Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Whoever has the most stuff when they die, wins.

Not much going on in Estonia these days. So many people have been taking pot shots at the new labour legislation that it now bears a striking resemblance to a collander, and there's apparently a new Chancellor of Justice that everyone is more or less happy about. Everyone is worried about the economy, but with the exception of a few isolated incidents like the Kreenholm closure and the fall in rail transit volumes, nobody's actually all that inconvenienced so far. 2008 is supposed to be the year when the economy bottoms out, and then starts a slow growth again. Petrol prices are ridiculous. We're not happy, but it looks like the economy is going to get away with a soft landing after all. The State of the Union is str.... no, sorry, that's wrong.

Having largely and purposefully ignored the holidays this year (I didn't even bake any piparkooks!), I have found myself with a bit of extra cash, which I splurged on a nice, shiny new TV. It's an LG, 32", and I snagged it in a special offer for less than 8 grand, or 500 Euro, which is quite a deal. Movie night in Tartu, anyone?

They also gave me a Viking Line gift card with the TV. I've been to Helsinki exactly once so far, on a day trip, and I have a slight problem thinking of any worthwhile sightseeing over there, other than the Kiasma museum and the statue of Mannerheim in front of it. Suggestions?

8 comments:

Alex said...

Only place I've been in Helsinki is the airport. Pretty uninspiring.

OT: Thanks for registering on the Estonia Forum. Your welcome email bounced back saying your inbox was full. It contains your username and password. Let me know if you need it.

Kristopher said...

Though a lot of gift cards expire just before summer, I'd say Helsinki city beach in season. Babes.

The markets can be impressive compared to the ones here.

Not much else.

These word verifications are getting hard.

Giustino said...

Suomenlinna island fortress in Helsinki harbor is definitely worth a trip. I haven't been to Seurasaari open-air museum, but I am sure it's nice.

I spent a month in Finland. In terms of cities, Turku comes highly recommended.

If I were to go do something I hadn't done, I'd head for Finnish Karelia. That would be an interesting trip.

antyx said...

I've considered that, but it would require me to bring my car, and the gift card doesn't cover that...

Anonymous said...

Helsinkki has some very nice bookshops and D&D shops ;)

Also, I hear gaming consoles are slightly cheaper there...

Ahti

Anonymous said...

The Gallen-Kallela house-museum, Tarvaspää, is worth a visit. Remarkable man, artist, photographer. During the War of Independence, Mannerheim made Gallen-Kallela an aide-de-camp and the latter designed flags, decorations and uniforms for the new Republic. It's in Espoo, about 10 km from the city centre. A lot of Kallela's photographs, quite remarkable given the equipment of the day, are on display as well.

Anonymous said...

Climb up to the tower of olympic stadion also.

antyx said...

Did that in Lillehammer...

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