my life as a travel writer, pt. or Mexican in Helsinki and Texan in Tallin.

  After my nice chat with the green lady in Amsterdam, I hopped on a plane to Helsinki, Finland.  I arrived, grabbed my bags, had a nice chat with some nice ladies in immigration who know the contents of my bag, and met my friend who lives in Helsinki.  Finnish people consume more coffee than any other group of people (per capita), so of course, we get along great.  My friend took me to a local Greek restaurant/cafe.  Yes, Greek.  I had one of the best cappuccinos I have ever had (the Finnish don't drink Foldger's, y'all).  Finnish and European cafe culture was one of my favorite parts of the visit.  In cafes, there is no rush to leave, even if you only ordered a coffee.  There is no one standing over you waiting for you to leave; you are free to sit and chat or sip on a latte to your heart's content!  If I give you a play-by-play of what I did on my first day, every other thing will be "I got some coffee."  So I'll spare you the when and where of those 4-5 cups of coffee.  My friend and I explored some of the highlights of Helsinki--the Rock Church, a really big Lutheran church, a Greek Orthodox church, and the waterfront.  I enjoyed just wandering the wide, empty, well-planned streets.  It was relaxing to be able to walk around, sit in a park, or grab some coffee, and there not be literally one hundred thousand people walking around you.

the building straight ahead is the train station

the walkway between buildings is enclosed for the Arctic winters

inside the rock church

a Lutheran church

on the water.  it's truly beautiful

another Lutheran church

one of the big concert halls

inside the Russian Orthodox church

outside the Russian Orthodox church

   Not only did I see some beautiful architecture, but I also ate some of the best Mexican food that I have ever had.  I'm not so much talking American Tex-Mex as much as I am talking about authentic Mexican food.  If you ever visit Helsinki.  Visit my friends at Cafe de Nopal.  Two guys, one from Mexico, the other from Chili, and one girl from Finland combine to produce some of the most amazing, authentic Mexican food that I have ever eaten.  I'm telling you it was so good I went twice, including for dinner on the day of my birthday.
  Earlier on the day of my birth, my friend and I hopped a ferry across the Baltic to the Estonian capitol of Tallinn to meet another friend.  Tallinn is a beautiful medieval city that sits right next to the water.  There is a beautiful old church in Tallinn that was, at one point, the tallest church in Europe.  So, what did we do?  We climbed the 60 meters of the tower that we could.  Let me tell you about the climb.  It was the steepest, narrowest spiral staircase that I have ever climbed.  If you slipped, well, you better know Jesus because it would have been a spiraling vortex of death.  Spiraling vortexes aside.  The three americans ate at the Texas BBQ restaurant.  We wanted to have a PA system that announced our status of ex-pat, that we didn't only ever eat American food.
  After the American food, we went to a really unique cafe that was like stepping into Mr. Tumnas' house from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.  Not only was this cafe inside of rock, but also the cafe served cups of melted dark chocolate.  WONDERFUL!  Yeah, Tallinn was an awesome day trip.  If you are ever in Helsinki, you should definitely hop on the ferry and check it out.
  I had some great food in Finland and Estonia.  However, the highlight was definitely getting to hang out with some great friends.  Fellowship is one of God's greatest gifts to us.  It is a miracle how He places people in our lives who are being taught similar things and going through similar life experiences. He is a wonderful Savior.

the really tall, old church

the tower of the same church

the church's door

the view from 60 meters up

from 60 meters up, looking to the top of the tower

(also, these aren't all the best photos ever, but i wanted y'all to see something).