Not a Blog

Farewell to Finland

July 15, 2009 at 7:45 pm
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We’re back in Helsinki for one last night. Tomorrow at the crack of dawn (which cracks very very early here in Finland) we’re off again. Parris returns to Ireland, and I head home to the cats, the green chile, and A DANCE WITH DRAGONS. We’ll meet again in Montreal. Ah, the jet set life…

Estonia was great, and Turku was fun as well. I hope to write more about all these places once I’m home.

Thanks for all my Finnish friends, new and old, for making this is a wonderful trip. Finncon rocks.

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Off to Estonia

July 12, 2009 at 10:20 pm
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Finncon is fini. Parris and I have just staggereed back to our hotel room from the dead reindeer party. The party is still going strong and we would love to have stayed longer… till sunset, at least… but we have to be up early tomorrow to catch a ferry to Estonia, where I’ll be doing a signing in Tallinn. Then the next day it’s back across the sea to Helsinki again, just long enough to set off for Turku, where I’ve got another signing.

Finncon was terrific. The warmth and hospitality we’ve found here has completely ruined my image of Finland as a frozen wasteland. Who knew? The sauna was fun too. And then there were all the cute anime girls in costume offering free hugs…

Thanks to all my Finnish friends. Now off to Estonia!

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Here in Helsinki

July 8, 2009 at 10:17 am
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So we’re here in Helsinki, me from Santa Fe and Phipps by way of Ireland. Grey skies and rain, but the people are warm and friendly. Yesterday we visited Sveaborg, the great island fortress that I’ve written two stories about. “Gibraltar of the North,” it was dubbed by John Quincy Adams. I can only conclude that JQA had never actually seen the Gibraltar of the south, since the resemblence between the two is nonexistent. Sveaborg is pretty cool in its own right, however, and I’m glad to have seen it.

The con proper starts tomorrow. Some come to Finncon if you can. It’s free!

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