How I did it: My husband was invited to be the guest of honor at a conference and I was able to tag along. The convention organizers were incredibly generous and helpful and made the trip nearly effortless for us.

Lessons & tips: If you're going to Helsinki definitely take in the museums. English is so widely spoken it was easy to get around and ask for help when necessary, which is a good thing because there's no way to puzzle out what the signs in Finnish say! I can usually make some guess at what signs in Spanish, Italian, French, or German say because of familiarity with some of the words (or remembering a little from my high school language class) but not so with Finnish. The Finns know this and are very fluent in English as well, which is a big help to the weary traveler.

Resources: We were incredibly fortunate to have several local Finns who were associated with the conference and willing (even eager) to show us around. Being able to rely on the locals for tips and translations was wonderful.

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Jan 01, 2009, 11:31AM PST | 0 comments | 1 cheer