Independence Day in Finland

Today is Finland's Independence Day, the 92nd anniversary of their independence from Russia. All of the stores and restaurants are closed today. Even the hotel restaurant was closed at lunch time, but it will be open for supper.

The picture above was taken at the big shopping mall near our hotel. It was taken around 2pm this afternoon during my walk. As you can see, it is very quiet. A little further in the walk it actually started to snow, the first I have seen since arriving over two weeks ago. I tried to get a picture, but as you can see (or not) the snowflakes are very small.

I walked between three and four miles last night and again this afternoon. I remain thoroughly impressed with the abundance of quality walking/jogging/biking trails. Bikes do not ride in the streets here but on the asphalt trails alongside all of the major roads. The path above is very typical. In some areas where there is a lot of both foot and bicycle traffic you will see a white line down the middle to the trail separating the walking/jogging area for the bicycle area.

Another nice thing for walking here is that the population density is so low here that there are green belts everywhere. The picture below is just two blocks from our hotel, about 2 miles south of the airport, and in the middle of the city of Vantaa.

Tomorrow begins our last week of work before heading home. We have made a lot of progress these past few weeks but it will be good to be home.