Where in the World?

If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk. – Raymond Inmon

A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world. – Paul Dudley White

Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time. – Steven Wright

I had a very long day at work including traveling to Helsinki from Leipzig, Germany. By 8:30 p.m. I had enough and felt like getting outside for a walk and some fresh air.

Summer in Helsinki, Finland is quite nice. The days are very long in the summer and very short in the winter. It seems to me that people utilize every minute of sunlight during the summer and enjoy the outdoors. Many people ride bicycles, walk and run seemingly at all hours of the day and night.

I’m staying at the Hilton Strand, which is close to a number of sights, restaurants and parks. The Helsinki Cathedral is impressive and a short walk from the hotel. I recommend seeing this beautiful church.

I walked across a solid, arched, stone automobile bridge right by the hotel. The setting sun was lighting the water and the underside of the arch with golden light. It was a lovely sight. I could feel myself beginning to relax. I turned west and walked along the water watching the boats. I turned back east and followed the road around The Botanical Garden at Kaisaniemi where The Botanical Museum is located. It was closed, but I had previously walked around here. There are a myriad number of plants including a really nice palm house.

I turned back towards the hotel and witnessed a stunning sunset with some unusual C shaped clouds (turned on their sides). I was feeling better, my batteries were recharged and I was now ready for a good night’s sleep.

Michael

I started off my business travel week with a less than wonderful stay at the Holiday Inn near the Helsinki Airport. The room was small, but I can manage that. The problem was that the temperature was in the 80’s. It was quite warm and humid. I called reception to ask for an air conditioned room.

“All are occupied,” says the clerk. She asks, “Are you using the fan?”

“Yes, but it is only blowing the hot air around in the room,” I say with a big smile on my face. (I’m trying to keep my attitude up). I ask for a bigger fan. It takes 5 calls and 7 hours to finally get a new one.

Next, I open up the bathroom and I’m greeted with the smell of sewer. Oh my! Can you guess? All the rooms were booked. In fact all hotels in Helsinki were full. The final problem was that the internet and T.V. couldn’t work at the same time. Not enough plugs. I’m a multi-tasker so I can do both. This was a minor inconvenience. I was working on the more serious problem of how to take a shower without using the bathroom.

I leave Helsinki for Germany on Wednesday. There were a total of 2 1/2 hours of delays. Here they are in order of occurrence: weather related flow control in Munich, baggage stuck on the lift belt into the plane, baggage door stuck open on plane, flow control delay again, thunderstorms in Munich delay.

I arrive in the Munich airport. Everything is closed except for the Lufthansa Service Center. They will pay for a hotel room, dinner and breakfast. Fantastic! I’m thinking things are turning around. The agent then says, but we have a small problem. I’m amused at this point.

“What’s the issue?” I say.

“Well, there are no hotel rooms left in Munich. In fact the nearest one is a one hour taxi ride,” says the agent.

“I’ll take it,” I say. I calculate that I’ll get about 4 hours of sleep by the time I get to the hotel before having to wake up to ride back to the Munich airport.

I find a taxi outside. The driver was fantastic. He was very nice, very accommodating, and drove incredibly fast. It seems to be common here. Nearing the hotel I see that the area was really nice. I could just barely see a lake and some mountains. We turn into the hotel area and I’m astonished at what I’m looking at. The Seehotel Uberhafrt Tegernsee hotel was luxury at its finest. The service and room were on very high standards. This was quite the change from the Holiday Inn in Helsinki.

The overall moral here is simple. Keep your attitude up. Laugh at the situation. Go with the flow.

It was a great trip plus I got a good story out of it.

Michael

I ate at a wonderful seafood only restaurant in Helsinki, Finland tonight called Fishmarket. The creativity of the chef was amazing. Three of us had the 5 course meal. Salmon with avocado, bouillabaisse, cod with octopus, cheese, and banana with peanut. A nice white wine complimented our meal.

I’m always amazed at the creativity of chefs that can combine flavors and textures that I would never have thought to bring together. It really is art!

Trying new food dishes is a great way to open ourselves to trying new things. The point is not whether you like it or not, but that you stretched and tried something new. You’ll be surprised at what you will find appealing. I think it’s important to consistently do things that are uncomfortable, new or unique. As we keep ourselves comfortable with change, we tend to grow internally and widen our palette of experience.

So get out of the house, try something new and possibly discover new passions to pursue and enjoy.

Michael

I flew to Finland today. Everything about the flight and the experience was outstanding. It was one of those days that everything worked out perfectly (at least from my perspective). The drive to Boston Logan was easy and uneventful.

When I stepped up to the agent to check in, I asked (without expectation) if there was any available seats further up from my current row. I was on row 53 on a Boeing 747, which is almost all the way in the back. The agent got a funny smile and asked me how far up I would like to go. I said, “What do you have?” The agent, with his quirky smile, said “How about row 1?” I laughed and said that would be wonderful. I have never turned down a free upgrade to business class yet.

After a decent meal, I watched the sunset to my left and back. It was a spectacular display. Mother Nature was working overtime on this one. The cloud layer below looked like open ocean waves frozen and suspended. The sky was rainbow-like with red near the sun and radiating out in wide bands were all the other colors. Unlike a rainbow, these colors were heavily saturated and rich (my favorites) and encompassed the entire sky. The colors from red to deep indigo blended perfectly in smooth gradient bands that only nature can produce. My favorite shade of blue could be found about a third of the way up the sky from the sun.

I watched this event for over 20 minutes. I find that these moments watching nature displays to be very calming. It’s important to stop what you are doing and enjoy the moment that is transpiring. The exact sunset or nature event will never be repeated exactly the same again.

My heart is content tonight.

Michael