Nordic Pride

Where the Helsinki does Santa Clause live?
Well according to many people in Europe, Russia and other regions, he lives in the north of Finland. Hearing this I can only guess that he has a small modern house completely outfitted in boxy IKEA style furniture, talks on a Nokia phone and has a sauna in his back yard. His kids are probably all tow headed hockey players and Mrs. Clause is a beautiful Nordic Model. Lastly, I thank all that is good that the Russians never took Finland or the communists would have burned Santa or sent him to Siberia.
Well, if he really lives in Finland he sure chose beautiful surroundings to live in and he must be filthy rich with the cost of feeding a thousand elves and the price of the euro...

We thought Moscow was expensive, but Helsinki is outrageous. Brendan and I needed something sweet after dinner (which consisted of a loaf of bread and cheese from the grocery store) one night. Something fruity like a jamba juice sounded good. We finally found a place that sold smoothies.

We were very disappointed with the small portion we downed in 60 seconds. $8 later, we were still in need of something sweet. We decided to go somewhere we could depend on.

McDonald's sundaes hit the spot for only $1.50 each. Brendan and I can't even remember the last time we went to McDonald's in the states, but we have been three times on our trip already.

We took a ferry to Suomenlinna island and fortress. Brendan is standing next to the submarine we toured.


Every city we went to on our trip had outdoor markets with fresh fruits and vegetables. You could smell the sweet strawberries from a distance away.


While we were in Senate square, the national defense band played and did a parade downtown.

(Although we were being a bit sarcastic, we did love Helsinki. It was just very expensive.)