Destination #2: Hanko, Finland

I watched the sunrise in Madrid this morning!  For all of you in the states, the sun came up on this last day of September seven or so hours ago, but I took this picture at right before midnight your time.  (We are 8 hours ahead of US time).

So yes, we made it, I'm in Finland! We took a direct 12-hour flight from Cordoba, Argentina to Madrid, Spain, and then took a smaller Finn-Air plane to Helsinki.  Helsinki, the capital of Finland, is about 2 hours outside of Hanko.  Although the flights went smoothly, I am all sorts of messed up in my sleeping...!  I didn't get many zzzzz's on our 12-hour flight across the Atlantic...we left around 3pm Argentina time, and most folks had no interest in sleeping.  They treated the flight more like a party- visiting, drinking, even singing (!), and let their children run up and down the aisles.  Apparently they were not as determined as we were to get adjusted to European time.  I slept a bit on my second flight, and as I write this at 9:15 pm Finland time, I feel drowsy.  Hopefully I can sleep until the morning!

But before I go to bed, some pictures!  We stopped for dinner in a town called Tammisaari which was on the way into Hanko.  It is a very old town town right on the Baltic Sea, and similar to Hanko, draws in many visitors during the summer months.  The sun was setting as we walked down to the Sea, and I couldn't help but notice how quiet the town was.  The leaves have already begun changing colors, and with a high this afternoon of 22C (~71F), Helsinki broke a record.  It's not usually this warm here at the end of September.

Here are some others from Tammisaari...

A protestant church built in the 1600's, so beautiful! The church bell was ringing as we walked around it.

Many sailboats in the marina on the Baltic.  The water was surprisingly VERY clear, you could see 3-4 meters down to the bottom, and cold- maybe around 50F.

...and some pictures from the town. Very adorable. The streets were lined with many clothing stores and home decor stores that I would have loved to peak in of we had more time. Spanish and Italian food and fashion seem to be a large influence on the culture.  The homes in the town are all wooden, with large windows (triple-pane glass)!  For dinner we grabbed some food at a local pub, nothing fancy- and tried some Finnish beer.  Very satisfying.

Then we continued on to Hanko.  We drove past the plant and into town, were Filip lives and Osvaldo and I are staying in the hotel b8.  My room is adorable! Again, not at all like a hotel in the states.  It has much more character (and reminds me a lot of Ikea!). 

I am not going to mind staying here for a week.  The hotel receptionist does speak English, and was very friendly.  We can get breakfast here in the morning too. 

Because we spent Thursday and Friday traveling, we will be working in the plant over the weekend.  We won't be over doing it though- tomorrow we start at Noon with lunch, and a plant tour in the afternoon.  I am really looking forward to seeing the RBCs!  In the morning I should have some time to walk around Hanko, it was already dark when we arrived. 

In summary- a long but successful 2 days.  Now for sleep.  Goodnight!