First weekend in Helsinki

(too lazy on the first weekend to write this entry, so it's now the second weekend)

I spent my first weekend in Helsinki trying to get comfortable with my surroundings. I mostly did this by walking around the same shopping district I had walked around during the week (because it's also where my office is), but this time without an enormous laptop bag and with much more comfortable shoes.

Selected views from my weekend:


A street hockey league had some kind of championship right outside my hotel. Isn't this normally played with some kind of skates?

There is a lovely park on the street where I work (Pohjoisesplanadi), with a number of Spanish sculptures parading down the center of the park. It also seems to be a serious tourist haven, and, as noted by "The Lonely Planet" is also the most expensive shopping street in Finland!

That weekend also turned out to be the running of the Helsinki Marathon, the largest marathon in Finland. It felt a little decadent to be eating an enormous scoop of Rum Raisin ice cream while watching these poor saps on mile 20+ of their ordeal, but I managed...

...though to be fair, the runners had a classy cheering section not typically seen in the U.S.

And to continue the anti-healthy-marathoning spirit, there is a wide variety of ice cream available here -- including a very familiar brand from home!

And below, some random images of people in Helsinki. They do love their cafes during the (short, few) summer months...