So the other week I was waiting for my friend to go to a club meeting and decided to have a cup of coffee while I waited. The weather has been getting nicer, the snow has melted, and although it does still snow, it doesn't realy stick. I mention this because some of the cafes, resturants and coffee houses have set up their tables outdoors again for the season. I chose to get coffee at a local chain store that had tables outdoors right next to where I was meeting my friend. It was 40 degrees out or so and beautiful, so I waited at one of their tables.
While I was waiting, many things occured to me as I looked around. First, the architecture in Helsinki is amazing. I don't know when the buildings were constructd, but they have beautiful carvings nd statues built into them. And here am I in the middle of a European capital city, where I live, sitting at a cafe table, sipping my coffee while I wait for a good friend to participte in a club activity with women from all over the world. When did I become so wordly and cosmopolitan?
Anyway, people were going past on their bikes, walking, and on the trams. So I people watched while I waited and a few things occured to me. First, there are some seriously good looking male Finns here in Helsinki...I'm just saying. The woman are also quite attractive, but being a woman myself, I took more interest in the men. Next, it seems that there are no obese people here, and very few seriously overweight ones. Sure, there are people (like myself) who could stand to lose a few pounds, but nothing like in the States. I suspect that this is due not only to the amazingly healthy, fresh food here, but also to the Finns incessant need to be outdoors doing pysical activity. In the winter it is skiing, walking, biking, swimming, etc... and in the summer, many of the same activities minus the skiing. They love the outdoors, especially during the summer months which are beautiful. I am told that we get July off here and the Finns all go to their summer cabins.
Yes, you read right..they take July off of work and only the essentials are open. I imagine that the resturants and retail stores stay open, but I'm not even sure of that. I do love this place and these people...they have definately got the work/life balance thing right!
Heh, some Finns ski even in middle of Summer. There are these things called hiihtotunneli (ski tunnel) where temperature is kept below zero (degrees celcius) and artificially made snow is put on ground.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ski_tunnel
Out of six listed ski tunnels four are located in Finland.