Jan 6 2008

NYC/Russia/Scandinavia Trip Part 10
Helsinki, Copenhagen

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I lied, that wasn't the last I had of Russian food...this was the snack that we had on the flight from St. Petersburg to Helsinki, Finland. Granted, it was a really short flight :-) I have no idea what kind of cookies these are, and internet searches have turned up nothing.

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We got held up at the Helsinki after our flight on Россия (Rossiya). There was a bit of rain, so we ended up waiting under this glass walkway for a really long time for the bus.

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It was a really long wait punctuated with singing by the elderly folks. Michael and Annie occupy themselves...

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...while Brad can't believe this is happening.

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Look for the prophylactic! Yes, the Finns need them as much as they need candy/soda.

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I can't tell which E-Class Mercedes this is, but since they start off at $51,000, I can safely say that this is a very nice taxi.

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First Chinese restaurant! Well, I have to admit, I was really looking forward to having some good ol' Chinese food again...

Ravintola Hong Kong Restaurant
3 Sallinkatu
00250 Helsinki, Finland
+358 9 241 7883

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Oooooh...fluffy rice...how I missed you!

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Tiny Shrimp though...

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...and the amount of fish was sooo small. However, all the tastes and sauces were authentic...must have had like 5 bowls of rice. Plus other tables ended up sending their food over to our table so I definitely had my fill.

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This is the Sibelius Monument in Helsinki which consists of an effigy and an abstract.

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The effigy is kinda blase...

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I really liked the abstract one though...it echoes organ pipes and the musicality of Sibelius.

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I wish I could have spent a little more time capturing it. There were so many cool angles...

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Touring by bus is definitely different from touring by car...there's pros and cons to both...I definitely wouldn't tour a city by bus though. For getting around a country though, it's definitely better.

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Look at that leg room! Helsinki is rapidly becoming more and more of a travel hub getting around Europe/Russia. I ended up flying in/out of Helsinki 5 times. There's more pictures of Helsinki towards the end of the trip. I took this on the way to Copenhagen,

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You can definitely see elements of Scandinavian design around here...

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I want shoes like that!

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One of Hans Christian Anderson's luggages. Notice the "HCA" burned into the side.

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One thing to know about Copenhagen is that bicycles are everywhere. Not so much as the motorcycles/scooters of Taipei, but noticeably more than American cities.

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What's special is that bicycles are given right of way over pedestrians within the bicycle lane. Therefore, it's actually common for tourists to get run down by bicyclists. I saw an old guy get run down by a bicyclist. The bicyclist stopped to help him up but told him that he needed to watch himself when crossing the bike lane. No apologies though. In fact, if it weren't for the tour guide telling us to watch out for it, I'm pretty sure someone in our tour would have been hurt as well.

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Since Denmark is relatively flat, you don't have to worry about climbing hills or anything like that...

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Carlsburg is the largest Danish beer brewer (Tuborg and Wiibroe are the other major brewers)...the Carlsburg building is huge but not very distinct. San Francisco doesn't have much in the way of building advertisements.

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The Tivoli Gardens are Copenhagen's main attraction and opened in 1843. Both Danes and tourists come here so it's not a tourist trap at all. It's said that Disneyland was inspired by it. it also has the world's highest carousel but it isn't operational now. For ultra-scary movies of the ride when it was in operation, take a look here.

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I never thought that I would see an E Class Mercedes with a ad for spareribs on the side of the car. Poor baby!

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I had originally wanted to go out and experience Copenhagen nightlife but a downpour stopped that idea. We did have another excellent Chinese food meal though. This was just down the street from our hotel.

Restaurant Canton v/ Zhong Liang Li
Vesterbrogade 20
1620 København V, Denmark
3331 8136

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Hmm...nothing better than seaweed chicken soup on a cold, rainy day.

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Yummy Mabo tofu!

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OOOOOhh...so sinful, so good...anyone else like fatty pork?

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We stayed the the Scandic Hotel in Copenhagen (there are actually two, and if you book it, make sure you get the downtown one and not the one sitting way outside the downtown area). It's right next door to the Tycho Brahe Planetarium as well as an adult nightclub. This was also the first hotel that we stayed at that had free in-room Wi-Fi.

Scandic Hotel Copenhagen
Vester Søgade 6
1601 København V, Denmark
3314 3535

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They're very eco-conscious. The trashcan is pretty cool...the most awesome part was the hotel card. You can see it in the lower left. It's made out of thin birch wood (also known as Betulla...which happens to be Finland's national tree).



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