Finland is the largest country in land mass in Europe. There are 5 million people, and 500,000 live in Helsinki. It is called the Land of the Midnight Sun because they get 20 hours if sunlight a day in summertime.
From the ship, we had to take a shuttle bus to get to town unless we wanted to walk for an hour. We knew we needed euros for the shuttle, so we found the atm on the ship and could only get USA dollars, then we needed to go down 2 levels and use the currency exchange machine. Nice little racket they have going, especially because each machine had a hefty users fee.
We got dropped off in the heart of Helsinki, and headed straight for the Esplanada where we could get free wifi and send the backlog of blogs. The Esplanada is a long pedestrian park in the middle of two busy roads. There were street acts in the Esplanada, like the guy all spray painted gold who did a little jig when Anton dropped him a euro.
The Esplanada ended at the Market Square, which is a much smaller version of the farmers market back home. At one end were fruits and vegetables, and at the other end some Finnish goods for sale. We stopped and chatted with the girl selling reindeer pelts. Oh no, you would get into deep trouble for hunting a reindeer here. These deer were raised on reindeer farms, then killed for the meat and the pelts.
We found our way up a hill to the Uspensky Orthodox Cathedral. It was built in 1868 and is the largest orthodox church in Europe. We didn't see any pews or many places where you could sit for an actual church service.
We walked through the Senate Square to the Swedish Lutheran Cathedral. This one was full of pews with high backs so that it seemed like you were sitting in a long skinny box. There was a crypt in the basement that we accessed by an elevator ride. Part of the crypt has been turned into a pastry restaurant.
We headed through the bustling streets of Helsinki towards our next destination. We found it interesting that the streets for cars are all cobblestoned, and there are wide concrete sidewalks for pedestrians, and a bike lane attached to the sidewalk. When pedestrians get a green little man saying they can cross the street, the bicyclists get a red light. The buildings all have the same architecture as St. Petersburg, probably because there was a fire in 1808 that burnt the city down, and since the Russians had just taken over, they rebuilt it with their own architects.
By this time we were looking for a WC. There are oddly shaped buildings located at sporadic intervals throughout the city, but they took a euro each. They have no paper, and if you take too long, it starts to clean itself. We tried a McDonalds, but the washrooms had a keypad and the combination was available on your receipt if you ordered something. Finally we found a ritzy looking hotel, pretended we belonged there, and found what we needed on the main floor. Success!
We made it across town to the Rock Church, on every tourist's list of things to see in Helsinki. This church was built in 1969 when they blasted down through 40 feet of rock. We wanted to check out the famous acoustics, but we noticed a bunch of people milling about in black formal dress and lots of formal flower arrangements. Closed for a funeral. Imagine - a church that is actually still used as a church and not just a tourist attraction!
Not knowing what else to see in Helsinki, we walked back to the market and the Esplanada where we sat for awhile doing the blog before catching the shuttle to head back to the ship.
We've had lovely weather so far every day. About 23 to 25C. Lucky for the Baltic!
Sent from my BlackBerry.
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