Last week was a whirlwind. You see, it was the last week of school before the Christmas break and there were holiday parties, and cookie baking lessons, a Czech Mikulaš celebration and a multitude of International Week celebrations. Being that I am room mom for both girls classes, I think I could have saved some time (and gas money) by setting up a tent in the lobby of the school. They have a fabulous cafeteria; It could have worked. Let's just say I spent a bit of time at the school in December. So, by the time Thursday, 2:45 pm rolled around, I was more than ready to start our official holiday vacation. But, I still had one more important thing to do, pack. Because we were leaving for the airport in less than 3 hours and I didn't have a single stitch of clothing put into a suitcase...Details, details, details.
But it wasn't a problem. I finished packing with about 1/2 hour to spare, and shoved everyone into the taxi. And then relaxed on the two hour flight to Helsinki. For the first time in about a month. The girls must have had enough too, because they fell asleep on the flight. By the time we landed, took the bus to the train station, walked the 3 blocks to the hotel and got them all settled in, we were all ready to call it a day. And we did. And we slept well. But that doesn't mean we weren't up, dressed, fed and on the streets before the sun had even risen the next morning, because we were. That makes us sound ambitious and like early risers but the reality is that the sun doesn't rise in Helsinki until 9:30 so it wasn't that much of a feat.
We were only in Helsinki for the day. And that was just so we could relax a bit before hitting the real purpose of our trip (I'll tell you that tomorrow...). So we didn't have a huge list of things to see, or do or experience. Helsinki is a great city, but it is not one of the more touristy places that Europe has to offer. It isn't particularly old, it doesn't have a sordid past, and it doesn't have much of a claim to fame (other than having an Olympic games under its belt). It is just a modern, hip city and one that is fun to walk around.
We did see a few sights - we hit the square for the Christmas markets, toured the Cathedral and stopped in at the largest Orthodox church in Western Europe. But mostly we just enjoyed a day of being a family and wandering around a great new city.
Because, really, we were all just waiting to board the plane again and get to our REAL destination...
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| The Square |
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| Stinkerbell was Fascinated!!! |
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| The Cathedral. This picture makes the sky look much brighter than it was - and my children look smaller than they are. Yep, that is them on the stops (about 7 o'clock...) |
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| Another bridge of locks. Nope, we didn't lock the family on this one. |
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| Look at the size of the lock she has in her hands! |
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| The Orthodox church. Largest in Northern Europe. |
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| And, of course, we saw Santa. |
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