Tag: helsinki

Helsinki Day 1

We successfully resolved the puzzle of not matching the numbers of people and bicycles and ended up with everybody having the appropriate means of transportation :).

The morning started with a grey sky and rain, but later, it became nice and sunny, so we were able to go ahead with our original plans. Oodi is an amazing place, and we spent the first half of the day there. Then, we went to pick up a bike for John and a bike seat for Kira, and then there was more biking, and a playground by the library, and more biking and more walking.

We had ice cream, and then Nadia’s ice cream was lost to the seagulls, and we got another one for her and guarded it from the audacious birds. The rain started only about 8 PM when everybody was in their respective homes. With the forecast how it is for this week, every day without the rain is a blessing!

Lots of berries. Lots of yogurts. Lots of ice cream.

In Helsinki – Finally!

We made it! Everybody had their passports, the plane was on time, the luggage was not lost, and Anna’s family was settled in their AirB&B.

Anna is going to use my old bike, and Nadia got a new one; both of them will be donated after this trip, but they will serve us well for now.:)

Morning In Helsinki

Just a couple of pictures taken on the way to the ferry in Helsinki – it’s amazing when the sun is so bright at 6 AM!

Roses – The Is No Life Without Roses!

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The Photo Exhibit At Esplanada

Border Control

One more thing which made my arrival to Helsinki miserable was the wait at the border control. I had never experienced a situation like yesterday when I waited in the border control line for over 45 minutes, like in O’Hare. I lady who was managing the line replied to my question, saying that I was lucky if I never saw it before :). I think it was a combination of several flights arriving almost at the same time, with many of them being late, so passengers with connections proceeded first. Also, I noticed that there was once again a significant trickle of Russian-speaking people with all sorts of passports coming in, and they would always go through extra scrutiny by the border control.

Trying to save time at this last stage of my journey, I gave my passport to the border control officer and said: staying here in Finland until next Saturday, not going anywhere.

–And where are you going next Saturday?

–Back to Chicago

–And you are not here for business, I assume?

–Nope, for husband. It doesn’t count like business, does it?

–Well, more like a hobby! Or… maybe… some business?

It was good to have a laugh, and I think he enjoyed it, too.

The one before the last disappointment was a rail tacks construction for the airport trains, which meant they are less frequent now. Sometimes on the weekends, you would have to wit for the train for 30 minutes! And the last one – massive road construction and a reroute of traffic by our house (it has been going on for a while, but when I was in Helsinki last time, I didn’t have time to notice). So, I need to learn new traffic patterns just when I learned my way around!

Helsinki – Love, Always

… even when it’s raining all day, mixed with wet snow, I still love it! Especially since, if you know how, you can walk underground almost from anywhere to anywhere in the city center. And if not underground, there are roofs over the courtyards!

I met with my friend Natasha in the Oodi library, and we caught up on all the news in our lives and in the world in general, and then Boris joined us, and we had lunch on the first floor of the library. Then Boris and I did some shopping, and we returned home. I resumed doing some work (I do not count myself on vacation until Thursday), but after a little bit, Boris asked me what my plans were. It took me a while to get from him what he meant, but as it turned out, he was wondering whether we were going to celebrate Pie Day 😀. How could I say “no”?!

Traveling As Finnair Gold

My two weeks of travel had begun. There are no direct flights to from Chicago to Helsinki this time of the year, so I had a connection in London. It was the first time I used a Oneworld lounge in O’Hare, and it was a great decision because I could have a way better dinner than on the plane. Also, I could go to sleep immediately after the boarding was complete and have close to normal sleep time. No need to wake up for food :).

Same with breakfast – they gave us just a half-cup of yogurt on the plane, but I went to the Oneworld lounge in Heathrow and had an English breakfast there.

I loved that they had small teapots with a cup and a milk pitcher (same as when you have plates and cups at the buffet). You can take one, choose your tea bag(s) and pore whatever milk you prefer, and then take this set back to where you sit.

After I arrived in Helsinki, I tried to put a contact lens in my right eye for the first time since this weird thing happened, and it felt OK. Today, I wore both lenses for about six hours, and it was all good, but I am not sure for how long I will wear them tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a very long day!

Biking In Helsinki

I will never get tired of saying that I love biking in Helsinki! Even though it is so much colder than in Chicago (it was a peak of Indian summer in Chicago last weekend, with temperatures rising to 74F), it is so much nice! I can’t stop marveling at the fact that there are safe bike paths everywhere! This time, I bought better and warmer biking gear, and I like it so much that I almost want to take it back to Chicago :). We went on two bike rides, Sunday and Monday, and the weather was perfect for biking!

Scroll through my instagam post about our Sunday ride!

Fazer Ice -Cream

I wanted to try one of Fazer’s ice cream creations for a while, and yesterday was the first time tried Fazerella. And believe it or not, my verdict – too much chocolate! Boris was wiser to choose rhubarb sorbet with truffle ice cream!