22
The Village Voice — November 2012
The bus tour was conducted by a local tour guide, Marietta. We found out that five million Finns live in Helsinki. Finns speak both Finnish and Swedish as they were a part of Sweden until 1809. Traveling down Mannerheim, we saw pedestrians already using the walkways. The open market was bustling and some vendors were already selling strawberries and cherries while other were selling everything from furs to Steel pipes, a t-shirts. The bus made a stop at the monument to Bank of Finland where we could see composer Sibelius. signs of chipped marble from the heavy bombing by the Russians in WWII. We visited the university that boasts some 37,000 students, 65% of whom are women. The tuition is free. Finland depends on its forest for paper and wood exports, along with the oil in the North Sea. The prevailing religion is Lutheran (85%), but most Finns are not particularly active with the church. Judy and I were to take a harbor cruise, but we opted to visit a gorgeous Russian Orthodox Church instead. An hourlong trolley trip around the city ended our day as we headed back to our hotel. Our evening’s entertainment was the last half of the movie, “Patton.”
Trader Joe’s, a great place for unusual food at unusually good prices.
Shopping Around By the Phantom Shopper
Trader Joe’s
While most of us in the Village make our weekly grocery shopping at the local markets, a special effort is occasionally made to Trader Joe’s. And what is the allure that makes us travel across town to this rather small market with limited selections?