Saturday
May 5 Woke up and had cornflakes for breakfast,
which is very nice after having to have egg things for so long. It was late in
the morning when we drove into Helsinki. We parked the car in the same lot –
Riikka scraped another car’s bumper bar. Tut tut. We went to the station and
travel/tourist places to see if I could book my Transalpino ticket. The places
either didn’t deal in it or were closed, it being afternoon. So we went to the
Museum of Applied Arts, with displays of Finnish design in the last 80-100
years, and also a small Icelandic exhibition. It was all very interesting, like
folding chairs, some sideboards, ceramics and beautiful glassware. Yes, a very
interesting place.
Then we went to a café centre on the Esplanade. I think it’s at the back
of the theatre there. We had pizzas in an Italian restaurant, but a lot of
people go there just to drink beer, and smoke. A lot of people smoke in
Finland.
It
verged on closing time at the O. Car Korral so we went back there to get the
car while we could. Yes, we got out all right, so then we went to where Riika’s
brother might have been if he was there at the time. This was at a boat mariner
and apparently he can be found there on the weekend cleaning his elephant guns,
or actually, working on his boat. But he wasn’t there. Never mind. I took a few
photos and then we went to the suburb of Tapiola, on the next bit of mainland
west of Helsinki. We actually went to a shopping area/apartment block area that
was a model for other such places. [Tapiola is well-known in architectural circles as being one of the first post-war garden cities.]
First we had an ice cream – yummo – to make up for the one we didn’t
have at lunchtime, then we went up to the roof/café of one of the buildings to
have a look at the view. There was fog coming in from the sea, and it was
moving so fast it was an incredible thing to see. And over to the west,
sunlight through the clouds. And so many trees that buildings can’t be seen
except for a few tall ones and a few water towers. We had a drink, the guests
at the wedding reception on the floor below were drinking, and we went back
down. In a little square I stopped to take some pictures if some wooden play
horses which turned out to be rather old – Riika used to play on them when she
was real little (not just little as she is now).
 |
| A playground showing a mini-Tapiola. Riikka"s wooden play horses probably don't exist anymore. |
We
went back to Espoo where I had a little nap; my throat was getting worse, you
see. Then Riikka took me out to show me where to catch the bus tomorrow – first
by walking to the stops (a choice of two, depending on the time/route) and then
by driving the four-wheel drive (used for horse floats) along the bus routes so
that I’d know the landmarks. Then back to the house. I had a shower and went
to bed, after giving Riikka a book on Canberra and showing them some of the
books I had bought. On the advice of a Finnish wife, I slept with a woolen
scarf around my neck [to alleviate the sore throat], but how can one tell
if it makes any difference?
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