Visited Helsinki To Buy Skates For My Daughter

This picture was taken at about half past three pm.

My city has a population of 120,000 and a figure skating club but no store specialized in figure skates. Helsinki is only an hour away so it's not a huge deal to drive down there. The process of buying the skates and the rest of the gear my daughter needed took over an hour because there were other customers. That store is one of the best brick and mortar stores I've been to for ages. Great service, great selection. They're planning to re-introduce also selling and buying used skates.

Before going to the store we ate at a Nepalese restaurant. In Helsinki, there are restaurants owned and run by foreigners where no Finnish is spoken. This one was owned by an elderly couple and only the Mrs spoke Finnish apparently quite well. I've been told the lack of knowledge of the local language(s) is caused by the labor shortage in the industry which forces restaurants to hire foreign workers.

I imagine it can't be good for business to have no Finnish speaking staff but it does not spell death to a restaurant, either, because most Finns, Helsinkians in particular have pretty good command of English. Not getting service in your own language in the capital of your own country does feel a bit weird, though.

I had my camera gear in the car but decided against taking pictures in Helsinki because I didn't want to expose the family to the cold while waiting for me to take my photos. I was a little pressed for time, too. Maybe some other time.