Handbill Handout

That's what the Mrs. said after loading today's pictures. Hey, we can't control the weather. It's late, we saw a lot today, and we need to see a lot tomorrow. So this will be a minimal-text maximum picture post. This is the central train station in Helsinki. We arrived here this morning from Turku, and if my grandmother took a train from Turku to Helsinki as part of her journey to America she came through here as well since the station was finished in 1919 and she went to the US in 1922. This is the Lutheran Cathedral . This is the view from the top of the stairs of the Cathedral toward the harbor. This is the Eastern Orthodox cathedral . This is the harbor itself. My grandmother emigrated from Helsinki to the US, so I'm virtually certain this is her point of departure. Once again, I was moved by being in a place where she might have walked decades ago. This is the " Church In The Rock ". Churches don't often move me emotionally. Impress ...

We arrived in Helsinki this morning and were able to buy a universal electrical adapter at a department store across from the hotel so the PC, camera and phone batteries are charging . More pictures to come later after all the thirsty appliances have drunk their fill of Finnish electricy .

Updated 8/5 with pictures and some additional text.... This lets you know where you are. Below is a photocopy of my grandmother's passport that we're carrying with us on the trip. I held it next to the "b" in Abo since that's the name she chose to use when she told people where she was from. Interesting that she used the Swedish name but she was half Swedish herself. While we're in Turku we're trying to visit sites that were here when my grandmother was here. She left in 1922, as far as I know never to return. Today we went to Turku Cathedral which was oddly moving for me since I'm not religious in any conventional sense of the word. Walking around a place where my grandmother might have walked was an odd feeling. She died when I was 9 so I have no way of knowing what she would think of me returning to the city she left behind to start a new life 86 years ago. Dinner tonight was at a schoolhouse from the turn of the 20th century (was she ever there? ...

We're in Turku today and discovered something interesting right off the bat. Our "European" electrical adaptor doesn't work here and they don't have any US to Finland adaptors available anywhere, by law according to the hotel desk clerk. Seems they're only allowed to sell Finland to whatever adaptors for Finns traveling abroad. OK. So this will likely be the last post from the laptop until we get back to Sweden. However I will be able to post from business centers (hurrah!) though those will not have pictures (boo!). More from a different computer later. Update 8/5 - here are some pictures from the boat ride from Stockholm to Turku

This is a Sweetmeal Digestive Biscuit . It is the finest cracker I have ever eaten. I love it with either a bit of mild blue cheese (which unfortunately for me they only identify as "blue mould cheese" on the buffet) or on its own. It is delicious, and I will be harassing my nephew who is currently in the UK for the summer to bring some back for me as I don't think they're easily found in the US. What else have I been eating? Well, finally had some reindeer filet last night. Looks like beef, is tender like filet mignon but has a slightly stronger beefy flavor. Still, if I told you it was cow you'd probably believe it. The difference is subtle. It was served with a "potato cake", really scalloped and gratined potatoes formed into a square and a berry (forgot which one) sauce. Enjoyed that dish at the Glenfiddich restaurant in Gamla Stan which besides obviously having a wide selection of single malts claimed to serve the largest variety of Swedish microbre...

Just came back from the complimentary breakfast. They had all the usual stuff: fruit, cereal, yogurt, bacon, sausages, smoked salmon, waffles and pickled herring. Yep, pickled herring. I now have a breakfast food that I would choose over a pork product. Lovely sweet little silver bits of pickled herring. Yum. Ate up about 8 pieces of the stuff. What a country!

After a day and a half I can safely say that Stockholm is the most beautiful city I have ever visited. Prague had held that title for quite a long time, but that's over with. This city is beautiful in a quiet, dignified, understated way. There are North American cities I love: Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco, Montreal. But for some reason they don't resonate with me the way European cites do. New Orleans and Montreal come closest, but they're the most "European" I suppose so it all fits right? The picture below these words is the view from our hotel room at about 10pm last night. Of course it helps that the weather has cooperated but I suspect this place would still radiate in a dreary rain. It must be absolutely incredible in a soft winter snow though I'm sure getting around is probably difficult. Steep cobblestone streets+ice=trouble. This next picture is the ship Vasa which foundered on its maiden voyage in 1628. It was designed by a king who was not ...