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August 15, 2004
Helsinki Rain, Coffeehouses, Cathedrals, and Saunas
It rained a lot in Helsinki today, and we had no umbrella with us. I don't mind warm summer storms, but this was a cold rain. We were hopping from coffeehouse to coffeehouse, getting cups of tea and hot chocolate in an effort to stay warm. Today, "we" is me, Todd, and fellow Syn Ack Labs member John Schweitzer.
Armed with a Fodor's guide, we found the Uspenskin cathedral. Unfortunately, it was not open, so we couldn't get inside. Then, we bought tickets for the cruise to Stockholm later this week at the harbor. Since the cruise lines were out of cabins for the trip from Helsinki to Stockholm, we chose to take a two hour train ride from Helsinki to Turku, and board the ferry from Turku to Stockholm instead. I hope the train ride over to Turku will be pretty. Actually, we wanted to sightsee in Turku, which is the original capital of Finland, but we're not going to have enough time between the train stop and the ferry embarkation. Bummer.
For dinner, we ate at Zetor Restaurant, which Fodor's described as the 'tractor restaurant'. It was somewhat difficult to find this place, and we circled around the building a few times before we found it. It's tucked into a large hotel/restaurant complex. Zetor's is very unique, and I'm glad we did find it. Reading the menu alone was entertaining, not to mention the tractor settings inside the restaurant. The food was decent, and I especially liked the salmon soup. Read more about the food in my restaurant review section.
Afterwards, I decided to try the sauna in the hotel we're staying at. I thought is might be effective in getting rid of the cold, damp chill I had from hanging out in the cold rain. Unfortunately, I was the only person in the sauna, and didn't have a clue as to how to properly operate a sauna. I had read that water can be thrown over the hot rocks to cause a steaming effect, so I filled the bucket up with water, brought it into the sauna, and proceeded to throw four large dips of water on the rocks. What resulted was an instant steaming effect, which made me feel like a lobster in a hot pot. So I quickly ran out of the room, and took a cold shower. OK, no more pouring that much water on the rocks. However, my headache did go away. What do the Finns say about saunas? Something like 'If sauna doesn't cure your ailment, nothing will?'
Posted by Kathy at August 15, 2004 11:43 PM