SilverLaceVine of Simmer
Aug. 19th, 2017 08:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ismoYesterday I was so disturbed by the state of things that it was difficult to write anything. I need to just tiptoe away from the internet. The stabbings in Turku were really the last straw. I loved Helsinki and found the Finns I met to be friendly and generous people. For their country to be terrorized, on top of the vile goings-on here, saddened me very much. Also, my mother wasn't feeling well, and my sister was worried, so I had to add more phone calls and emails to the schedule. I called Mother tonight, and I think she's starting to feel better. Yesterday, I felt so bad myself that I was afraid I was coming down with something, just before the eclipse trip! But after a night's sleep, I seem to be feeling better too. I weeded the flowerbed, did more laundry, and repacked my bag. Our flight to Kansas City leaves at 6 am, so we'll be getting up early.
To return to my happy memories of Finland, on Saturday morning, we took the tram to a different part of the city to join a tour of Strange and Unusual Helsinki. Our guide was a funny and charming young artist named Aava Gruhn. She had put together an itinerary of things off the beaten path that she thought would amuse and interest newcomers. Apparently Helsinki is known as a city of theme bars, and we visited quite a few of those, although not all of them were open before lunch. We were quite disappointed not to see Steam Helsinki, a steampunk bar. Aava said they'd had a big party the night before, and were probably too tired to open up just for us. It turned out that the "big party" was the Hugo losers' party! Too bad we hadn't known that the day before! Although, honestly, I think we might have been too tired to traipse over there in spite of the glamor.
We also visited the design district, including this very cool store, Alnilam, which has a website where you can see some of the fascinating things they sell. We saw a crazy old antique store, Weird Antiques. You might almost have thought they knew we were coming, because they had an assortment of toy robots, cool science fictional chrome lamps, and even the kind of toy rocket that you can ride in for a dime. They also had cowboy boots, a stuffed moose head, and quite a few other unexpected artifacts. We climbed up the cobblestone hill--again!--to Church of the Rock. Once again it was not open to visitors, but I didn't care because I didn't want to go in anyway.
We wound up at what I think is Helsinki's only Bollywood bar. I had been looking forward to some bhangra, but alas, they were playing country and western music. We bought our guide a beer and had an interesting chat about her art, life in the boho parts of the city, and TORNADOES. She had been fascinated by tornadoes since she was a small child, and was thrilled to hear about our experiences in all the parts of Tornado Alley where we've lived. When we finished our drinks, she conducted us to the correct bus that would take us back to Messekeskus. She got off at the stop before ours, and en route showed us pictures of her cat. It was a fun excursion into a different view of the city. I wished that we had more time ahead of us to make use of our discoveries.
To return to my happy memories of Finland, on Saturday morning, we took the tram to a different part of the city to join a tour of Strange and Unusual Helsinki. Our guide was a funny and charming young artist named Aava Gruhn. She had put together an itinerary of things off the beaten path that she thought would amuse and interest newcomers. Apparently Helsinki is known as a city of theme bars, and we visited quite a few of those, although not all of them were open before lunch. We were quite disappointed not to see Steam Helsinki, a steampunk bar. Aava said they'd had a big party the night before, and were probably too tired to open up just for us. It turned out that the "big party" was the Hugo losers' party! Too bad we hadn't known that the day before! Although, honestly, I think we might have been too tired to traipse over there in spite of the glamor.
We also visited the design district, including this very cool store, Alnilam, which has a website where you can see some of the fascinating things they sell. We saw a crazy old antique store, Weird Antiques. You might almost have thought they knew we were coming, because they had an assortment of toy robots, cool science fictional chrome lamps, and even the kind of toy rocket that you can ride in for a dime. They also had cowboy boots, a stuffed moose head, and quite a few other unexpected artifacts. We climbed up the cobblestone hill--again!--to Church of the Rock. Once again it was not open to visitors, but I didn't care because I didn't want to go in anyway.
We wound up at what I think is Helsinki's only Bollywood bar. I had been looking forward to some bhangra, but alas, they were playing country and western music. We bought our guide a beer and had an interesting chat about her art, life in the boho parts of the city, and TORNADOES. She had been fascinated by tornadoes since she was a small child, and was thrilled to hear about our experiences in all the parts of Tornado Alley where we've lived. When we finished our drinks, she conducted us to the correct bus that would take us back to Messekeskus. She got off at the stop before ours, and en route showed us pictures of her cat. It was a fun excursion into a different view of the city. I wished that we had more time ahead of us to make use of our discoveries.
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Date: 2017-08-20 02:48 am (UTC)