Blogs from Tampere, Pirkanmaa, Finland, Europe - page 5

Today was Matti Day in Finland (technically Mattias). In English we call it Name Day, but it's not commonly practiced. According to Wikipedia: A name day is a tradition in many countries in Europe and Latin America of celebrating on a particular day of the year associated with the one's given name. The custom originated with the Catholic and Orthodox calendar of saints, where believers, named after a particular saint, would celebrate that saint's feast day. In many countries, however, there is no longer any explicit connection to Christianity… Today Finns celebrate their name days (or nimipäivä) according to their given name on the date given by the calendar published by the University of Helsinki Almanac Office (Almanakkatoimisto). Every day except New Year's Day, Christmas Day, and February 29 is a name day. For each day ... read more

Ah, another lazy Sunday. I had breakfast at the hotel, skipped the eggs though. I still need to experiment with them in the microwave. Other option is that the table where Dave and I usually sit has an electrical outlet near it so I could buy a hotplate and a skillet and just make my own eggs there. I did find out that the eggs are baked. They just crack a bunch of eggs into a big pan, add a little milk, salt and pepper and then throw them in the oven for not near long enough. I'm told it's very standard fare for Finnish hotel breakfasts, but not necessarily elsewhere. Liz says she loves these kind of eggs; more power to you! They're all you can eat so have your fill when you come visit ... read more

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