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Helsinki
October 1 and 2, 2001
Dear Friends and Family,
Well, we're on our way. No turning back. Actually, we've been past the point of no return for quite some time I guess. Turning in resignations does that but now we were taking a real physical step that way - one way tickets to Helsinki via Riga.
The Sunday flights were completely uneventful. We had opted for Business Class because we got a higher baggage limit and because we only needed one-way. Of course, we didn't really understand that the plane we were upgrading in would be a Fokker 50 with twin turbo-PROPS. Our seats were identical to everyone else's but we got to sit up front - near the noisy engines. I guess we also got to Helsinki a few seconds before the Commercial Class passengers.
In Helsinki, our first Monday appointment was with our car dealer. Fun but a bit scary as car buying usually is. In this case, we had not seen the car before but had paid for it already. When we did see it, we loved its looks. (Mug shots: face .. profile) There was that problem that the two trunks sure did look small - certainly not large enough for our Business Class baggage allotment! Something to think about.
Afterwards, we took our new car (carefully) over to the old Finnish town of Porvoo. Quaint old part of town was nice despite the drizzle. However, the main attractions were all closed because it was Monday and, in winter, attractions are closed on Monday. When did winter start? Today, October 1. Oh well, there's always window-shopping. By the way, with the trunk space we have there is no chance for the shopping to progress much beyond the "window" variety.
Tuesday was our medical and touring Helsinki day. Marianne had morning and afternoon appointments so we were pretty much tied to the region around the doc's office. We were not expecting any negative medical news and that's the way it turned out. The doctor ordered Marianne to not worry. He also mentioned something about the reported medical benefits of a glass of red wine every day. Marianne agreed to both conditions - no worry and some red wine.
Our Helsinki touring started with the underground Temppeliakio Church. It was pretty interesting but also full of tourists. The day before Porvoo had been absolutely deserted so it was a bit surprising that there were crowds but I suppose it's worse in summer. Despite the crowds, the church was an inspiring place, carved out of granite and covered over by a copper-decorated dome. Definitely modern but still as able to inspire as grand old European churches. Worth the visit but, interestingly, not worth photos. We tried but they all turned out ordinary at best. Maybe too many tourists.
Our last stop on the way out of town was a monument to Jean Sibelius, a famous Finn composer and patriot. Somehow this had ended up on Marianne's "must see" list and, after getting lost trying to find the place, I was pleasantly surprised as the monument, nicknamed Sibelius' Pipes for obvious reasons, took good photos from both the normal view and from looking in a different direction.
So, thanks to our visit to the Pipes, we were reminded that sometimes the best view is a different one, so we'll go with that in the days and weeks ahead.
Next, the car factory and then Turku, the original capitol of Finland.
Take care and look for the different view.
John and Marianne
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Created October 7, 2001
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