October 2, 2009: Helsinki

It was finally game day, the “reason” we came all the way to Europe. I say reason, but really it was an excuse to do something we really wanted to do. However, before the game, we had some other sites to see. First site was an unexpected one, Patty and Jim at the breakfast buffet! Needless to say, they were not shy; I think Jim took down a plate full of potatoes and beans. I would not want to be next to him the rest of the day. I tried some pickled herring, it was kind of gross. Apparently, I do not like fish.
After breakfast, we set out to do some sightseeing. First we saw the Church in the Rock, which was as the name implies, a round church built into a big rock. It was pretty neat to see, all the windows were at the top near the dome because the church was primarily built within the rock. After that we headed over to the Helsinki Olympic Stadium, they hosted the games back in the 50s. Besides the awesomely named “Gringo Locos” Mexican restaurant, we also took a trip to the top of Olympic tower which was something like 100 feet or possibly meters in the air and offered a great view of the city and surrounding areas. We got some cool pictures and someone actually took a photo of us. This may have been the only photo of the two of us from our trip that was not a self-portrait.

 Eric and Shannon at Olympic Tower

We took the tram system from location to location, which was kind of fun, if you’re a big nerd like me.
After the Olympic Tower, we planned to do some day drinking before the game; however, this proved difficult because we could not find anywhere to drink. The stadium was away from downtown in a more commercial area. We either found shady looking townie bars are overpriced restaurant bars. We stopped for a beer a hotel bar near the stadium; it was full of well dressed people, not sure why they were there. Possibly for a convention, possibly for a wedding, we didn’t feel very comfortable, and the bar tender had a horribly forced accent when speaking English.
We decided our best bet was just to head over to the stadium and get a beer and some food there. Luckily it was opened early and apparently European stadiums feature actual restaurants and bars in the concession areas. So we grabbed a fast food burger and a beer – as a combo meal, which was awesome – to satisfy our hunger. We decided to brave the souvenir line, which needless to say was a pain in the ass, but Ron, Wally, and Riley needed gifts! We decided to get ourselves something while we were there.
We drank a few more beers in the concession area before the game started because you can’t drink in the suits – what a horrible rule! We got to our seats in time for warm ups. The seats weren’t that good, but whatever, we were there and excited. This was the whole reason we come to Europe. Or at least it was the springboard to make us do it. The stadium was about 80% full I’d say, some Americans, but mostly Finns who liked them some hockey. The crowd seemed to be pro-Panthers, primarily because they had a Finnish player while the Hawks did not. Well, they did, but he was a rookie goaltender – Niemi – who wasn’t playing. The Hawks seemed to control the play, but the scoreboard did not reflect that, which ended up being a theme throughout the season. The gamed ended up going to overtime, where the Hawks lost, thanks to a goal from the Panthers’ Finnish player. Rigged!
In between periods we went out to the concourse to drink beers. While out there we met a Finnish couple and their young son Ben. He was the coolest kid ever. He was probably about 5 and had a miniature hockey stick and puck, which he played with constantly. He just hit the puck around and chased it around the concourse, bouncing off people as necessary. He could not be stopped!
After the game we headed back to the hotel. We didn’t find anywhere awesome to eat, so we got some food from the street vendor and went up to the hotel. My fries and meatballs were not as good as I had hoped and kind of made me sick. Such is life.