Helsinki

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Carita and Justa live an hour from Helsinki. The drive is a fairy tale of rolling farmland, rippling green fields, thick forest, and beds of wild lupins—yellow fields like a golden sea surround some of the farm houses. The barns and homes are painted bright red. I have daily been taking the children exploring. We visit the neighbors' horses—sleek, glistening beauties that are obviously worth a fortune—go strawberry picking, and wade through the tall sea of field grass. Everything is so green and luscious!

The marina is in the centre of Inga, the closest village. I biked there tonight and am presently enjoying the clink, clink of rigging against ship masts...Sunlight fades at around midnight only to quickly reemerge again at 2 a.m. just a couple of hours later. In winter the Finns are like zombies because there are only a couple of hours of light.

Helsinki is a fascinating city, a port city where they build the great ocean liners. Nokia has its headquarters there too. Cobbled streets, many outdoor musicians, blond hair everywhere.

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