Lucky Bastard Adventures: Architecture in Helsinki

Greetings Blogettes,

Today we arrived in Helsinki, Finland by ferry from Tallinn, Estonia, a pleasant 2.5 hrs journey in the sunshine. As usual, Wanda managed to get confused and try to take us where we were not allowed to go. To be fair to Wanda, there were rallies on in Helsinki today and some of the streets were temporarily closed. Wanda was not to know about these, even so, her alternate navigation skills in responding to unforeseen events needs work. She keeps trying to take you the way she originally wanted to. Wanda issues overcome, we arrived at our hotel (very nice hotel) and were told yet again, there is no free off street parking (contrary to the Facilities blurb on the booking sites). Luckily we can park free on the street until monday AM, but then must pay about $50 to park the car Monday night. Welcome to Scandinavia, it is not cheap, 12 euro for two small beers, 12 Euro for 3 single scoop ice creams. You get the picture.

The good news is we got here OK and had no hassles looking for a place to stay. The other good news is I got to catch up with Ross Erickson, my boss and friend from when I worked at Defence. Ross and his wife Jenny are having a holiday in Scandinavia and they just happened to arrive in Helsinki the same day as we did. (Spooky)

When Joy and I arrived, Ross and jenny were already out and about exploring and fighting through the jet lag. So Joy and I wandered into town and took a Tourist tram around some of the highlights of the city. We also saw some quirky things in shop windows. (see pics)

There is a band called Architecture in Helsinki and it is a good line, The Architecture is quite varied and there are some unusual buildings, right next to one another. Here is a sample of Pics taken during the day, including our ferry ride.