Photos...... Finally

Helsinki

First of all, the government buildings.



Anna in front of them. In finland you can call cellphone to cellphone at 2 cents a minute.



Me. We tried to get into parliment.... they wouldn't let us.



Mannerheim. Keeping the soviets at bay since 1939.



Helsinki Lutheran Church. The scale of this photo doesn't do it justice.



Helsinki's Russian Orthodox Church.



I'll just call this "Anna".



Turku

Turku castle from the outside, est 1200 AD.



Turku castle from the insde. Note Anna at the bottom of the stairs for a size reference.



Turku cathedral. I could see this from my apartment balcony.



This guy looks cold.



Turku from Anna's sisters appartment. Note the ice hockey rink.




Tampere

Walking accross a frozen lake to the "summer cottage".



Anna with her niece. Those ski wagons were fun.



After a 77 degree sauna, You start to feel the need to cool down.



No problems there. A hole we cut in the ice (the small size limited my backstroke).



The view from the sky tower of the lake. The tracks below are for cross country skiing.



The view of the city (note all the mountains in the background).




Tallinin, Estonia

Looking towards the old city, from the port.



The old city, surrounded by walls, gates and 23 towers.



Like stepping back in time. Once inside, everything became a lot more tightly packed.



Entering the gates.



Sometimes this places felt.... hard to escape.



Yeah.... I like Finland.



The ferry that took us here from Finland (this one made it unlike the one in 1993).




Work in progress.......