Christmas in Finland

[Bubba Elvis XIV]

Charm-el-snake?

Flying carpets!

[Pursuivant]

Charm-el-Snake or Hurl-up-gladly? You'll get sphinxed.

[ajdias]

I'm not a Christmas fan at all...I'd love to bail to some Islamic country every year to get away from it.

What about North Africa? I think it's pretty cheap these days...Or do you want a Christmas?

Or....why not go home and visit the friends and folks? Or are you barred too?

Too long a trip, to short time for a visit.
I am having time off in January.

[CanuckKiWi]

Not much going on? Can we trade places? I have 4-5 days of Family Christmas Bootcamp before I can choose my own activities! Heck, I'm even starting now to form some polite small talk phrases to use on the elderly relatives who don't speak English. otoh, 450e to get away for the week? Tempting...

Is the outdoor skating rink set up in downtown Helsinki in the, hmm, opera house square? I have a knack of getting "lost" in the city and ending up there to go skating before "finding" my way home

[EP]

Skating rink is at least on Rautatientori, next to the railway station. Many people skating yesterday evening.

[Halldor K]

Living in Rovaniemi i can tell you that coming to Lapland for the holidays might not be the most fun, as the place is swarming with tourists as is and from the work schedules i have(Wilderness/Snowmobile tour guiding) it is only going to be worse over Christmas and New Years.

If you don't mind the crowds and such then it might not be a bad thing, seems Rovaniemi(and many locations in Lapland) are geared for the season so there have to be some stores and such open(first christmas here so i am not sure) but i know that the pharmacy my GF works in is completely closed all day on the 24-27 of dec and not sure about the rest of the year since she has not gotten that work plan yet...so don't bet on it.

Would love a trip somewhere warm for a change...might go to Egypt in feb-march.

Regards
Halldor K

[ajdias]

I have spent a Christmas in Tallinn. We went for 3 nights. If I remember right stores were open on the 24th and 26th so it's just the 25th when all the places are closed. Restaurants were still open of course though. We had a good time then too.

Just to update you guys: went to Tallin and it was well worth it. Shops were open even on the 25th, at least many of those in the old town (supermarkets, booze shops, touristic and even regular shops.) Had a great Christmas dinner at Olde Hansa, the whole experience was fabulous; saw some finns on their way to celebrate the evening at Depeche Mode baar , there were many finns in town. Quite a few bars and restaurants open on the 24th and 25th. Estonian prices are way friendlier than the ones over here.
Oh, and for the lads, the praise Estonian gals sometimes receive on the "Finnish girls" thread is fully deserved