DouglasVB

September 11, 2005July 1, 2020

Helsinki

On the train to Helsinki.

I had a comfortable enough berth for the evening.

Alexi, my Couchsurfing.org host in Finland. He and I got along marvelously.

There was a great map of the world laid out in downtown Helsinki.

Some sort of art show was tied to it.

We sneaked into a high rise to get views of the city.

A park near Alexi’s apartment.

The Helsinki Cathedral.

Emperor Alexander II of Russia.

I swear this telephone booth was floating when I took a photo of it. That might have something to do though with the alcohol (just one shot!) that Alexi had me try. Powerful stuff!

Alexi is strong.

The couch I slept on.

Alexi in his native habitat.

Wearing Alexi’s military barrette from when he served in the Finnish army.

The next morning I wasn’t feeling or looking to swell. This is me waiting for the ferry to Estonia.

September 10, 2005July 1, 2020

The first thing I saw crossing the border into Finland was the local supermarket. From what I gather, KKK is a national chain. Evidently those initials don’t mean the same thing in Finland as they do in America.

There used to be a platform here. My Deutsche Bahn guide told me there was. No trains today though. Somewhere in the city there must be a station…

I found an old steam engine in a park near where the station used to be.

A bridge going to an island in the river.

Peeling bark off of a tree.

I loved this graffiti. It was in Rovaniemi in an underpass.

In Rovaniemi getting ready to take the train south to Helsinki. While I was in Rovaniemi I stopped off at an excellent arctic museum and otherwise walked around in the pouring rain. Aside from the museum, the town had very little to offer. It was pretty lucky that I even found a room to stay in that wasn’t at a normal hotel. All of the hostels were shutting down for the winter.

Finally! Some sun!

Enjoying a little late afternoon sun before getting on the night train to Helsinki and more adventures.

September 9, 2005July 1, 2020

Through Sweden to Haparanda

After saying goodbye to my host in Narvik, I hopped on the train that runs over the mountains to Sweden.

I was lucky enough to have a car all to myself and a window that opened to take photos out of.

There were many tunnels on the train line.

By fjords of Norway!

All of the land we crossed looked like it had only been uncovered by the glaciers in recent times. The trees were not that old or big and many places had a few shrubs or no vegetation at all.

Twin waterfalls coming off of a high plateau.

There were many small buildings and workshops along the line where various pieces of equipment were parked. My host in Narvik told me that the Chinese were looking at shipping containers across Russia and this railway all the way to Narvik to ship them to the east coast of America. It would be much faster than going across the Pacific and then by train or truck across the USA.