Angelas Diner

I promised to post this as S and J created the most adorable animation for Valentine’s Day.  Make sure you watch in “high quality” otherwise it’s a bit “pixel-y.”

Now that I’m home, I can post more photos and even the map of my explorations last weekend.

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 Where did she go anyways?

she went here!

but, where is here?

oh, hey, that’s the Museum of Natural History! You know, where there are Dinosaurs…

and sea cows (for you, Marisa!)

 and then, after she visited here (well after she visits everywhere) she eats incredibly good pastries and goes to bed feeling like THIS GUY!!

Thanks to “the hares” who wrote this post for me today as I am just exhausted from working!

Sunday was a great relaxing day.  I woke up after 9am which is incredible for me!  Enjoyed the hotel breakfast, and watched the rain fall outside.  It rained or was grey and cloudy all day. My first stop on the Helsinki relaxation day was the University Botanical garden greenhouses - or Glass Houses, as they were translated on the signs.  I spent quite a bit of time stopping, looking at plants, and then sitting by the lily pond.  The “sun lights” that the plants need were also a help to combat the greyness of the day.  I’ll show you some photos here of the glass houses and plants, and then, a little guy will be the last photo-can you guess where else I went on Sunday?  (he’s the hint!!)

Where did I go next?  this little guy knows!

I spent most of the day yesterday shopping - and following ideas given to me by three great online friends (two from Etsy, one from the ALR list).  I started my Saturday in Senate Square looking up the Cathedral through the grey mist (photo 1).  Then, across the street, the BEST shops! Talo, I’m planning on going back again after work this week.  The handmade things in there are WONDERFUL; I found a great gift for Sam there.  Then, I began walking all around, taking photos, and shopping, and admiring Finnish art and craft work too.  I’m going to write more about my weekend over the course of the week (otherwise, I’d have nothing to write about except work, and I can’t write about THAT!)

So, enjoy these first pictures from Saturday, and I’ll write more over the next few days while I am in Helsinki!

I worked all day and into the night - I did make sure and spend some time enjoying lunch and dinner today though! First, I had a wonderful lunch at the cafe right across from my hotel. I SHOULD take some pictures of the food, but then, that is just WEIRD to do.  I enjoyed the most luscious piece of cheesecake I have ever had - so light, and so creamy, omg!

Then, paused work long enough to shop at Stockmann’s and go to Memphis.  Memphis?  It’s right around the corner, and while I was in there eating my cheeseburger and drinking some kind of Finnish alcohol with lime, it started snowing.  Now, the cool thing about that is, the street near my hotel is HEATED (according to my friend Jeff who was here for a long time working) so, here are some pics from today.  First, you can see Memphis, and then, for Sam, there’s a shot of the McDonald’s sign.  After that, pay close attention to where the snow STOPS - the sidewalks are always clear there.

Still working, wanting to finish stuff up so that I can have a REAL weekend here and be outdoors and sightsee, shop, all the touristy things! FUN!

I have been listening to Finnish Top 40.  Now, those of you who know me, also know I am NOT a top40 person.  Lucky for me I have the iPod and listen to that most of the time.  But, the fancy clock radio needs a radio station for an alarm.  This morning I woke up to top40 - that HAD to change……. so I am back from dinner, and I am googling for a good station.  I saw one that looked good, 101.8, and was dialing it up - when, can you imagine! The Rolling Stones singing “Angie.” Have to keep it there, even though the signal is a tad bit noisy since the station is not out of Helsinki but some other town north of here.  But at least I know I can wake up happy tomorrow!

I went out last night and tonight and took some night pictures.  Get used to that.  I am in the office when there is light out.  So, make do, and take a look at what I saw:

the first is esplanadi park at night, the next two are some “guys” near the Kamp Galleria Mall, then, the place where I could not get a table for dinner (everywhere you need a reservation!! even just for one!!), then, when I finally did find a place to eat I ended up being seated near the kitchen.  BUT, the meal was great — chicken with gorgonzola and sage butter on pappardale pasta with some tomato.   whew, have to do a couple more things for work, and then hit the sack as I know tomorrow morning will come so quickly!

I’m traveling for work and wanted to let my friends and family see my pics - I’ll be posting here while I’m away so keep an eye on the site! Click the pics to make them larger size.

If you have kids, and they share your computer, you know how very little time you can spend online.  I generally surf on the work laptop, and when it comes to surfing on the home system, I’m pushed to early morning ONLY>so today I was up at 3am and had over 4 hours uninterrupted time to set up my iPod and do pictures and BLOG finally.
Here is a photo of a bald eagle - WILD - that I took that at the bead class last week in Saunderstown, RI on the Narrow River.  All of us in the class were so psyched to see that eagle - and he (or she?) visited twice that morning!