More Finland pics

Here's a few pics from the towns we were in. Some from Finland, a couple from Estonia and a few from Stockholm. We were on the move a lot while we were there.
Belltower bigger than the church. The belltower and steeple were so tall I couldn't get in all in the viewfinder without getting far away from it. This is in Tallin, Estonia.

This is in Tallin again. I looked at all of these buildings and started wondering about how many million man-hours it took to build the buiildings in the old part of town. How many horse or ox drawn wagon loads did it take to haul all of the materials in?


Another shot of the old part of Tallin.


I think this street was in the old part of Stockholm. It's still used by cars but they drive pretty slow. These are apartment buildings. The doors all swing into the buildings for obvious reasons. Only the very old parts of the towns had streets like this. I didn't see any signs indicating one-way traffic on these streets, but maybe I wasn't looking for them. I probably wouldn't have known what they meant if I did see them!


I'm not very well versed in old Buicks, but this one didn't quite look like an American made version. Maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me. Can anyone help me out on this?


Kind of an unusual type of construction of this steeple. Anyone who likes steeples will be on sensory overload in these countries. They come in every size and shape imaginable.


We don't see any signs like this in Iowa for sure! Some roads had these signs every few miles, or kilometers.

Heavy duty walker. People walk a lot more over there than they do in the US. Even the old folks. If they are on a downhill with one of these walkers they hop on and go for the ride or they push themselvels along with one foot like a scooter. Baby carriages are heavy duty with big wheels for easy rolling. They have a cover with a windshield that can be lowered down over the child during a rain shower. It's not uncommon to see a young mother pushing a stroller in the rain, holding an umbrella over herself with the baby looking out through the plastic windshield in the cover that's been lowered over it. Bicyclists are plentiful and they ride down the sidewalks, weaving through the people walking. Nobody gets excitied about it.



Oops, slipped this one by mistake. Who is that couple? Must be getting tired. So long for now. Jim

Thanx again jim

I got back a month ago from Europe. I spent 15 days there touring Germany, Italy, France, Austria, and Switzerland. It's so different over there, everything is so clean in Germany. They live a lot healthier too. They walk most of the time and ride bicycles instead of cars. What did you think of the 10 hour plane ride?

Thanks! Ever notice that the steeples aren't straight??? Supposed to be a reason for it but I forgot what it is. Person that told me is long gone and haven't found anyone that can tell me.

Fixerupper,

Thanks for the pictures - they're really interesting.

I think that old Buick is about a 1953 that's been "tricked-out". Lowered, fancy wheels, etc.

Thanks again for the pics.

Tom in TN

Thanks for the pics!

Nice Trip , truly awesome to visit other civalized Cultures , Was There a special reason to go there ?? , /////...i had The privilage to take my SARA home to Sicily Twice,, 1st time went to Torino,italy to see her aunt,, her cousins worked at Fiat and AGCo industries ,, Very Nice folx and town ,then got to see the countryside ,, traveled by train south to calabria region , across from Messina sicily ,where the entire train was loaded on a ferry and shuttled to Sicily ,where i met her parents for the 1st time in Catania,,we spent 2 weeks with them in caltigironi and surrounding rural areas ,wonderful culture to behold ,, those people make every late evening meal an event .. 2nd time in 2008 we landed in Rome , toured the Vatican ,WOW ...left by train on Palm sunday Mornin,, repeated the same Train on the ferry Crossing into Messina,,we spent more in Rome just meeting the basic needs in 3 days , than we did anywhere else the entire trip ,Those people are Awesome in Sicily ,and speak a italian language that closely resembles the talk in Torino, buti must tell you , My SARA had a little trouble catching the talk while conversing with her fast talkin Cousins after being away for 16 yrs ..LOL, but we managed quite well. today .i know enuf italian to keep me from thirst or starvation thanx to my sara ,,.

JIM You certainly made my day. I;m sure others feel the same way. What beautiful pictures. Thanks for taking the time in sharing. Regards LOU.

The Buick looks pretty authentic. Its a 1953, either a Super or a Roadmaster model (4 portholes- Special and Century had 3).

Gravity as usual.Buildings lean, shoulders sag etc etc, LOU.

Are you sure that's a '53? I was thinking '52, but not sure. My parents had a '53 when I was a kid, and this looks a little different, like the hood is lower for one thing. Sure looks good for being that old. Must have been indoors a lot, and they probably don't use salt on their roads.

Plane ride was torture. My hips and legs hurt for several days. I told Marilyn next time we're flying first class and it doesn't matter what the ticket costs. If we can't afford it we won't go. Jim

We hosted a foreign exchange student from Finland back in 1994 and have stayed in touch ever since. She (the student) came back to the US to get her college degree, found a husband, started a family and now lives here in the US about 120 miles from where we live. Her parents have been asking us to come see them for a long time, but in the past five years or so they have been telling us YOU WILL COME TO FINLAND TO SEE US!!!!! IT WON'T COST YOU ANY MORE THAN YOUR PLANE TICKET! Marilyn and I had been hemming and hawing about it for several years, but last june, while we were in town we finally made a mutual agreement to just go to a travel agent and get it over with. And that started the wheels in motion. They were very gracious hosts. We stayed with them in their house and they paid for everything, including two cruise boat trips. They would't let us pay for anything. They told us they were grateful for keeping their daughter safe for a nearly a year and this was the payback. We might go back in a couple of years but we'll have to think about that a bit. They want to take us to Lapland and maybe south to Denmark where most of my ancestory is at.

While flying to Amsterdam from Helsinki I was sitting beside a lady from St Petersburg Russia. She knew a little english and she told me I should visit St. Petersburg next time. It's only a six hour bus ride from Helsinki. She had never spoken with someone from the US and she acted like she was talking to a celebrity. Imagine that, this old small town Iowa farmer being treated like a rock star! Jim

(quoted from post at 20:16:50 09/29/11) Fixerupper,

Thanks for the pictures - they're really interesting.

I think that old Buick is about a 1953 that's been "tricked-out". Lowered, fancy wheels, etc.

Thanks again for the pics.

Tom in TN

Click to expand...

This Roadmaster was sitting by a church where there was a wedding. Another type of vehicle was sitting on the other side of the church.

I don't think it was connected to the wedding but??????

Great pics!

Those older areas are fascinating. When our daughter was in Germany as an exchange student, she encountered a single family house that was over 800 years old and was still being used as such. She remembered thinking, "My God, this house is four times as old as our country!"

1953 Buick Roadmaster and a real beauty! Super was similar, cheaper and had but three portholes.
(I don't see anything unusual about that Roadmaster)

I'm not positive, but I think that swoopy side trim was 1953 only. Could be wrong, have been before.

An uncle had one of those if I remember right. Had a straight eight engine it with the long nose like that one. Sure wish that one was still around.

The Buick looks "Hot-Rodded", too bad to ruin a
nice old car like that. It looks like it has 13
inch wheels. It should have 15's

My youngest son has a whole album full of photos like that. (all but the last one of course) He arrived in Finland on his 16th birthday as a People to People student ambasador. Quite a trip for him. He spent 3 weeks in Finland,Denmark,Norway and Sweden.

Here's a pic of a 52 Roadmaster

And a pic of a 53


And the Finnish Roadmaster

Looks like a Volvo Hearse.

Everything looks rock-stock except the wheels and tires- pretty easy to put 'er right if next owner wanted to.

The subject Buick is a 1952 and the example picture is a 1954. I don't have a picture but the 1953's were kinda special because the vertical grill bars extended over the bumper to give the car's front a real "toothy smile" look. The 1953's were the first to have V-8 engines too, and even with the Dyna-flow "slush-box" no shift automatic transmissions Buicks used, they were pretty quick and very smooth accelerating from a standstill.

Ahhhh, I told you wrong, the car is a '52 alright and the other one is a '54....but it was the '50 models that had the toothy grill...sorry.... 53's had the round blunt "Dagmars" bumper guards with a crossbar grill guard between them, the '52's had the same "Dagmars" with just simple vertical upright grill guards inset into the grill's lower bar.

Brought back memories of when I was stationed in Germany. Good memories now that I think about them. Thank you Sir for sharing. Hope you had a great time.

Mark