Helsinki - Week 1

I'm in Helsinki for two weeks on business! I'm going to Stockholm for the weekend, But I thought I'd post a few pictures from my first week. Enjoy!

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I Took an evening flight from DFW to Paris, then on to Helsinki. Usually these flights connect through London, but they were re-routed because of that pesky volcano in Iceland. That thing had better behave so I can get home next week!

I didn't get a wink of sleep, but i did get this cool picture of the moon hovering over some cloud cover over the Atlantic ocean! :-)

And this one of the sunrise just before we landed in Paris.

Here's my hotel room at the Radisson in Helsinki. It's small but nice!

Here's my "closet" - not much space!


There's a nice TV and desk setup, and the big window is great. Helsinki is so far north that even in early spring, it gets light at about 4 am, so thick curtains are a must!

Teeeeeny tiny bathroom. What is it with Europeans and bathtubs?

Here's the central train station that's right around the corner from my hotel. I think it looks so cool at night. During the day it's full of people!

This is the main platform for all of the long-haul trains. The commuter trains are a little furter up, only The glass ceiling over this area is so striking, I had to take a picture.

I take the train to the Nokia office in Espoo every day. It's about a 20-minute ride. This is the Kera station where I get off the train and walk about a mile to Nokia.

Here's a picture of the huge courtyard between my hotel and the train station. I walk across here every day to get on the train. It's a great place for people-watching!

This is the main throroughfare alongside the courtyard. There are lots of restaurants and shops in this area. There's even a "Texas" restaurant on the end that advertizes texmex cuisine. I don't even want to try it - can't beat the real deal back in the states! :-)

Another shot of the courtyard toward the train station. This was taken on the only sunny day so far - otherwise it's been very cloudy, cold and rainy!

Wednesday night we went to a team dinner at a Thai restaurant nearby. I navigated and I got myself and Paola there without getting lost! Here's a picture of one of the streets talked me down.

Here's a shot of the train courtyard from the train station toward the hotel at night. The Radisson is the thin, tall tower just a little to the left of cetner. I don't think I'd like to live in a big city like this, but it sure is fun to visit!