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Alex Isle [Rattfan] ([personal profile] rattfan) wrote2017-08-07 07:05 pm

Korkeasaari Zoo

Today I went to see the island zoo for my last day of lone sightseeing.  The weather threatened and then delivered a LOT of rain - we would call it a good winter soaking in Perth - but I managed to dodge it and see various creatures, most of whom were in their shelters, eating or asleep.  In regard to the big cats [lynx, snow leopard, Asiatic lion, Amur leopard], all I can say is they had nice, foresty enclosures.  The only creature walking around was a tiger, and the wildcat, which looked just like a tabby moggy, sat in its elevated box and gazed out, not giving a stuff.

I'm getting pretty tired by now, though before I left, I made sure I was doing at least 30-40 minutes of walking per day, but here I'm doing a lot more than that, some of it because I get lost and have to wander around for some time before I work out where I need to go.  Today the zoo ferry dropped us off at a different spot than where it picked us up and I was already pretty tired, so got confused fast.  In the end I found a place to have lunch and got the person at the counter to show me where I was!    It wasn't where I thought I was.  Seriously, my sense of direction is usually better than this.  The rain got very heavy and I had to find shelter several times.  The populace seems very good at this; they bolt for cover when rain gets heavy and then wait quite patiently until it stops, or at least eases.  This time there were small creeks running in the streets.

I made it back to the hotel and fell over for a bit.  When I stirred, the sun was out and no sign of clouds at all.  I'd also gotten the hotel to launder my spare pants and shirts, and for a while they lost the pants, which could have made things difficult.  They were the main reason I'd chosen that option.  There's a heated towel rack in the bathroom which is great for smalls, but I thought the jeans would take a bit long to do.

I'm now ready to sit and be looked after for a bit.  Tomorrow I just have to get to the meeting spot for the tour bus taking a mob of Worldcon attendees to see the Oikiluoto (sp? sorry tired) nuclear power plant and that's the last bit of serious self organisation I need to do.  I hope.  Then Worldcon begins and after that I have one day before I need to head to the airport.  A group of science fiction fans at a nuclear facility;  what can possibly go wrong?











yalovetz: A black and white scan of an illustration of an old Jewish man from Kurdistan looking a bit grizzled (Default)

[personal profile] yalovetz 2017-08-07 04:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I also did the mostly falling over thing today - managed to figure out how to get the tram into town, looked round some markets, bought some berries, found a veggie restaurant to have lunch in, but that was all I had the energy for. Came back to the hotel and have just been reading, scoping out the local supermarket, and tried the hotel sauna. It's my first full day in Helsinki and I have time after Worldcon set aside for sight seeing, plus I'm still recovering from a chest infection, so am giving myself a pass to just take it easy. Enjoy the tour tomorrow and look forward to catching up at the con!