hiidenkonttibeta

I had a work-related trip to Helsinki last week, and stayed a long weekend there. Snowy, windy, winterly. A few warmer hours, but it’s still not Spring, even if the Vernal Equinox is today.

On my way to congress center on Thursday morning I passed the Presidential Palace. The rather silly looking shelters don’t help the poor guards against the cold wind blowing from the sea.

The Finnish translation of the latest Harry Potter book was published on Thursday. Only a couple of fans were queueing when I passed the store, too few to photograph a mass of fans. They had a stand in the store, with a wool scarf waiting for knitters:

On Sunday, we again played tourists. First we visited the tower of the Olympic Stadion.

The use of stairs was forbidden, and the elevator only had buttons 1, 2 and 11. What kind of secrets they have on floors 3-10?

The tower is 72m high, providing a good view over the city. The rain gutter -like thing on the top again proved that tourists have a built-in need to get rid of their money. Wherever there’s a pool and tourists, it soon fills with coins. Apparently it doesn’t really need water.

The 3D photo experiment didn’t work too well, even if the separation distance was over a meter or so. Moving cars also play a trick when using a single (and slow) camera.

We also visited the tram museum, where they had an old educational B&W film for tram drivers (and cashiers) running. If the personnel doesn’t take constant care of the passengers, they end up running straight in the poles of street lamps when stepping out of the tram car or they get their hand between the closing doors and are dragged by the tram and when noticed they must be immediately and without questioning be placed in a taxi which just happens to arrive at the exact moment of the incident. And off it goes.