Thursday
I got up around 11AM, took a shower, ate breakfast and washed all the dishes.
It was a sunny and cool day in Finland. Minna and Lotta stopped by around 1 and we drove into Helsinki.
We visited Talvipuutarha, a beautiful “winter garden” in Helsinki. This was my first visit here and I was very impressed. So many beautiful flowers and plants!
After the winter garden, we walked around some city parks and went to a design museum. Later we went back to Antti’s apartment for dinner.
Minna dropped Antti and I off at his parent’s house while she and the girls went shopping. Antti and I walked to a nearby store and bought a couple six-packs, then sat in the backyard drinking and talking until Minna picked him up.
I watched some TV (Seinfeld, Olympics) and worked on the computer. Took almost 200 (!) pictures today and am sharing some of my favorites below. Went to bed around 1AM.
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- A typical street scene in Helsinki
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- Sonera Stadium
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- A streetcar in Helsinki
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- A bee buzzes flowers at Helsinki’s Winter Garden
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- Talvipuutarha a.k.a. Winter Garden
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- An interior view
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- Flowers
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- Flowers
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- A fountain
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- Some berries
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- Flowers
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- Another interior view
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- Cactus plants
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- Plants
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- Plants
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- Plants, close-up
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- Hanging plant
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- The outdoor cafe
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- Lotta hams it up
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- Outside flowers
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- Flowers
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- Field of flowers
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- The garden’s benefactor
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- Flowers
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- Flowers with the garden building in the background
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- Flowers
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- The outdoor garden
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- Flowers
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- Every rose has its thorn
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- A garden statue (no, I was not the model)
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- Roses
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- Roses
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- The outdoor garden
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- Flowers
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- The entry gates to the Winter Garden
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- Towing zone near the garden
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- Helsinki Olympic Stadium, home of the 1952 Summer Games
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- Paavo Nurmi, the Flying Finn
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- A doubledecker tour bus
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- A water view, Helsinki Lutheran Cathedral in the distance
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- Caution: geese crossing
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- Bird, bird, bird…bird is the word
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- No geese in this lane
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- A sculpture in the park
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- Picnickers in a Helsinki park
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- A memorial for former Finnish president Urho Kekkonen
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- The Kekkonen memorial features hands over a reflecting pool
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- A Made in Helsinki exhibition
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- Home of the exhibition
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- Minna and Lotta enjoying a beverage at an outdoor cafe
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- My ugly mug LOL
