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Title was about length, but height seems more of the cheating part to me.

it was closed for maintenance during our time there. . . .  so wasn't avail. regardless.  

It was on our 'possibilities' list! But we didn't quite make it over there. As I recall, there was some kind of 4D theater thing it was paired with, but that seemed weak. If it had been a proper flying theater, we probably would've done it.

it's taking me just as long. . . LOL.. I'm still 3 parks behind you! that "Bear Castle" reminds me SO much of the Deer enclosure at Marineland, Niagara.  but they STILL use that one - even if the Government took away all the bears from the enclosure they had, so you no longer can feed them ice cream cones. as to the Helsinki Wheel?  Jon and I DID ride that one     (tho, no, we didn't do the Sauna car. that was extra).  

We planned two days on our own in Helsinki, after the end of the TPR trip, in order to do Erik & Smisty things. And we did! Here are the less good ones. (I don't know, it just worked out that way.)   26: Cork Is Sorry   Up bright and early, but it's hard to tell because our hotel is in Finland and that's where the sun lives.   Gotta have some beans and a donut to get me going, though.   Helsinki is nice, and I'm happy to spend time in pretty much any northern European city--or really almost anywhere that I've never been. But, having said that, it's no Stockholm.   Ooh, a grocery store! Yes, we're easily amused. OR We're fun and you're the problem. Ever think of that??   This seems like an unhealthy selection of breakfast cereals even by American standards. And I eat beans and donuts for breakfast,   Speaking of unhealthy and American: I'd been looking for this particular Ben & Jerry's flavor the entire trip, after having encountered it at Gröna Lund in 2019., and really enjoying it. (Apparently it's a UK "only" flavor.)   Okay, now that you mention it, "baby back ribs" is a pretty weird name for a food already, but leaving the word 'back' out of it doesn't make it better.   Helsinkians really provide for their seagulls. Helsinkites? Helsinks? (I would go with 'Hellions' if it were me.)   Time to ferry about! No wait, ferries carry cars. Water taxi? We're gonna ride on a boat boat, is my point.   "Switch costumes, you ignominious pretender!" If you understand this reference, congratulations! You are unique in all the world and also you're me and your brain is broken.   We did not ride the SkyWheel Helsinki, so I cannot say whether or not licorice consumption is required onboard. But what I can tell you is that the single brown cabin is the world's only sauna on a Ferris wheel. Actually, I'm just assuming it's the world's only. Their website actually says, "world's first," which seems to imply that someone else has since built another one. However, I can find no evidence of this. Which forces me to consider the even more insane possibility that SkyWheel Helsinki was so sure someone else would immediately copy this idea that they just went with 'first' right out of the gate.   And here we arrive at our destination: Korkeasaari Zoo, which is located on an island.   Just to reiterate: this entire island is a zoo. Which is awesome. But, to be honest, it feel less like an island that they brought a bunch of zoo animals to, and more like an island that just kind of had some animals on it already, so they declared it a zoo.   So, the location is cool, but is the zoo actually any good? Well, no. Did you not read the last caption?   But perhaps I'm being too harsh. It does have this leopard.   And a statue of a goat. Note the building in the background. Which is a restaurant named--and I swear I'm not making this up--Restaurant Pukki.   Which did not make us vomit, I am happy to say.   Probably the most interesting animals at Korkeasaari, Amur tigers.   Other things of note: Korkeasaari is the largest zoo in Finland, was established in 1899, and is open year round.   These are also animals of some kind.   Karhulinna means "bear castle."   Yep, that's a bear.   The old, no longer in use, bear castle. You know, from back when people thought that bears would be more comfortable in a castle than surrounded by trees and stuff. And that they might like being stared at by a mural of a tiger all day. Look, I'm pro-zoo, but just tear this thing down and never speak of it again, you know?   "I bless the herpetariums of Afriii-cAsia!"   Pop quiz: Is this snake from Africa or Asia? If it helps, I 100% do not remember because I didn't take a photo of the sign and it's been like 10 months since then and this is easily the longest trip report I've ever done and I'm starting to have regrets.   I guess there's more to a zoo than just animals. There's also wooden planks.   They're not exactly the word leader in gift shops, either.   Wait, you can walk on and off this island? Why did we take a boat??   At this point, I can't really even get off on a naked statue unless there's a seagull on its head.   We wanted to visit Stockmann for a few reasons. For one, it was recommended to us by one of Smisty's co-workers who used to live in Helsinki. Two, it's the largest department store in the Nordic countries, and we like going to stores and malls and things when we're visiting new places. And three, it was a possible place I might find a little something I was hoping to track down while in Helsinki. That third thing didn't really work out. As while I was able to confirm that it existed (in an employees-only area), I was not able to actually see or experience it. I know, I know, I'm being terribly mysterious. But I won't make you wait long. Just until the next update. Oh, wait...that could actually be awhile at the rate I'm going. You'll probably have forgotten all about it by then.   Big store. Lots of different stuff. I don't know. Things adults like.   We found our favorite section, toys!   This game sucks.   Okay, I feel better now. Ultimately, it is just a really big department (and grocery) store. But we enjoyed checking it out.   Back out on the street, we get one of those classic European "this would be a national landmark in the US, but here it's a transit center" buildings.   The Three Smiths Statue is the metaphorical center point of Helsinki. I think you're supposed to see this one before the parody of it at Linnanmäki (Three Smiths on a Break).   Just one more day to go! Will I get it done before the end of April?? I mean, I have to get it done before the end of May. I can't take a whole year to finish this thing. Actually, maybe I'll just quit now. That would be funny.   The end.