The bottom photo is the Bonus Inn where I will be staying for the next three weeks. Today may have been the best weather day we will see during our stay. It reached the mid-40s and as you can see from the photo, we actually saw some blue sky. Sunrise was around 8:30 this morning, but at noon the sun was only about 20 degrees above the horizon, as high as it would get for the day.
Tom, Lanshu, Tapani, and I spent several hours in the afternoon walking around downtown Helsinki including the harbor area. It is a very interesting city with casinos, high end shopping, a financial district, lots of restaurants and hotels, embassies from all of the large countries of the world, and a lot of people. Unlike American cities, there is minimal automobile traffic, but a lot of people walking everywhere. I asked Tapani, who is from Turku about 100 miles west of Helsinki, if the relatively nice weather was the reason there were so many people walking around the city. He said that no, this was typical. Even in February when the temperature drops to much colder temperatures, people will be out and walking.Even though the air temperature was not that cold, it felt colder because there is no heating from the sun and the humidity is high. It didn't rain today but there was still water standing everywhere. I was glad to have the new boots, coat, and gloves.
