10 May 2008

Suomi
(That's apparently the correct name of the country I'm in)


I made it here without too many mishaps and was checked into my hotel by 2pm this afternoon. Despite only getting 3 hours sleep I took advantage of the beautiful sunshine, put on my flip-flops, and took off to explore the city. I get the impression that the weather's not usually this nice and so there were tons of people out having picnics on the Esplanade. The city is a little more modern than I expected, nothing really looks more than 100 years old (if that) and there aren't really any skyscrapers to speak of. The city reminds me of a smaller Copenhagen, which I guess isn't too far fetched, as I am in a Nordic country and Helsinki is smaller than Copenhagen. My hotel is in the same building as E&Y and I also saw the KPMG building-I don't know why I think that's so funny, but I do.





I really like how many parks there are--Kind of like the park blocks but nicer (the grass is actually growing and not just mud with patches of grass!) I think I'll bring my book along with me tomorrow so that I don't feel so weird just sitting on the park benches!

I also stumbled across the largest H&M store I have ever seen and I'm not gonna lie--I was pretty darn excited! I first became addicted to H&M when I was in Aarhus and I got giddy with excitement the other day when I realized I would probably be able to get some new, fun, relatively reasonably priced clothes on this trip! I probably spent more than I should have but really only looked at about half of the store...I guess I'll just have to go back. I also spotted a Zara that will have to wait until after work some day next week.

Does anyone have any idea what this is?! It's perched next to the sink in my bathroom and the only thing I can think of is that it's some sort of hand-held bidet...which is why I refuse to touch it!