Great photographs! Thank you for the report! Some notes. Clean, deserted beaches can be found in South Goa as well, at least in the fall. Very laid back. I've heard central and northern Goa is not the same. Venice, maybe the weather could be a good reason to visit closer to the summer. Even August wasn't too crowded, IMO. YMMV. Finally Helsinki taxis. Too bad no one understood to warn you. The previous extreme right wing government made several mistakes, although they did manage to revive the economy. They even tried to outsource the public healthcare system into private venture capitalist hands (it is already quite private). The new Finnish government is, maybe subsequently, far left. But once you privatize or free something from government control, in these days it is almost impossible to get it regulated again. Additionally I suspect they may think that taking taxis is only for the rich so why bother...