“Finnished” with Helsinki

After a leisurely breakfast and packing we once again hit the streets of Helsinki for a last look around.   Today was very, very sunny and in fact I wished I had brought my sunglasses just to be able to use them for a few hours in Finland!  We set out on the excellent light rail system once again and ended up strolling around the downtown area, around a nice park and to a fun café. 

We passed the Olympic Stadium where the 1952 Summer Olympics where held and saw a stature dedicated to Finland’s most famous athlete Paavo Nurmi the “Flying Finn”.

For lunch a friend and I went to a very nice Greek restaurant and I had some amazing lamb there.  Finland has been a good place to get the western food and products we have been craving.  Despite the relative modernity of St. Petersburg, Helsinki seems to be decades ahead of them in development and I can’t help but imagine how much of a paradise Finland must have been to Americans living in Russia even 20 years ago it must have been.  Even today the there seems to be a difference of night and day between the cities, before it must have been verging on the absurd.

At 2:30 our entire group met up once again at the train station for our trip (for want of a better term) “home” to St. Petersburg.  I say goodbye to Helsinki and it joins London and Strasburg on my list of cities to one day return to, of course after I have seen the rest of the places on my list first!  I also now am now interested in seeing the rest of the Baltic Sea countries and the rest of Scandinavia as well, I am sure I will some day.  While I had never even considered a cruise as a good idea before, I can now see the appeal of a Baltic Sea cruise.

I can already see how I will have to deal with some culture shock when I return home after my time here in Russia.  Just seeing things that used to be normal, everyday places and occurrences for the first time in months reminded me of how diffident life here in St. Petersburg really is.  Just little details: potable tap water, wide availability wireless internet and friendly, English speaking people reminded me of what it is like to be home and what I will soon return to.  I have just 4 weeks left in Russia and a long list of things yet to see and do but I know I can and will do it all while still acing my classes! 

And when those 4 weeks have passed, I will happily to return home with more knowledge, new perspectives, new friends, and a greater appreciation for my life in SoCal.

[And, YES I know my title is a terrible pun but it could not be avoided ;) ]