On to HEL for a Day

After an ungodly 4:40 am wakeup, we proceeded to make the 35 minute drive to the airport, drop off the car (go Sixt!  They didn't do the usual international thing where they examine the car with a microscope for tiny scratches) and await the Iceland Air flight to Helsinki (airport code HEL and I love the sign that says "Welcome to HEL").  On the three hour flight, we lost three more hours of time change, but have now knocked off 10 of the 11 time zones we'll travel through, so the jetlag will end soon.  A brilliant, clean, cheap train took us from the distant airport to the central train station where we walked less than 100 meters to catch a quick bus to the hotel, which was near the old Olympic Stadium (1952 Olympics, also the first Olympics to occur after I was born).

Helsinki is a really cool town and I made a mistake only scheduling one and one half full days to see the city.  Yes, you can see all the sights in that time, but we so enjoyed the architecture and the general vibe that a day or two more would have been better.  Nonetheless, we managed a lengthy walking tour on the first day and then got some free bikes from the hotel on the second (half) day and rode out to the Olympic stadium which, sadly, is undergoing renovations.  Otherwise, I could have taken a lap on the track.


Excellent Rock Band with Cello

Olympic Stadium Under Renovation but got picture with one of the greatest distance runners ever


Awesome Art Deco All Around

Perhaps the highlight of the trip was a reindeer dinner at a great French restaurant near the hotel, Ravintola Kuu, one of the top restaurants in the city.  We ended our trip with a taxi to the ferry terminal where we boarded a crazy, huge luxury ferry for the trip to Tallinn, Estonia.

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