We had some surprise guests for the first part of the tour: the honored guests VanderMeers and Robson joined us for the walk to Paasitorni and a tour of the con site.
First stop: the Kaisaniemi park.
Sari leading the group to the restaurant Kaisaniemi.
—Paasitorni!
—Paasitorni!
—Paasitorni!
—It’s only a model.
—Shh! Besides, it can’t be, because we went inside.
The place was still relatively quiet.
There was a special treat for the tour: we got to go up to the tower, and enjoy the view of Helsinki from there.
And it was pretty.
Sari Polvinen, our tour guide, kept us amused with historical facts and anecdotes about Helsinki.
Just a little parade we arranged in honor of our friends from abroad.
Finncon takes its security seriously, make no mistake!
The Helsinki Cathedral.
We took the ferry to Suomenlinna island, where we had a short tour of the former fortress, and then had lunch at the brewery restaurant there.
Some participants had dropped off along the way, but most made it to Suomenlinna and back to the mainland again—even after some very curious loitering (which to the untrained eye might well have looked like a mad dash to make it to an earlier boat).
We took another route back to the city center, and ended the tour there. People went on their separate ways to bookshopping, to the hotel, or just wondering around on their own. Olav, Anders and I decided to have a beer on a nearby outside pub.
Really big thanks to the local guides Sari and Otto who made the tour a success with their knowledge and personal anecdotes! I had fun and hope to do a tour like this in another place at some future con too!
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