Getting colder

Yesterday was the first day that I felt the cold. I didn't have any of my numerous extra layers on (saving them for the depths of Russian and Chinese winters - many ambitious westeners have discovered the harshness of the Moscow winter, and we know how cold the Chinese conditions can be, heh).

So instead I decided to follow the 'when in foreign, do as foreigners do' principle and had a massage.
But that wasn't enough for your intrepid correspondent. No indeed. He had to go for the 'hot rocks' option. No idea if this is common in Kiwiland but it is a massage using very hot but (thankfully) very smooth rocks. The initial shock of the heat is quite something, but that immediately wears off into one of the more relaxing experiences you can have. So much so, that we've ended up staying an extra day in Stockholm. There are worse places to have been stranded by relaxation.

After loving the old town and the sea front, it was suggested that we try the more Bohemian area for something different. Presumably by 'different' they meant 'crap', so right they were. Then it rained a lot. Annoying.

Any way - the palace:


A statue of St George:



A couple of terribly impressive pictures of the old city (edited to remove Freudian slip) at dusk





We also had the opportunity to get to the open air zoo/exhibition/park thing. Even in these cooler days it is rather great, with bears, owls, wolves and (my personal favourites) wolverines. Not many people there this time of year though. There was a great picture we saw, possibly warning kids not to play with the animals, showing a child pulling the non-biting end of a vast snake. We were hoping it was actually some sideshow demonstrating this, but sadly not. It's called Skansen by the way and it is heartily recommended. As is almost all of Stockholm, really.

A couple more images of Stockholm

And not the kind of images that Lunk was after.

Another panorama of a square...


The national museum...


A parade. Not for me, sadly, but apparently the Bulgarian prime minister or somesuch. Iguess they didn't know we were coming. That would explain it.

Some fine looking birds. B'dum tish.

Stockholm

It looks like this. It really does.


I look like this I really do.

A woodpecker looks... oh you get it.

I lied

Yes, I'm a bad person, but I'm guessing you already knew that etc etc. Sweden has many lovely looking people but they do all seem terribly tall. And, unlike Finland, the men don't seem like the ugly cousins of the women. They are also striking confident and handsome. Apparently Finnish women dye their hair dark to make themselves appear more intelligent (or less dumb if you are cynical). Full of educational insights, me.

It is a stunning place. Very well-to-do, clean, consistently themed (as if everything was built in keeping with some unspecified tone), green (with parks that seem to go on forever) and friendly. Stockholm is yet another wonderful place. Please don't ask me to choose favourites...


The Koskenkorva Salmiakki has had exactly the predicted effect on Tingo. He is now scared of the drink. I have no idea how we'll get through it. The Faser mints (the chocolate of heaven: a buit like After Eight mints but fatter and better) haven't made it and the future doesn't look rosy for my lingonberry dronk, but the Salmiakki looks like travelling on from here.
There was something else I was going to say about Tingo, but I can't remember right now.No doubt he'll be grateful for that.

Land of the Swede

I am now in Stockholm. Huzzah. Awaiting Tingo who should be here shortly. It is not awash with Anita Ekbergs however. No sirree bob. Nonetheless, a drunken haze may improve the general appearance of the town. What's that? I'm a bad person you say? And it's taken you this long to realise?

Shame on you.

I brought some Koskenkorva Salmiakki and some fermented lingonberries from Finland with me. Let me assure you that if it wasn't already too late for either, I could die young and pretty on the lingonberries. The Koskenkorva is there to scare Tingo. No doubt MKB will be looking forward to making her own at some point in the future.

What else? Leaving Helsinki was smooth but a little sad - I had a great time there again and met some interesting and charming people that I'd love to see again if the world works that way. I have also laid down a challenge to the Finnish postal service to which I am sure they will rise (before NZ Post butchers the chance in a so-typical manner).

I haven't mentioned the All Blacks. If I just say that Leon McDonald is my bete noir (second only to Reuben Thorne) and Conrad Smith is my hero (with Jerry and Rodders), then I may have said all I feel necessary. I feel genuinely sad especially for one particular fan whose holiday was already under stress and then this.

No photos. I'll try for that tomorrow!

Mmmm... lingonberries.

Whistle-stop Helsinki tour

For what it's worth, don't do the quick fire Helsinki tour. It's not bad, but you really are better off walking and bussing it. Otherwise you end up spending too much time at, for example, the church in the rock. Not as interesting as it sounds.



Anyway, you don't want to miss the Sibelius monument but you want to make the time to see the various churches (I didn't get a chance to snapshot them, so check your guidebooks folks) and hopefully the rather fun herring market. I never realised it could taste so good. No more jokes about pickled herring from me. Well, not as many.


Finally in Helsinki, I went to the sea fortress: another UN World Heritage site. Impressive, but more as a symbol than a place. It's effectively a well-fortified village sitting in the Baltic to guard the entire region. Supposedly impregnable, it still looks like Hobbiton in parts.



Off to Stockholm today: I'll be at the Queen's Hotel, Drottninggatan with Tingo if anyone needs us.

Lahti

Playing with the panorama maker I came up with this. I like it.

Estonia's new national symbol

Not really. I only say that to annoy my guide for the day. The golden pig is a powerful, though not appealing, image...

Estonia's Mediaeval Capital

Tallinn is a wonderful place. I'll not dwell excessively on the ferry trip which was, let's face it, just a ferry trip. Thankfully the air was still and the crossing smooth.
It is several cities rolled into one (I'm doing this from memory to make it more 'real', and because research isn't really my thing this time of day). No doubt my irrepressible guide would correct any particularly glaring errors. I knew nothing about Tallinn before this trip, and it is one of the more serendipitous whims I've had. The new city is most of the area, and is a relatively new city, with suburbs, shops, big buildings and the ever-uncomfortable Soviet tower blocks. The old city is in two parts: Dome Hill (at the top) and the lower old city at the bottom.
The upper old city is home to the Parliament and various old residences, along with some impressive churches. e.g.

Relatively recent, but very grand, and with some superb iconography inside.
The lower old city has the town hall and its weather-vane, Old Toomas:


Old Tom was supposed to be the protector of the city. I suppose the fact it has survived pretty intact suggests he has done a pretty bang-up job, but I don't think he's protected the citizens all that well. One particular story stuck with me: the Danes invaded, and a battle in the city ensued. They were camped at the gate of the old city but were repeatedly repulsed. Then 'God took a hand' and the Estonians were betrayed. And the Estonians now appear to celebrate the Danes theological favour in the Danish King's Garden.
I'll need to check this one, but this is an example of the Jugendstil (I looke it up - incorporated into the Nordic version of National Romanticism) style of architecture, most prevalent in Riga (I think). Splendid, eh?


The new city also includes Peter the Great's palace. Superceded in scale and political importance by St. Petersburg. Apparently Russia labels Estonia as the number 2 enemy in the world (after the US). I can't help feeling this is a lack of a sense of proportion: even if you interpret some of the political decisions as excessively nationalistic, the scale really is relatively small, and there has not been a long history of independence to celebrate (something like 40 years in the last 900).


St Olof's is the tallest church

and St Nickolaus is also rather good.