Another uneventful day at work. Fridays are pretty relaxed here. After work Dave and I tried a new restaurant, Piazza, on the ground floor of the Scandic hotel. At first there was some minor confusion since we wanted to sit at the bar. It seems Finns don't sit at the bar, I'm not sure why. Every place I've been to has a decent length bar with barstools, just no row of fools on that row of stools. (Note: Jim Ed Brown reference, not Alan Jackson). Anyway, both Dave and I find it bizzare that nobody sits at the bar, be it to just drink or eat too. So if you're ever bummed that you can't find a seat at the bar just come to Finland, they're all open. So... We're now seated at the bar, completing ... read more

A short work day today as the locals had some sort of "All Hands" meeting. So Dave and I were booted from the hangar around 1400 and ventured homeward. Since we were out early, and it was still well daylight, we took the longer way home thinking we'd see some moose in the country. Alas, no moose :( After playing catchup on email in the room I went out for a nice, long walk. Eventually I ended up at Coyote Bar n' Grill for dinner. I had the grilled goat cheese salad (of course) and a tuna steak with tomato risotto. The risotto was great, very light and less creamy than I'm used to, but good nonetheless. The tuna was a decent piece of meat, but overcooked. I'd definitely try it again, but I'd make sure ... read more

The Finns have a great sense of humor: I was giving one of the guys at work a hard time because A4 paper doesn't fit in my letter-size notebook. We had a fun conversation about who screwed up the paper, did America shrink it or did Europe lengthen it? Who knows. Anyway, he gave me some documents I'd asked for and had cut the tops of the paper off so they'd fit in my notebook. Granted it cut off some of the info I need, but he said you can't have everything, haha. Good stuff. We snuck out early for lunch and went to pay my speeding ticket. Another Finn with a good sense of humor: I get to the bank, show the teller my ticket and ask her if she can pay it for me. ... read more

Alright, I finally threw in the breakfast towel… I NEEDED an American breakfast. I just couldn't hang with the soupy eggs anymore. A friend had advised me that there's an American Diner with supposedly authentic bacon n' eggs breakfast so I tried it out. I can't say it was totally authentic, but it definitely helped. Three The American Diner is located in an area of Tampere called Finlayson. Finlayson is an old cotton mill turned into something like a mall. There's a movie theater there, several restaurants and some shopping. There's also a Vakoilumuseo (spy museum), advertised as the first spy museum in the world. So for 7 euro I took a gander; it's small, but very interesting. Actually very similar to the one in DC, just smaller and without all the high-tech displays. It's interesting ... read more

At work we had some meetings with other players on the project. In Finnish meetings you get free coffee and sandwiches... Bonus! I still saved room for Pea Soup at lunch though. Wow is that stuff good. Pretty much like ham n' beans, split pea soup, etc. Top with a few onions and their good bread. Very warming... I'm looking forward to next Thursday! After a mooseless drive home we played it lame tonite and ate at the hotel. I'll tell you what though, it's about the best food we've had in all the places we've tried. I had a manchego cheese appetizer, drizzled with honey and balsamic vinegar. Simple, but very tasty. Then I had the goat cheese pasta. I know, very cheesey meal, but it was good damnit! Compliments to the chef.... read more