I brought Erynn along on one of my business trips to Helsinki, Finland in November. How romantic! We also took a helicopter over the Baltic Sea to Tallinn, Estonia for a day. We had a great time and our sales rep in Finland took us out to dinner and we had reindeer. It doesn't taste like chicken, but it was good nonetheless.
Helsinki has a really neat art deco train station, and just behind it is a post card shop that sells some great Vespa postcards.
We walked around Helsinki for the better part of a day. As you can probably tell it was pretty cold. The locals describe the conditions as "f&%*ing baltic" because the wind just tears through you. Anyway, this is a picture of the Helsinki High Street (or main street) with all the shops and indoor cafes.
The actual waterfront is sort of pretty, though not very expansive. This picture just about sums it up. Just out of frame to the right is the High Street photo from above.
And if you pan the camera a little more to the right you get to see Erynn in front of the Uspensky Cathedral.
One of the really impressively pretty places is Senate Square. Located around the square are the Government Palace, University, Stock Exchange, and Cathedral. Since only about 500,000 people live in Helsinki, all of these places are known by their unimaginative names. So here is Erynn in front of the Cathedral.
And here is Erynn standing on the steps of the Cathedral overlooking Senate Square.
...and another. This one is of Erynn in Senate Square with the Government Palace in the background.
This is the helicopter that took us over to Estonia. Probably one of the funnest things we've done, but also one of the most expensive and irresponsible things we've done.
Here's the story: We had booked a ferry to take us over to Estonia early in the morning. We arrived at the terminal early and took our seats in the reception area and waited patiently. Erynn and I were sitting there watching all these people walk up to the teller, speak in Finnish, then run out of the building. After a little while they announced that the 8am ferry would not be departing, the next one would. The official story was that the weather was too rough. More people were running in, speaking in Finnish, then running back out again. After watching this for too long, I made my inquiries about why people were walking in, speaking in Finnish, then running out of the building. The nice teller told me that all those people were running to catch the other ferry!!! Other Ferry!?!?!
Apparently, the type of ticket that we had did not allow us to jump on the other ferry operated by a different company, so the lady didn't offer that option to us. Our ferry couldn't make it across due to weather, but the other one could even though they were the exact same type of boat. Talk about upset. To top it all off, since the crossing was cancelled due to "weather" they didn't have to refund our tickets.
By this point I was going to Estonia if I had to swim. Our travel agent (the sales rep's girlfriend) booked us one way tickets on the above helicopter. I'm sure there are cheaper ways than walking up to the counter with Amex in hand to buy a one way ticket, but that was the only option to us at the time. We bought a one way ticket because we were thinking of taking the ferry back. After a day in Tallinn, we were both so exhausted and didn't want a similar ordeal, we just bought helicopter tickets back too. Yep. Walk up to the counter with Amex in hand. For the pleasure of spending about 7 hours in Tallinn I was out of pocket over $2000! Ouch. Was it worth it? Have you been to Estonia? Well, I have and I have a good story to tell.
August 2005: Apparently one of these
Copterline helicopters crashed into the
Baltic Sea. I do not know if it was the same one we took, but it's still pretty scary.
All I can say is that Tallinn is amazing! It is probably the best-preserved medievil city in the world. The Soviets didn't bulldoze the whole thing for social housing, and with the help of the UN most of the buildings have been or are in the process of being rebuilt. Almost all of the city's original walls are intact. One of the main squares is the Raekojaplats shown above.
Also in the Raekojaplats is the Town Hall. At least I think it is because that's what the map said, but I seem to remember it being a theatre. But isn't all politics just theatre on most levels?
Here's Erynn in front of one of the main city gates. She's holding Chris' hand made wool sweater in her hand. Behind her is the main shopping and market area of the city.
Tallinn has an upper and lower portion to the city plan, and each section has its own walls. Above is a photo of one of the walkways leading to the upper town.
This is the St. Mary's Cathedral. The northern part of the upper town is the last to be rebuilt, and this church is in the middle of the run down area. It's a shame because I'm sure it could/will be very beautiful some day.
The views that the city walls afforded were amazing. You can see me with my Estonian wool hat on.
© 2001-2005 Doug Rathburn