out. I was confronted by many double digit numbers, one of which I was supposed to push - but which one? I asked two young women if they spoke English and if they could help me. Kindly, they said yes to both questions. They weighed my first roll and out popped a sticker that looked like the ones the butchers put on our meat packages back home. I watched and was able to do the second one myself. Happily I returned to the same cashier, who congratulated me on my success! I paid and left, clutching my purchases triumphantly. I retraced my steps, was able to find the elevator, inserted my key card and made it back to our room (#202). I was pleased that I was able to accomplish the communication, navigation and cultural interaction all by myself! Today we went on a 3 hour whole group bus tour of Helsinki. It was interesting and well done. We made another stop at the Church of the Rock and the market, but also at the Senate Square with its statue of Alexander II of Russia (Russia ruled Finland for hundreds of years) and its immense, beautiful Lutheran cathedral, the Sibelius memorial in honor of Jean Sibelius who is Finland's most recognized composer, and saw the Olympic stadium from the 1952 Olympics and the Upenski Orthodox Church from the outside. We ended at the Market and most of us opted to get out there and have lunch and wander back at our own pace. Jon and I walked the two blocks back to the Orthodox church and went in. It of course reminded us of the beautiful churches we'd seen a few years ago in Moscow and St. Petersburg (which is only about 125 miles away!). There is something intensely spiritual in these soaring spaces filled with icons and lit candles but no pews. As we began to walk back, we met up with our new friends Marilyn and Bob and all walked back together. Tonight the four of us plus June, Bud and their daughter Debbie are going to Zetor, the restaurant Jon and I enjoyed our first dinner here. It is made like a barn and has tractors and other implements typical of Finnish farms as it's decor. Many Finns eat there and it is good food, reasonably priced (for Finland). Tomorrow we have to have our bags to be checked outside our doors at 8 am and we leave for the airport at 8:45. We fly to Ivalo, pronounced EE-val-oh, in Lapland and begin our Sami culture experience. We are looking forward it!