Finnish-ed

It is kind of late in Helsinki, but my flight is super early...so I figure if I pull an all nighter then sleep on the plane, I'll be ready to enjoy the weekend without jetlag. I have a cab coming at 4:30 am. So excited to come home!

I really enjoyed Helsinki on this visit. The city is pretty cool, and I feel fortunate to have been here a few times for work as it is not a city I probably would have planned a vacation to.

Here are a few observations about Finland...things you may not know:

• Fish are a big deal, canned fish, fresh fish, raw fish, fish with heads and tails and eyeballs, fish in a tube, fish filet.....
• Liver is also a big deal, it was the only option in the cafeteria at work yesterday, awesome
• EVERY BATHROOM has a "personal bidet" - hotel bathrooms, airport bathrooms, work bathrooms, restaurant bathrooms....see picture below...it is like one of the things you have on your sink to rinse dishes

• Modern design and architecture; below is the Kiasma Museum, which is one of many museums that I did not visit while I was here, but I admired the structure...
  
  
  
• Licorice (this is a big deal over here - all colors, shapes, sizes, flavors...)
• Saunas! Everyone has one at home, every hotel has one, there is even one in the office and it is not uncommon to use it with colleagues
• Vodka - big deal
• Bikes, everywhere...not like amsterdam, but lots of bikes
• Parks in the city - plenty of green space, very clean city - although I did see lots of cigarette butts (don't get me started on that topic)
• Wood products...all different types of things, kitchen gadgets, toys, sculptures
• Reindeer (people eat it and also decorate with the antlers)
• Glasses - everyone wears glasses! I am thinking they are more fashion than function...men and women all wear the same kind of glasses....they have really wide side things that go over your ears....I would estimate that 6 out of every 10 people wear them, interesting...

My work here is Finnish-ed, can't wait to land at PDX tomorrow. Last biz trip for a long time...feels good....and weird. Ready for the next phase, bring on BabyF!