To prepare for our planned trip to Dallas at Easter, we thought a short trip to Matka Nordic travel fair for some inspirations wouldn’t be a bad idea – especially as we had free tickets! And so we spent Saturday afternoon at the Helsinki Messukeskus, close to Pasila trainstation (1, Messuaukio Helsinki Exhibition & Convention Centre).
In the end we were a bit disappointed: The US section only consisted of two small stands and we could have gotten most of the information from internet research as well (but at least we now know that flying via Iceland might be an interesting option, especially if we can arrange an overnight stay including some geysir & volcano sightseeing). Germany by the way wasn’t represented at all – apart from one small booth to give infos about Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Then Finnish area was a lot more interesting, especially my “visit” to Rovaniemi & Father Christmas who even signed a xmas card that’s now on the way to Germany. A bit disturbing was the fact that during our brief chat he didn’t tell me about Rudolf and the other reindeers, but rather mentioned that he was about to get an Iphone. You can imagine how shocked I was: Finnish Father Christmas & an Iphone – that’s like chocolate cake with gerkins, or porkroast with icecream! Outrageous! I finally succeeded in convincing him to get a Nokia N8 instead – only to be presented with his business card & the question if I could organise one for him then. Well, wasn’t it the other way round – Father Christmas bringing presents?!
Anyway, after getting all childhood dreams throughly destroyed (and I don’t mention Rudolph, the reindeer, in tins on the stand next door!) we at least got some more ideas for Finland-trips in the summer, visiting some islands & lighthouses. So, at least something to look forward to!
(More infos about Matka Travel fair: http://web.finnexpo.fi/Sites1/Matka/en/Pages/default.aspx)
A German in Finland - 