Helsinki Last Few Days

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My last few days in Helsinki were a blast. On Friday night we all had dinner together then went over to Kai's place for drinks and some madness (see the pics) before heading out to Red Room where we stayed till late. On the way home there were even snow angels, and Jarvi snow-69 angels (my favorite kind).

The Fins made me a traditional salmon dinner on my last night there with all the fixins.. I'll have to bring the recipe back to the states. Other than that, I went out every night. On the Saturday before I left I went out to DTM and partied till the club closed. Then I met some peeps and walked about 20 minutes to an after-party. When I left around 6am I accidentally left my camera there. I hadn't gotten the name or numbers of anyone at the party and I certainly didn't know where I had been. I was crushed. Lasse drove me to the club, and I remembered the direction we had walked and a few key features about the place and the street and we were able to locate the building. We even broke in and left a note on the right apartment. 30 minutes later Marko called and said he had my camera... Only in Finland! Great people, beautiful scenery, relaxing and fun!

Posted 2nd April 2008 by Josh Gray-Emmer

Helsinki Days Two, Three and Four

I've been behind on my blog here in Finland so I decided to combine the last few days into one entry. This place is gorgeous. It's been pretty snowy so I've spent a lot of time inside, in coffee shops and bars. Ville has graciously allowed me to stay at his place while he stays at his girlfriend's. This is saving me a ton of money, which is a lifesaver as I come to the end of my trip. The Fins are on the Euro, and it's quite expensive for pretty much everything here. So far Hong Kong has been the best place for my dollar, which was certainly not what I had expected starting this trip.

My adventures to Sweden and St. Petersburg were thwarted by expensive Visas an plane tickets respectively, so those trips will have to wait till next time. So far my time here in Finland has been very relaxing. I've been exploring the city quite a bit and getting a ton of exercize as I walk miles a day in the snow (which promptly undo with beer every night).

Some of the highlights have been dinners here. On the first night in Helsinki I went with Ville to a classic Finnish restaurant and had reindeer and potatoes. It was very good. So far there has been almost no native food on this trip I haven't liked. I need to remember to be more adventurous with my eating habits when I return to LA. Last night Anna, Ville and I cooked a pasta dinner at Ville's pad before he and I trekked through the snow to see Juno (over rated at best).

Other than that we've been exploring a lot of small neighborhood bars. I've been to DTM (the biggest gay bar here) twice, but both times during the day, when I was pretty much the only person there. The architecture is stunning and you'll notice a lot of shot of it in my pics. I wish LA had more buildings like these. Tonight I plan on partying for sure, and Friday I'm going out with Ville and all his friends. Thats it for now!

Posted by Josh Gray-Emmer on Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Posted 27th March 2008 by Josh Gray-Emmer

Helsinki Day One

Four hours after I got to the hotel, the wakeup call came in.. I had 45 minutes to pack up my stuff, shower and get to the train for Hethrow Airport. Lucky, I made it and 6 hours later I touched down in Helsinki. It was snowing outside and I could feel the cold as I entered the terminal. Ville, Lasse and Juri, picked me up and we grabbed Toomas before heading to the store to buy supplies (beer and food and beer and beer) for the night at the cabin.

After that it was a quick hour car ride to The Jarvi cabin in the woods of Finland. I guess almost all families in Finland (a country of less then 6M people) has one of these.... it was a really cool very relaxing place surrounded by trees on a stunning frozen lake lit by the moon. After some whiskey and a few beers we headed over to the sauna house right on the lake where we loaded the firewood into the sauna and took an axe and punched a hole in the lake for water for the sauna... and I learned.. to JUMP IN. These Finish boys are freekn crazy. However, you only live once.

We went back in the house to play UNO (the drinking version of course) and wait for the sauna to get hot.. 45 minutes later, I was the looser (thank god, I was gonna need the whiskey warmth to handle the FREEZING LAKE). We headed back to the sauna house, stripped neked and got in the burning hot room, chatting and laughing. As they poured water on the hot rocks the room burned warming every inch or me inside and out... I was gonna need that too.

Then it was time. They opened the door and we all headed, butt neked across the snow onto the icy lake and over to the watery hole of doom. I slipped several times getting covered in snow before taking my turn jumping into the frozen water and screaming like a girl... but I was proud of myself for doing it.. and once back in the sauna it felt great.

After a few more trips into the snow (I cant believe I was actually hanging out with 4 hot Finish dudes naked in the snow... random), we headed back into the house, where we warmed up and Ville cooked sausages over the fire for us for dinner. Sometime after that I passed out, and the boys took pics of me..... Truely a great, relaxing, and VERY Finnish day.

Posted by Josh Gray-Emmer on Thursday, March 27, 2008

Posted 24th March 2008 by Josh Gray-Emmer