Greetings from Helsinki, the largest city, primary seaport, and capital of Finland! Located on the Southern tip of the country on a small peninsula extending into the Gulf of Finland, somewhere around 550,000 people call Helsinki home. The city was founded by Gustav I Vasa, king of Sweden, in 1550 on a site some distance inland from its present location, to which it was moved in 1640. In 1952, Helsinki was the site of the Olympic Games.

The principal manufactures of Helsinki include paper, textiles, liquors, china, chemicals, and metal goods; agricultural and dairy products and lumber and wood products are exported in considerable quantity. (Yes, but what about beans???) A major part of the commercial activity is centered on the harbor - the port can accommodate any vessel, but it is icebound from January to May, except for a channel that is kept clear by an icebreaker. (Brrr!) Here, the beans hang out while waiting for a ferry to take them across the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea to Tallinn in Estonia, which is apparently the weekend-getaway equivalent to Atlantic City or Catalina here in the States...

The reputation of Finland being chilly is fairly accurate - The average temperature year round in Helsinki is around 7 degrees Celsius (44 degrees Fahrenheit), but in January, it's only -2 Celsius (28 degrees Fahrenheit). For some reason, Helsinki has loads of experience hosting major political conferences. In 1975, Helsinki hosted the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). The first U.S.-Soviet summit took place in Helsinki in 1990, when President George Bush met President Mikhail Gorbachev. (Maybe it's so cold that they can't argue without their tongues freezing!)