Who knows why Wednesday started with Johnny Cash playing when we walked into Good Life for our morning coffee, but there it was, twanging in the background. And when we heard it again that afternoon in the cafe at the Cable Factory - not just any Johnny Cash but the exact same song we'd heard in the morning - the day was christened.
A metro ride to the end of the line at Ruolahti brought us to a more recently developed area of the city, where tech office buildings and modern apartment buildings were linked by the surprise of a canal. Sadly, the Cable Factory Museum was closed so we explored the neighborhood instead. Peter even hiked over the bridge to see the construction around Jatkasaari, another newly planned city residential development. As he came back by the tram stop, he was photographing an interesting modern building, when a worker noticed his interest and invited him inside for a quick look at the lobby and open reception area. The building turned out to be a private cancer hospital, with its own hotel next door for out-patients and visitors needing a place to stay. It was another bit of Helsinki serendipity for Peter to get a chance to see the interior, full of light and views in clean Nordic detail. Waiting on the other side of the bridge, I thought he'd gotten lost.
Then the rain came and even the new umbrellas were not enough. The downpours were short but heavy, and the sheets of rain sent us running for whatever overhang we could find several times during the late afternoon. Eventually we headed back to the center city and ran into Bryan Boyer again when we stopped for a light dinner at Latva. Helsinki is, as they say, a small place, where even when you only know one person, you meet up with them without planning it. Photos from the day.