Eye contact

(I wrote this on Friday)

I'm spending the night in Helsinki.
This town (Finland's capital) is both loved and hated by its people... it's built to be nice, warm and inviting with wide roads and market places but it often feels crowded and too small when you ad all the people and (modern, not horse pulled) traffic.

Helsinki is rich with different (and new) cultures but it doesn't live up to its full potential (my opinion). Areas that have giant statues and superior natural parks are totally forgotten and often only enjoyed by their older (retired and lonely-ish) residents.

History thrives all over Helsinki's parks, streets and old buildings but quick fixes and constant repairs to the roads and underground plumbing rip the scenery to shreds with their blinking yellow lights and plastic cones. (Every fxcking year. All year round.)

OOHHH.... The city by the sea, a shiny pearl or a pot of gold to the staggering visitors it hosts every year. Still... so gray and dead most of the time. Is it because of the people who live here or the history it so proudly carries? Pulled apart so many times by the kings of the North and the tsars of the East. Maybe it is the weather?

I lived here half my life until I got older and 50% just wasn't the truth any more.
One of the weirdest things to let go has been to admit that I am not from Helsinki. It's even weirder when foreign people ask where I'm from: "Scandinavia." I say.
I don't like narrowing myself to (just) Finland.

stayed at a friends flat

she has hobbies

and weird antiques

we went to the park...

oh, the beach is open!!

no, wait, it's crowded...

...I spent some time at the gym today. It's father's day in Finland.