Helsinki

We don't have much time in Helsinki, but the time we've been here so far has been lovely.

We arrived on Tuesday laaaaaaaate at night.

Wednesday we got to shake the sleep out of our heads a bit and venture out.

We met up with Tiffany and her mom, Nancy, who has been in Finland for ten days. Tiffany got to show her mom all around Finland and Sweden and they clearly have a good time wherever they go. I love when timing works out and we get a bit of Tiffany time!

Vivi had Skunky with her, but Tiffany was on his good list, so she didn't have to fear getting sprayed.

We ate at a Chinese restaurant. Vivian insisted on sitting next to Tiffany, who didn't seem to mind.

We walked around a bit thinking we'd buy some food or coffee since we're staying in an apartment, but then we figured that since we are 2 hours off our normal schedule, our eating habits are out of whack so there was no point getting things we probably wouldn't use.

There are a lot of tourists in town and it was nice to see so many people enjoying Helsinki.

Buildings have big signs that show the companies inside and it makes so much sense. At night, the signs are lit and look really pretty.

This is the central train station.

Vivian pointed out this statue.

We didn't have a ton of time to explore because we were exhausted and wanted to take a short nap before the event at City Hall, a gorgeous venue.

Everything got very quiet, then there was loud, staccato drumming! A drum line!

Then remarks from officials,

Then two songs by a Fulbrighter.

Look at that ceiling!

Vivian enjoyed herself and especially liked drinking water from fancy glasses. She's gotten pretty good at noting she wants still water, not sparkling.

The Fulbrighters! I hadn't seen Susanna, Andrea, or Maija since August and it was wonderful to catch up with them. Susanna lives in Jyväskylä, so hopefully we'll see her there, too.

At the end of the night, we got back to the hotel and a group of people were standing at the door. I gave them the explanation of how to get in and we all had a great laugh.