Imatra, time to relax

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Well yesterday we rolled into Imatra. The little Vauxhal Corsa did it! All the way from London to Imatra in Finland, despite the long miles and the German bollard attacking it, the car brought us safely here.
We have just had a few fun days in Helsinki with Roy and Mari, who lucky let us stay at Roys' place (he has a great cd and record collection-nice for me!). Helsinki hostels are very expensive. But these two lovely people let us stay and showed us the bars and sights of the city. Saw lots of live music, some good, some... not so good. But all young people performing around the city, on the esplinade and in the parks,mostly rock and metal. Schools here seem to be very encouraging of all this, lots of bands where of an average age of around 11 or 12 years old.
Lots of beer and a local old style beer Sahti (i think that is the spelling) Strong and high alcohol content. Not bad, goes well with the reindeer meal we ate.
Lots of cycling around Helsinki, made me feel at home really. And loads of longboard skateboards. Makes me think.... hmmm. Maybe when i get home. 😉
After a fun evening watching the Eurovision song contest and a good sleep Salme had taken us on a tour of Imatra, we strolled by the dam, had icecream on the highstreet while watching a live band perform some rock tunes.
It is nice to have the car unloaded now. Feels much better knowing we can drive around not worrying that the things we have in the car may be stolen. Makes you think about day stops when you travel with a car, but now we are headed for the train part of our trip. The really exciting bit, with the TransSiberian railway taking us on from here in a little under two weeks.
We got our Chinese visas in Helsinki too!!!! On the day we arrived on the ferry, we drove straight to the embassy who could not have been better! So nice after all we have heard and read lately about the Chinese embassies around the world.
Sorry for the lack of photos with this entry, Michelle will write more soon and add photos i am sure.
that's all from me for now.
Paul

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