Helsinki

This town is all right. Things are indeed quite expensive, but the Finns seem friendly and laid back, and I have yet to find one that speaks flawed or accented English. Also, I was rather embarrassed the first few times I heard "Hey!", and slipped into friendly colloquialisms that left Finns a little confused. I then looked up some Finnish phrases, and found 'Hello' is 'Hei'.

Since it was free, I hopped over to the island-fort of Suomenlinna yesterday, a really picturesque little set of islands just off Helsinki. This place is home to several museums, an old fort which was said to be a "second Gibraltar" in its day, a little community, and the Finnish Naval Academy. The middies are all on a cruise to Maryland, and I though it would be best not to wander through a military compound, so I only snapped pics of the exterior. Great late-evening sun off the southern tip, but I didn't want to wait around a few months for the sunset.

Anyhow, my day is just getting started, so I'll keep this short. If I can't get tickets to Stockholm for tonight, I'll likely spend another night in the hostel that occupies the Old Olympic Stadium. Sort of a sad sight, but since my sleeping bag was pilfered in Talinn, no more parks for a while. I still have to find a sauna and some herring. More soon.