Member Since: 29 Jun 2017
Location: Charente 16480
Posts: 3483
So this is what you can do with the repair money if you don't have a LR.
Glad to see you are enjoying yourself. Very jealous.An honorable defeat is better than a dishonorable victory.” ― Millard Fillmore
2006 Disco 3
Gas Gas 300ec / Gas Gas tx249 / Bandit 1250
XR 650r / Pajero 2.8 Lifted and Safari Snorkel-gone.
30th Sep 2019 7:56 pm
kajtzu
Member Since: 11 Aug 2017
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 6577
DSL wrote:
Thank you. Liking it so far. Hotel 100m from the ferry terminal, cheap bottle of vino for dinner and Fox channel on TV. Just got to get over the time difference from Sweden, we’ll make sure phone is set right so we don’t miss the train tomorrow morning.
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72798
Saw that from the forecast on the phone, will dump the packs at the hotel but hang on to the wetties. We’re just looking forward to getting to Beijing onwards where it’s still over +30c.
30th Sep 2019 8:06 pm
kajtzu
Member Since: 11 Aug 2017
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 6577
Are you guys flying to PEK from HEL? it’s a pretty sweet ride if you are.
Let me know (PM) if you want to meet up tomorrow, I might have some time during the day and am in downtown.
30th Sep 2019 8:09 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72798
No flying, train travel all the way. And then all the way to Singapore by train except where there is no railway, then it’s the bus. We’re wondering how long it will be on the Trans Mongolian before one of us pipes up “Are we there yet?”
30th Sep 2019 8:14 pm
KiwiD4
Member Since: 17 Aug 2017
Location: Christchurch
Posts: 310
Excellent, another adventure to follow!
We have the Lime scooters here. They are awful. Well, the scooters themselves are fine, it's the muppets that ride them on the footpath at high speed, and then abandon them wherever they want.
The charging is done overnight by what are called Juicers. Apparently, as a second source of income or for a student, it's an 'OK' income. There is quite a competition between them however - some hire vans or trailers and go around collecting them in their dozens. They are only given a few chargers when the sign on, but some of them buy multi charge units. Quite crazy.
They get paid more for the ones with a lower battery level, so ones with decent charge remaining will often be left out overnight.King of the typo.
MY11 D4 5.0 V8, Bournville, lots of goodies!
Now departed: '85 RR Vogue, '94 D1, '95 D1, '70 SIIA, '97 D1, '04 D2a. All V8, except for the SIIA - but that drank as much petrol anyway!
1st Oct 2019 3:58 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72798
We’re packed for a tropical trip and it’s +6c here in Turku and ‘orrible, weather wise. Still, our emergency shelter train is here. Top deck for maximum viewing enjoyment.
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1st Oct 2019 5:52 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72798
Evening all, pics from a lovely afternoon tromping around central Helsinki & Suomenlinna Islands. We got booked into the hotel nice and early (10:30am) so plenty of time for a nice leisurely bimble round. After 15 minutes or so SWMBO declared she liked Helsinki, always a good start. She was most impressed with the Finish “Oscar” statues outside the main station.
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It’s much cleaner than Stockholm, with far, far less begging, the Lime scooters are mostly limed up nicely (excuse the pun) and the cyclists sharing the pavements are not demonic.
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It was a bit windy and cold so walking was brisk and pics from ferry to the islands was from the shelter at the back, hence the foreground is a little similar.
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This is an outdoor swimming pool next to the harbour area, I bet it’s not heated! Remember the Finns name for The Beast from the East? Wednesday.
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A few pics on Suomenlinna. This church had a rather novel fence around it. I bet the top level priest is a canon.
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Getting my coat. Which we needed today. I was going to bring a little beanie hat for the cold bits of the trip but SWMBO thought that was a big daft and even dafter, I listened to her. Had I ignored her she’d have had a nice warm head, to go with the warm body from her wearing all her layers plus my fleece! It was about +6c and windy so positively Baltic.
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A couple of pics of the guns on the southern fort.
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Another day, another U-boat. This time the Vesikko. Not quite on the same scale as U-995, but built a lot earlier (1936) as an experimental sub for the Garman Navy.
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As we’ve headed N & E autumn colours have been a lot more pronounced. They are booooootiful in Finland but looks like the best is yet to come.
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Talking of colour, SWMBO flatly refused to go and get the pot of gold.
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And back across the water to Helsinki on our ferry, this time sitting inside. Much better idea.
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And after all that walking it was fish soup time. Soup was fab, bread was also fab, and it did the trick to warm us up. For anyone hungry, feast on this.
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Pud was a cinnamon bun type thing, was checking out the local supermarket for breakfast stuff for the early train to St Petersburg tomorrow. Well would have been rude not to try one.
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We also realised that we couldn’t get a bottle of VC in the supermarket, 5.5abv max, so had to visit the local Alko store for a bottle. A bit of a weird experience but reasonable choice and didn’t break the bank.
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1st Oct 2019 4:44 pm
kajtzu
Member Since: 11 Aug 2017
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 6577
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72798
Good to hear it, I was shivering in sympathy with the thought of unheated.
Either that or coz I was in semi tropical gear with my fleece over SWMBO’s fleece and under her wettie. I’m sure I could hear her thinking “that wettie” would look good on me!”.
We’ll be back to Helsinki on another trip and will do it justice.
1st Oct 2019 5:07 pm
kajtzu
Member Since: 11 Aug 2017
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 6577
Never been to it, seemed like a very obvious tourist trap
1st Oct 2019 5:13 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72798
The pool, the islands, the submarine or the soup place?
1st Oct 2019 7:19 pm
kajtzu
Member Since: 11 Aug 2017
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 6577
The pool.
The rest of the places are quite alright. Suomenlinna in particular is a very popular summer destination for locals. Lunch in downtown tends to be quite good almost anywhere. Finnish cooking is nowhere as bad as British is rumored to be
1st Oct 2019 7:34 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72798
Nah, the pool can’t be a tourist dive (see what I did there? ) as all the Chinese tourists were on the island.
The fish soup was really good and hit the spot, plus not too expensive. We’ve been looking at budget food in StP and it looks pretty good, and pretty cheap. It’s going to be strange going into a country where we can’t speak any of the lingo, or read any of it. Bit like Thailand, just about 25c colder.
Re British food, it’s pretty good as long as you go for the French or Italian version.
1st Oct 2019 7:42 pm
kajtzu
Member Since: 11 Aug 2017
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 6577
You’ll be fine in LED. Remember, the average dude or dudette there doesn’t make much yet still needs to eat. Borscht soup, pelmeni, blini, stroganoff, etc. all are good. There should be a Mickey D’s, too, but you don’t want to go there.
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