Today was spent in Helsinki, Finland.It was sunny & in the mid 70’s. Apparently, this is unusually nice weather for Helsinki.
When the weather is nice, people bring their rugs down by the shore, wash them & hang them out to dry in the sun for days. No one steals them while they are drying. There are 13 official locations to do this throughout the city.
There are two official languages in Finland: Finnish & Swedish. Both languages are listed on all street signs, store windows, etc. When the students are in school, they learn at least 3 languages. Most learn 4. Finish is a language of endings. Every word is created by adding endings to existing words. The streets and names get very long (and they also seem to be fond of double-A’s in the middle of words). The street name to the left is one of the shortest we found.
Like Seattle and the Mariners, the Fins have great fondness for their most prominent war hero. He was in charge for the last four wars the Fins were in. He won the first, and lost the following three. He is 1 and 3 and they give him a statue. Maybe we should start taking up a collection for the Mariners.
There are several distinctive buildings in Helsinki; including the President’s Residence (left) and the City Hall (right).
Helsinki has several open-air markets. This one was filled with touristy goods, but there was also a traditional flea market and a produce market.
Helsinki was to host the Olympics in the 40’s, but the war delayed that for several years, so this stadium remained unused for quite some time.
This piece of art is a tribute to the composer Sibelius. The art has a whole park built around it. It is massive, and actually quite cool.
