Helsinki - Finland

A little rest and relaxation before 5 more days of rest and relaxation ... life can be so hard!

We knew that by the time we reached Helsinki that we will have had 2 weeks on the road, sleeping in hostels and other fairly cheap places. We also knew that by the time we got to Helsinki that we would be in a major need a clean room and bathroom and a nice solid comfy bed so we prebooked a great hotel. It was in an art deco building, the room was decorated beautifully, it was large, clean and had a bathroom with proper walls not ones made of clear glass and the bed was firm, the pillows were plush and I was in heaven! I felt proper clean for the first in days and it was gooooooood!

After a late, long and rather large lunch we spent the remainder of the afternoon walking around the city. I escorted the other Spaz past all of the 'must see' things, various churches, old buildings, important sculptures, monuments and then into nerd heaven. The Finns demonstrated their sense of humour at the train station. The station is a lovely art deco building with 4 men at the front entrance and each holds a ball to signify a globe. Unfortunately Spaz didn't get to see the men or much of the building as it is being restored or renovated at the moment, however the Finns had put up a large canvas advertisement with pictures of 3 of the men off on vacation, very amusing :-)

By nerding out we went into a multistory book store. I haven't had that much fun in ages. I could pick up numerous books, read the back synopsis and then put the book down if it didn't grab my attention. The fins are awesome, they read in Finnish, Swedish and English. I got to hold and read so many books but alas we only bought 2 each. We were now ready to tackle the next part of our adventure.

The next journey was to go via train to Jyväskylä, 4 hours north of Helsinki, in the Finnish woods and also conveniently where the Rally of Finland is held. We were going to meet up with the other Spaz's family, in a wooden cottage for a peaceful 5 days. The train ended up taking 5 hours due some electrical problems on the line ahead of where we were but that wasn't a problem for us as we were in holiday mode, nah, what is an hour when you have 5 days of fun and relaxation ahead of you?