Blissfully, Bohemian Berlin

Brandenburg Gate

Yea, I know what you are thinking.   Your blog is called "Scandinavian interlude" and it is more or less about   an American's life in Finland, but you keep on writing about other European countries these days.  We had some wonderful adventures in Europe last summer and then finally the we took this little weekend break away from the children to escape to Berlin, Germany.  I promise this is the last non Finland post for a while, at least until my wanderlust resurfaces again.  :)

Checkpoint Charlie

I have been to Germany a few times in the past, but essentially just a few touristy destinations.  As a post college graduate I had done Munich's Oktoberfest, I visited the solemn Holocaust memorial in Dachau and more recently ventured down to Stuttgart to visit a friend.  The family also did a Bavarian adventure to see the castle Neuschwanstein in Southern Germany that inspired Walt Disney to create his own magical land.  This weekend trip would be reserved for the post Soviet bloc eastern city of Berlin.  Berlin has quite a past history and more recently was divided into two distinct sides (East and West from 1961-1989).  West Berlin was part of West Germany and East Berlin was part of the Socialist Soviet bloc country of East Germany (German Democratic Republic or GDR).  It was hardly a democratic country back then if you know what I mean.  A daunting wall that was erected in 1961 that surrounded East Berlin and kept the East Berliners out of West Berlin.  It is so hard for me to comprehend how this happened to a city like Berlin.  Can you imagine a major city like New York or London being divided by a wall and one side was forbidden to visit the other?  Many of the people trying to flee the East side were shot near the wall by border guards.  We explored much of the cities historical roots during our trip.  We visited the GDR museum which outlined life on the East side and we also visited the Checkpoint Charlie station which featured a history museum based on people's attempts at escape from one side of the city to the other.  This piece of history was very fascinating and something that I was aware of but never had been able to get so close too.

Remaining section of the Wall

Berlin is not all WW2 and Soviet bloc cold war history though, it is an interesting city in many different ways.  The city offers a little bit of everything for visitors.  If you like shopping, it has a large district for that.  If you like going to the Zoo, it features two of them.  If you enjoy the opera or the Philharmonic, it has those.  If you prefer to see museums, the city has many wonderful ones.  Nightlife and art are also huge in Berlin.  The city has become one of the most bohemian and liberal cities in Europe.  One might make a bit of a comparison to Amsterdam in Holland, but perhaps on a larger scale minus the canals.  My wife and I decided after seeing many of the tourist spots on the first day to do an alternative tour the second day.  So, we did a guided walk known as the "Real Berlin tour".  This tour was combined with a German guide who took us to many alternative neighborhoods that features interesting tidbits, street art and magical courtyards.  There are so many different neighborhoods to explore that one might miss them if just checking out the main tourists areas.  This walk featured many stops in the bohemian Kreuzberg area of Berlin.  Here we saw most of the famous street art, a man living in a tree house in former "no man's land" between the East and West side and a small urban farm.  This district reminded me a bit of Berkeley or Haight St. in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Kreuzberg Street Arts

We only had 2 full days to explore Berlin and just scratched the surface, but I thought we achieved a nice understanding of the city and taste of what it offers.  Of course, since I am writing a blog about living in Finland, I must make a few comparisons.  It wouldn't be fair to compare Berlin to Helsinki, because it is massive in size by comparison to Helsinki.  Berlin has currently about 3.5 million people to Helsinki's 500 thousand.  Also, one must use the metro or other forms of public transportation to get around in Berlin while the center of Helsinki is quite compact and can be explored easily on foot.  I also noticed that prices in Berlin were a bit cheaper, especially in light of the fact that it is a capital city.   Food was definitely cheaper and we could get a beer for 2.50 euros or a glass of wine for 7 euros in a restaurant.  In Helsinki beers run about 6-7 euros in a bar and wine is easily 12 euros or more per glass.  Differences aside, they are both interesting cities in their own right.  I would however highly recommend a visit to Berlin and set aside at least 3 days minimum to explore.  Berlin is only a 1.5 hour flight from Helsinki.

Food culture differences (Finland versus US)

A new American girl just started at my daughter's international school in Espoo.  Recently at school, my daughter was the last one in the cafeteria with the exception of the new girl.  Why had they stayed behind when everyone else was done eating and had left?  They both had trouble eating their food plates and when the teachers were not looking, they dumped their food in the garbage.  :) It seems that they are missing their mac n cheese, french fries, burritos and chicken nuggets.  Yup, the food staples of the American school child are definitely not found in Finland.  In Finland school cafeterias feature items that you might even find in an adult buffet.  Depending on the day, you might find salmon, potatoes, meatballs, stew and even fish soup.  It is "real food", not just the preservative laden food that you would find in US school cafeterias.  My wife and I think that this would be a good shift for her in order to adopt better habits, but she is really slow to change.  It is hard to break these habits and she still yearns for Kraft Macaroni and cheese any chance she gets.  There seems to be some kind of market for "American" food here in Finland, because there is a specialty shop that sells American goods and there is an "American" shelf at the local K market food chain.  I personally tend to stay away from that stuff, because I just don't really feel like spending 5 + euros for some Peanut Butter or Jello pudding.  I can live without my American items for now.  :)

Surprisingly enough there is also a noticeable difference in lunch culture of Finland versus what I was used to in the States.  Finland tends to favor large, heavy lunches and many of them tend to be "all you can eat" buffet style places.  Many of these buffets feature heavy meat stews, fish, potatoes, bread and butter, heavy pasta salads, etc.  It is pretty rare to just find basic food, a light sandwich or burrito kind of place.  Also, not sure if it is just my office or not, but almost everyone tends to go out for sit down lunches, definitely not an "eat at your desk" culture. In my previous job in California, I think only about 30% of the people went out for lunch.  The rest either grabbed something to go or brought their own lunches from home to eat at work.  I think part of this has to do with America's "rat race", go go go work culture, where the Finns actually take time to go to lunch.  I have already mentioned in earlier blog articles, about the differences in food varieties in Helsinki versus San Francisco so I will not go into too much detail here.  Finland is however making some strides in establishing more ethnic varieties of food as more as more immigrants have been coming here. See my earlier post "Work life in downtown Helsinki".  http://scandinavianinterlude.blogspot.fi/2012_03_01_archive.html

Finnish staples

Do Finns trust foreigners?

Writing an expat blog has been generally a rewarding and thought provoking experience.   Every once in a while, it is good to explore more sensitive and perhaps even controversial topics.  My thoughts I write in this blog are based on observations, not stereotypes or rumors.  The subject of trust and rules will be the topic of this post.  Do you believe Finns fully trust foreigners living in their country?  See my examples below.

The first example would be applying for, an receiving, a debit/credit card from a Finnish bank, called S-Pankki.  I have tried and have been rejected in regards to my first application for a credit card.  First of all, I was initially not even eligible to apply for this card, because the bank felt that the identifications I provided were not sufficient.  I provided 3 different methods of identification:  my US passport, my biometric police department issued Finnish residency card and my Kela card (Finnish social security card).  All three of these cards were deemed insufficient to even begin the credit card application process, according to S-Pankki.  Two of these IDs provide a photo and the biometric card has fingerprints, both issued by the police department.  The bank told me that rules say, I need a valid Finnish driver's license.  :)  Well, first of all I think those rules are just plain ridiculous and quite odd, but whatever.  Finally after living in Finland long enough, I managed to get a Finnish driver's license which can be obtained after one has lived in the country for 6 months.  So, I went back to S-Pankki with the new driver's license as proof of my identity.  The S-Pankki representative was fine with this ID now, so he helped fill out my application and told me to wait approximately 3 weeks for the card and PIN numbers to arrive in the mail.  So, I waited patiently and felt good knowing that I had finally provided the correct identification that S-Pankki requested.  A few weeks later a letter from S-Pankki arrived in the mail.  Would this be my PIN number before my actual card arrived?  I opened the letter and to my complete disbelief, it was a rejection letter from S-Pankki.  I had been denied a credit card and there was no explanation.  All that trouble to finally provide the correct identification and then they reject me?  My background includes a solid work history, sufficient monthly steady income, and excellent credit history, including several credit cards (with never actually having used the cards for anything other than monthly convenience (i.e. not using them for the rolling "credit" function)).  I had just been rejected with no reason for a credit card with a 5,000 Euro limit?  I do not have any debts in Finland and I have a job, why was I rejected?  I guess we will never really know as my wife tried to call the bank and request information and all we received was "we do not have an obligation to tell you the reason".  So, you will not help me figure out what to do to get approved, including not being able to confirm if there was some information that the bank perhaps did not have that they needed, so then what I am supposed to do?  I am really at a loss for words.  I am not a student trying to get his first credit card, I have a long work and an excellent credit history and have been rejected.  Could this be that I am trying as a foreigner in Finland?  My wife had no trouble getting her card.  What could possible be different between the two of us, other than our citizenship.  You be the judge.

The next mistrust example comes when simply trying to verify my identity in regards to a potential house loan  application at Nordea bank in Finland.  We didn't get any customer service from S-Pankki in regards to the credit card fiasco, so how would Nordea bank respond when trying to confirm my identify for a loan?  So, I met up with my wife at the Nordea branch in Kamppi in Helsinki.  This time I brought my brand new Finnish driver's license, Finnish (biometric, police issued) residence card and Kela card.  So, would the Finnish driver's license which was lacking at S-Pankki be enough to simply verify myself?  Well, I presented my card and also the other ID's just in case.  The representative went to some back room with my driver's license and then came back and said "We cannot identify you with this, this driver's license was exchanged from a California license, so we now need your US passport as well to verify who you are."  Ha  ha ha, so in S-Pankki the passport was not good enough and they need a Finnish driver's license, now in Nordea the driver's license is not good enough and they need my passport.  This was becoming so ridiculous, and again the customer service person said, "sorry, there is nothing I can do".  So, I guess again, 2 valid ID cards with my picture and both issued by the Finnish police station is not good enough to identify who I am?  What gives?  I am still trying to figure out how to deal with banks in Finland.  Let me know if you have any tips, other than changing my citizenship ;)

The Finns, at least in banks simply have no customer service and do not trust.  Honestly, I don't think these ridiculous rules would be the same in the United States.  Were these simply their arcane rules, or other examples of mistrust of foreigners?  I just don't really appreciate that when I am simply trying to verify my identity or apply for a credit card that I am treated like a small child and have to jump through 5 hoops in order to take care of something so simple.  Hopefully, this will be my last example, as I wait patiently for my re-application for a credit card via S-Pankki.  Maybe the 3rd time is a charm?   :)

Update 23.8.2012 - I was just rejected a second time by S-Pankki again.  This 2nd application only carried a 3,000 Euro credit limit and I attached a full US work history and current employment to the application.  Considering I have worked for the previous 17 years and have solid credit history, this is definitely a case of this bank discriminating based on race or nationality.  If you looking for a bank in Finland, please do not support S-Pankki.

Update 19.9.2012 - Sampo Pankki granted my wife and myself credit cards, lines of credit and a home loan. The customer service rep was very friendly and it was an ease applying for the loans/cards.  Good to know that not every bank in Finland discriminates.  :)

*** Hint - If you are moving to Finland anytime soon and would like to establish a loan or credit card, try Sampo Pankki (recently purchased by the Danske Bank group).  ***

One year anniversary living in Finland

With nervous anticipation I left San Francisco with my son and a one way ticket on August 15, 2011 to join the rest of my family in Finland.  Today marks the one year anniversary of my move from San Francisco, California to Finland. What a year it has been!  I cannot even imagine all that has happened during the last year, it feels like 5 years were packed into one.

When I left San Francisco, I had ditched most of my material possessions, except for a few of my favorite items including my trusty road and mountain bikes.  Would Finland wait for me with open arms?  It would be a year of many adventures, ups, downs and cultural learnings.  It is definitely a year that I will cherish for the rest of my life and will never forget.  When I arrived in mid August, I was still working for a US company and worked remotely from home.  This "work from home" job situation would last till the end of the year.  During the later months of 2011 as the rain started to pour down and darkness reared it's ugly head, I was officially introduced to my first Finnish winter.  Would I survive having heard so many horror stories about the cold, ice and darkness?  I used several survival tactics which I wrote about in an earlier article on my blog.  I took the winter head on, by spending time outside the house cross country skiing, swimming and working out in the city gyms and writing my blog.  I absolutely was not going to spend my time locked up in the house, depressed, staring outside into the darkness. 

Trips were plentiful this year and first one included a visit to Stuttgart, Germany to see a friend and the Alsace region in France.  Later in 2011 a family trip to see Santa Claus in Rovaniemi, Finland.  Then in 2012 we went on several more trips taking full advantage of the convenience of living in Europe.  Trips included a beautiful "kids-free" weekend getaway to Paris, France in the Spring.  Later when the summer finally arrived, trips included St. Petersburg, Russia, Sweden, Norway and Barcelona, Spain.   I have stated in my blog before, even though it has been a wonderful and rewarding year in Finland, it is nice to take advantage of the convenient flights and go on some adventures elsewhere.   I hope to continue to be able to see more of Europe and the world using Helsinki as a base.  

The summer, even though a bit cooler than previous Finnish summers, (so I was told by many people) was still magical.  People were relaxed and the downtown work life was much slower than normal.  The BBQs started to pop up and everyone just had a better outlook on life it seemed. I even recall one night riding my mountain bike home at 3:00am and it was kind of bright outside because of the midnight sun and while riding through the forest,  I had  reached a total peace of mind.  The summers are great, just wish they were a bit longer and less wet. It seems that when August rolls around people are already talking about autumn season.  In California, August and September are clearly summer months and October kicks off the autumn season.  I am keeping my fingers crossed because it looks like the summer has returned to Finland during this mid-August week.

The past year has been a transition from working for a US based corporate company to working for a Finnish start up company.  I have been very enthused about the opportunity to work for a Finnish company, because I think to fully absorb and integrate into the society it is better to work for a local company.  I am still learning how the Finns do things and there are some slight cultural nuances that are different in Finnish leadership and management style.   I am here to observe and learn from the differences, not complain about them.  Though I do feel that it does definitely take a long time to gain full trust from a Finn,  once that trust is gained, you will probably have a friend for life (so they say).  That applies to co-workers and friends.

I have already written many entries in my blog about the differences between living in the United States versus living in Finland.   Of course there is no perfect society and I have some complaints about how Finns do things and how they never seem to want to bend rules, but I also respect their policies and the secure and safe society.  The key to learning to live in a new country is to acknowledge the differences and accept them for what they are.  Basically, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.  You should never move to a foreign country and live inside a little "bubble".  Try to practice the local customs, get involved, and try your best to assimilate into the society.  Even learn the language if you feel it is necessary, but good luck with that if you live in Finland.  :)   The first year in Finland has been highly rewarding, I have no regrets and can only hope the next year abroad goes as well as the last.

Sun seeking in Spain and the Costa Brava

La Sagrada Familia Cathedral Barcelona

The final leg of our summer travels had our family journeying off to Spain to enjoy the sunshine in Barcelona and the Costa Brava.  We visited my wife's law school friend who is a native Catalan and currently lives in Barcelona and has a summer house on the Costa Brava.   The Catalans are very proud of their heritage and wish to become a sovereign nation as they once were 300 years ago. The heat and humidity hit us like a great wall of steam as we left the airport and headed by taxi to the apartment we were renting in the Gracia neighborhood.  This wonderful neighborhood was not located in the city center, but was very charming and full of lively squares and unique shops.  In my opinion, there is no better way to get the feeling of a city then staying near the locals in a residential neighborhood versus the standard downtown tourist centric area.

Casa Batllo by Gaudi in Barcelona

Barcelona is quite large in my opinion and there are many interesting sights to see.  However, in addition to all the wonderful sights and sounds of Barcelona, there is the amazing food. And if you are coming from Scandinavia like me, then you can appreciate all the assortments of tapas, paella, seafood and other culinary treats from this area.  This area of Catalonia is especially renowned for their chefs and Catalan cooking.  During our 4 day stay in the area we feasted on much of the food I mentioned and usually washed it down with a 3 euro glass of Spanish wine.  Yes, that is correct, you can get a glass of wine in a restaurant for 3 euros in Spain, which is about the same cost as a glass of juice.  In Finland you are lucky to be able to get a glass of wine on the menu for less than 10 Euros.  Several mornings jogs up the hill from our neighborhood to Parc Guell helped me burn off the meals and make room for more Catalan gastranomic treats.

Dali Museum in Figueres, Costa Brava

The top tourist areas in Barcelona are the church La Sagrada Famila, Gaudi's famous architectural buildings which include Parc Guelll and Casa Battlo, and the Ramblas and Gothic Quarters.  This is just a few of the main highlights as there is much to see in this great city.  It is hard for me to admit, but we actually paid for one of those double decker tour buses and zoomed around the city soaking in the sun and the sights.  I am not one to typically pay for a tourist bus, however with 2 kids in tow, this seemed like a reasonable option.  The subway is actually very good in Barcelona as well, so we also used it for many of our longer destinations.  We really enjoyed all that Barcelona offered, but suffered a bit in the heat and humidity.  Even though I am a native of California, having lived in Finland for the last year means that I have adjusted to cooler weather patterns.  Barcelona is an amazing city in many ways and I would highly recommend a visit, but think twice if coming in the middle of the summer.  It is hot, extremely popular, crowded and you might be fighting your way through the tourist center.

So, after 4 days in sunny Barcelona, we made the journey via rental car to the Costa Brava.  We drove to the idyllic seaside village of Llanca while stopping at Figueres en route.  Figueres was Salvador Dali's home city and prominently features the Dali museum.  It actually seems that Figueres has built tourism around the Dali museum, which dominates several blocks of the downtown.  We have always been fascinated by Dali's work and thought since we were passing through that this would be a perfect opportunity to see the museum.  We waited in line for over 30 minutes just to get in the door to this extremely popular museum.  Once inside were delighted by his extraordinary collection of paintings, drawings and other bits and pieces.  Dali was the ultimate surrealist artist in my opinion.  Then after a few hours we ventured back to the road that would eventually land us in the coastal city of Llanca.  Llanca is our Catalan host Eva's summer home and they have a very large castle like summer house that has passed many generations in her family.   This was the most amazing building that I have ever stayed in and the construction dated back approximately 1,000 years.  You could almost feel the spirits roaming around as you passed through each room in this amazing building.  The "guest home" portion of the building had a kitchen, family room and 3 bedrooms and the main section was about twice as large.  Downstairs in the courtyard featured an old and very deep water well and also an ancient dungeon.  The dungeon door was an original with old but thick wood and iron bars to keep it shut.  When Eva opened the door for us, you could actually see the scratch marks from former prisoners kept there during the 14 century.  Very cool and a bit spooky at the same time.  I felt as if I was in a time warp as Eva gave us a tour of the entire place.  Every nook and cranny of the building had something unique and interesting to offer dating back into the Middle Ages.

Hilltop castle in Costa Brava -similar construction to Eva's home

In addition to staying at her summer home, we explored the coast a bit which included a death defying drive up the coastal mountains to an old castle that Eva claims is built by the same folks who created her family's summer home.  We also spent a half day at the beach soaking in the rays and the children loved exploring the sea life which included sea urchins and octopus.  Everything about the Costa Brava and the cute villages were just amazing.  You here stories about many sun seekers from Northern Europe going down to the Costa Del Sol for vacation, but I think they have overlooked this gem of a place.  I absolutely loved Catalonia and the Costa Brava and would return in a heartbeat.  Living in Finland is nice, but an escape to the amazing Costa Brava should rank high on everyone's European wish list.

Norway adventure

The 2nd leg of our summer travels started with a trip to Norway via boat and ferry.  I have always wanted to visit Norway and now that we are living in Finland, we finally decided to take the family via the ferry from Helsinki.   I have a good American friend who married a Norwegian man and they have been raising their family in Norway for the last decade.  We took the car on the ferry that left from Helsinki to Stockholm, Sweden.  The route was to drive across Sweden to their city just South of Oslo.  It took about 7 hours to navigate across the heart of Sweden before finally crossing the border into Norway.  We have never driven across Sweden before and to be honest it isn't all that exciting, but easy driving.  It is a mix of farms, forests and some large lakes and is pretty much flat the entire way. Once the border of Norway is reached, the mountains and hills seem to pop out from nowhere.  Norway is definitely a geographically diverse country and has a great mix of mountains, sea and forests.

That night, after the long drive we finally reached our friend's home in Asgardstrand which is a small village about 1 hour south of Oslo.  We actually had to take the car ferry across the bay to get to their home city and that 30 minute ferry ride cost approximately 35 Euros.  Welcome to Norway, probably the most expensive country in Europe.  We actually ate out a few times and I won't even mention in this blog the prices, because they were exorbitantly high.  Their little town was very picturesque and located right on the water.  This small village is also home to Edvard Munch who is famous for "The Scream" painting.  During our stay, our host treated the children to several boat rides in the harbor with his little speed boat.  My daughter had a complete blast driving and gassing the boat.  He also took us to a tiny island where we docked and then jumped off the boat and let the children climb up the little lighthouse.

After two nights at their home, we traveled up north to visit some of the famous fjords.  We made the 5 hour ride to Flam, which is famous for the Flam train ride.  Several times during our drive we were stopped in the road by sheep just hanging out.  It made the Netflix series "Lilyhammer" (based on Lilehammer, Norway) seem more realistic as once the main character Steven Van Zandt had to stop his car in the middle of the road to let sheep cross. This railroad takes you on an hour journey past many wonderful waterfalls, streams and other marvels of nature.  We really enjoyed the journey in this famous train which supposedly at one point climbs up to a 55% gradient, however it didn't really feel that steep.  We spent one night in Flam and the next morning, I made a quick solo hike up towards one of the numerous waterfalls.  The views were just amazing every way you looked.  A bit later we said good bye to Flam and made the journey back to Sweden via Oslo.  During the drive back we passed many mountain tunnels, including a killer 24.5 kilometer tunnel (Lardal tunnel)!  Yes, that is right, over 24 kilometers of tunnel in a car, enough to make one claustrophobic since it took approximately 20 minutes or so to get through.  It is known as the longest road tunnel in the world according to Wiki.

We reached Oslo that afternoon and parked the car to walk around the capital.  We went to their new Opera house, which features a roof that is very interesting and quite large.  The children had a great time walking all around the roof.  The roof had great views of the city and harbor.  I was pleasantly surprised by the ethnic diversity in Oslo.  They seem to have a more diverse population than Helsinki.  We had lunch in Oslo at a restaurant which was extremely expensive, continuing the high cost theme in Norway.  Soon enough we were ready to make the journey back to Stockholm in order to get back to our ferry with the car.  Since the drive from Flam all the way to Stockholm was approximately 10 hours, we decided to break the drive into 2 days. We drove about half way through Sweden to a city called Karlstad which is situated right on the large Lake Vanern.  We spent the night at the hotel before making the final 3.5 hour drive to Stockholm.  Since my father had never visited Stockholm before, we decided to drop my parents off in the Gamla Stan (old town) while the family visited the Vasa War ship museum.  The children had a nice time walking around this museum and it was our 3rd trip there.  This museum which features a perfectly preserved 17th century ship should not be missed when in Stockholm.  Finally, in the afternoon we picked up my parents and headed back to the ferry for the trip back to Helsinki.  Even though we drove approximately 2,000 kilometers during the 6 day trip, we really enjoyed the journey, visiting good friends and taking in the scenic beauty of Norway.  

St. Petersburg weekend escape

 My parents have been visiting Finland these last few weeks and we had also planned to make the train trip from Helsinki to St. Petersburg.  We road the fancy Finnish "Allegro" train which has been in service for a year or so now, and makes the journey all the way to St. Petersburg in a quick 3.5 hours.  So, after filling out our Visa application and coughing up approximately 120 euros per person, we were ready to make the trip.  A post Soviet world doesn't mean that politics are thrown out the window, because they are charging Americans more than 3x what they charge Finns for their Visa!  Finns can make the trip on a mere 35 euro Visa.  I cry not fair!   But what to do, just suck it and try to not be an ugly American.  :)

The train left on the exact minute it was supposed to leave and we zoomed off on our first Russian adventure.  The ride was smooth, seats were spacious and it was relaxing.  The only real hassle starts when you arrive at the Russian border and the customs and passport control start coming around and asking questions.  In my best impression of an American trying to speak a foreign  language, I gave a polite Russian dobryi den "good afternoon" and then spasibo "thank you".  I actually got the Passport controller to speak Russian to me exclusively, so I felt proud.  :)  Finally, we arrived at the Finlandskiy station in Peter.  Anxious anticipation overcame our family as we stepped off our train and spotted a sign that would be our race car driver, who would drive us to our hotel.   He only spoke a few words of English, so I again did my best impression of Russian for the driver.  He sped off through the outskirts of town and headed toward our hotel which is close to the tourist center.  I cracked a few smiles from the front seat as my parents looked liked they were both about to have a heart attack as the driver floored through town, weaving in and out of traffic.  To me the wild ride so to speak is part of the overall adventure of exploring a foreign land.

After arriving at our hotel, we were soon ready to meet our Russian guide, Ania for a walk around town.  I decided since this was my first trip to Russia and I was with my parents that a guide would smooth things out a bit and help us get oriented with the city.  Ania was peppy and very friendly and soon took us out into the center of the attractions.  We walked by the several bridges connecting the Neva river to both sides of the city and then walked over to the St. Peter and Paul Fortress.  This Fortress had a small church that featured a mausoleum of the past Czars and Czarinas.  I personally am not an expert on Russian royalties, but since my mom was very interested in this history she was rattling off many facts while walked around.  We spotted the tombs of the famous Romanov family, as well as Catherine and Peter the Great.  Since we had a guide for only 4 hours and time was of the essence, we strolled onwards back across the Neva towards the Church of the Spilled Blood.  This Church with the infamous name is probably the only church in St. Petersburg that is in the traditional Russian orthodox style. This style is famous in Moscow and most people know of St. Basil's church.  After that visit, we ventured down to the Nevsky Prospekt via one of the many canals of St. Petersburg.  This is another European city claiming that it is the "Venice of the North".  One of numerous cities making this claim, hoping to get an increase in tourist dollars.  A list that includes Bruges, Belgium and Stockholm, Sweden.   I am not one who gets too impressed with shopping districts, so we all decided to ditch the famous shopping street (Nevsky Prospekt) and headed down an alleyway passage to get to the famous great Senate square.  This square is quite mammoth in size, makes the claim as the largest square in all of Europe.  The guide made that claim, so I guess it is accurate.  The day was winding down now and we were starting to hear a rumble in our tummies.  So, after visiting the famous square we strolled down past the Winter Palace and headed back to Vasilievsky Island were we were staying.  The guide showed us a restaurant that she recommended for dinner.   We didn't eat much Russian food on the trip, but tried the borscht soup at the German restaurant where we dined.

The second day of our adventure meant trips to the famous Hermitage museum and other random strolling around in the city.  We also had the guide for and additional half a day and she made the Hermitage maze easier to navigate.  The Hermitage is known as the second largest museum in the world, next to the Louvre in France.  It supposedly would take about 8 years to see every piece in the museum.  We weren't able to even attempt to see a fraction of the museum, so our guide Ania had a nice plan to see the main highlights in 3 hours time.  It was a nice museum, but very crowded as you can imagine.  Hard to compare it to the Louvre in Paris, but it definitely held it's own.  It even featured painters from the impressionist and post impressionist periods as well as Dutch, Spanish and Italian masters.  The museum itself is housed in the Winter  Palace of the Czars and Czarinas and many rooms were gilded in gold.  All in all, the Hermitage is definitely a must visit for art lovers and Royal family fans.

The afternoon was spent revisiting some of the sights that we saw on Friday with the guide, but didn't have a chance to actually enter.  For example, we went inside 2 churches that the guide just pointed out the day before.  We also strolled a bit down the flashy Nevsky Prospekt shopping street and again I wasn't all that impressed.  I guess fancy shopping just doesn't appeal to me when I am visiting a new city.  I like to get away from commercial aspects and take the time to actually soak in the city and the culture.

The third and final day in St. Petersburg was the journey to the famous Peterhof palace using the speedy hydrofoil.  Peterhof was the summer home to the Royal families.  This is perhaps the best way to get to Peterhof palace, but it is quite expensive compared to other street options.  We actually enjoyed the boat ride over and enjoyed seeing parts of the city away from the tourist center.  We arrived at Peterhof and paid our admission price and then started walking on the massive grounds with the gardens, water fountains, gold statues and buildings.  The shear size of the grounds were quite impressive, but then I started to make comparisons to the Versaille near Paris.  While this palace was quite expansive and serene, it just didn't have the overall charm and pristine gardens of Versaille in Paris.  I later learned that the Russians imported much of the French culture into their palaces.  We covered a decent amount of terrain on our feet but noticed that every building charged an admission fee.  Peterhof is very impressive, but the "nickel and diming" for entry into every single building was a huge letdown.  We decided against entering anything additional for a fee and just took in the peace and solitude of the gardens.  After strolling around for several hours we took the hydrofoil boat back to town and made one last walk around the tourist center before heading back to the hotel for the final time.  We later got our luggage and found our race car driver #2 for a lift back to the train station .  This time we got another Mario Andretti style driver as he floored the gas pedal and raced in and out of traffic making it to our train station in record time.  This had me wondering is it just a coincidence or do drivers in St. Petersburg truly just enjoy this kind of frantic driving?

Back on the train was again a pleasant and hassle free experience.  We arrived back in Finland around 11:00pm and were left with pleasant memories of a special weekend in Russia.  Even as an American who must pay exorbitant amounts for the required Visa, I recommend a visit to St. Petersburg, Russia.  The city was easy to navigate on foot and it felt safe, even safer and friendlier than I had imagined it to be.