Baltic Cruise- Day 11: Helsinki, Finland- May 28, 2018

Another early morning. Well, not as early as the last two, but early nonetheless. I do not get up at 7, when I am home, so getting up at that time is early on vacation. But, of course, this is a trip, not a sitting around vacation. So, up it is.

When we headed for breakfast at 8, it was 56 degrees. The high for the day was to be 73 and it was to be sunny again. Such great weather we have been having!

9:15 found us back at the World Stage again waiting for our tour, Helsinki Land and Sea, which was, evidently, the most popular tour for the day. What a difference a country makes! We were on the bus at 9:28, after just scanning our card as we got off the ship and moving on. Such a nice change after St. Petersburg! Our guide was Tommy, who was much older than his name implied.

At first, 5 people were missing, so we had to wait around. Since we were not assigned by name, I assume he knew how many green 14 stickers had been given out. The bus finally left at 9:42 after 3 people didn’t show up. I can’t imagine what happened there.

On the road, we learned that it was important to say “sauna” correctly.  “sow-nuh” is the preferred pronunciation and we practiced it. Helsinki is the busiest passenger port in Europe, what with ferries and 300 cruise ships a year. (Wikipedia says it is really second, with Dover being the busiest as of 2015.) And, most interestingly, it is 100 years since the Finnish flag was first hoisted. In fact, tomorrow is the 100^th anniversary of its adoption, after getting its freedom from Russia in 1917.

When we got off the bus for the boat ride at 9:46, we were the last group to arrive, so we got crappy seats inside on the bottom deck. My daughter J went in first to scout them out and found 2 for us and found one for herself on the other side of the boat. We were at a table at the window, but the seats farthest from the window. 5 seats down there were busted, but they did have multiple restrooms.

At 9:52, we set sail and the various tour guides took turns telling us about Finland, Helsinki and what we saw. Helsinki is at the same latitude as Anchorage. The harbor is iced from December to April, often to ½ meter thick. We saw several large icebreakers that lead ships in and out during that time. The water is brackish due to an opening to the Atlantic between Denmark and Sweden and then lots of rivers. There are no tides here. There are 300 islands. 2/3 of Helsinki is water and the city is on a cape.

I came to realize that no good photos were possible from the inside. So, I alternated between the bow and aft to take photos. Unfortunately, that meant I did not hear the descriptions or information. Still, I liked what I was seeing. The rocks really appealed to me. I thought that the fortress hidden in the island was cool. I did catch that that was done to surprise any invaders. The wooden ship doesn’t look like it would hold up to ice. I think I heard that they take it out of the water in winter.

At 11:05, we were told that we would be docking near the Market Square and that we would have one-half hour to visit it. However, there were so many people to get off, that we weren’t off until 11:15. We found Tommy and asked, and now the time would be 11:45.

The market featured souvenirs and food. Feeling really pressured for time, we searched for things we normally get – pins, postcards and stickers for the photo album. J collects what she calls “mini Europe”, little resin sculptures of the city’s most important sites.  So, she wanted that. She’d researched what Finland was famous for and one was a wooden cup. We quickly saw that was too expensive. Another was a cute cartoon character named Moomin and I got a pin of that. We saw some lovely pendants and I got one for me and one as a future gift for J. Juniper is also a big thing. I wasn’t necessarily looking, but when I saw a trivet with a marvelous geometric pattern for only 10 Euros, I could not resist. Evidently, the aroma improves, when something hot is put on it. We also got a couple of gifts of juniper trivets.

We took a few photos, such as of this monument to an empress and this church, the Uspenski Cathedral, which is Eastern Orthodox. On our way to the bus, we found this curiosity- a platform in the water with three swimming pools, one of which was definitely just a hole to the water of the bay! We also saw these stairs that they had put cushions on for folks to lounge. Interesting!

We were on time for getting back on the bus, in fact beating the clock by three minutes. I made a valiant effort to stay awake during this tour, but, once again, it’s a bus. It did not help that it is really difficult to take good photos out the windows. This picture of Tsar Alexander II of Russia (the one who was assassinated and his son built a church over the spot) and the Lutheran Cathedral is probably the best of the lot. According to Rick Steves, Alexander was more popular in Finland, because he gave the Finns more autonomy and never tried to make them more Russian. I took the picture of the museum, because they have a Barbie exhibit and I have a Barbie collection.

 12:25 marked a stop at the Sporthalle, built for the Olympics, which would provide a free pit stop. I was surprised at how few people took advantage of the opportunity. My husband K and I were not shy about availing ourselves of this chance. We were off again at 12:34.

A brief four minutes later, we were parking at Sibelius Park. As we strolled over to the monument, I noticed some craftspeople at tables. One had what were labeled as elves, but were more like well-worn people. I was intrigued, but needed to keep up to hear about the monument. The six hundred pipes are called “Love of Music”, and, when first unveiled caused no little consternation. The artist was forced to add the silver head of Sibelius, which is cool for looking like molten silver. Now, of course, it is an attraction. I rather liked it. We were encouraged to get up in it to look around and take selfies. J found a path up the rocks that she felt I could navigate and helped me up. I did like the various views up into the pipes. The three of us took a good selfie with it, of course. 

 

I was finished early and went back and bought the elf that had caught my eye. She is wearing a blue dress and is holding a mushroom. Her name, Vilma, is written on the bottom of her shoe. A nice souvenir.

Before we got on the bus, K asked Tommy, if it would be possible to be let off the bus in town, rather than riding back to the ship. Absolutely and he would also show us where to catch the bus that was traveling back and forth between the ship and the downtown. At 1:03, we were on the road and, true to his word, Tommy had the driver stop to let some of us off near the Stockmann department store at 1:15. In a stroke of luck, a bus was where we would need to be to go back, so we could easily see it. After the bus left, K realized he had left his UCF hat on board. He thought someone might find it and turn it in at the ship, but I wasn’t so sure.

As in other cities, our first destination was Hard Rock. I had marked it on the map in the Rick Steves Helsinki chapter and we succeeded in finding it. After I got my pin and had a lively conversation with the clerk about how great my Capital One MasterCard is – he intends to look into it, we went to a nearby bookstore for J to look for Harry Potter in Finnish for her friend. It was rather pricey, so she decided the Danish one she already got would be enough.

 On our way to Stockmann, we encountered the Three Blacksmiths statue that Rick Steves included in his chapter. It dates to 1932 and is said it “celebrates human labor and cooperation and shows the solid character of the Finnish people”. We found the bullet damage that he mentioned, too. Evidently, that was from the Soviets, not the Germans, as the Russians tried to reclaim Finland. Finland held out, luckily. 

The Stockmann entrance that we could see from the statue is a popular meeting point in the city. “Let’s meet under the Stockmann’s clock.”

 We had to visit the store, of course, since it is to Helsinki what Macy’s is to New York. At this entrance, there are purses and such. When there is only one purse on a display, you know they are too expensive. We found a store guide and headed for the toy department. We like toys and J has a friend, who will soon find a baby. It is amazing how many toys we found in Europe that are also here- Barbies, Disney, Lego (of course), Star Wars, etc. J didn’t find anything that was reasonably priced. Oddly, the men’s and women’s rooms were on different floors. We left K near his and went off to find ours. When we got back, he was not where we’d left him and we had to hunt him down. He likes to get a tie as a souvenir on a trip and was looking at them. We helped him look at tags to find one that was made in Finland. We found exactly one and it was a Stockmann branded one and, luckily, he liked it. I asked him, if he wanted it as a gift. He did, so I asked J, if she needed a gift for him. She did. So, she paid for it and gave it to me to carry home to give him on Father’s Day!

She idly looked for a coin purse on the first floor, but none were a good price. So, we left and went to the bus stop. There was a bus there as we paid 6 Euros each for tickets. Unfortunately, it was full and left, leaving us in the sun and heat at 2:25. Moments later, another bus pulled up and we and the line that had formed behind us boarded, grateful for the air conditioning. It departed at 2:32, which was really rather soon. The ride to the port took 20 minutes. It was a bit of a walk to the ship, but there were shopping opportunities along the way. First, by the bus area, there were a series of covered stalls with a variety of goods, including reindeer pelts, like the one my in-laws bought years ago on their visit to Finland. That is not my cup of tea at all. I found a lovely small blue ornament ball with a winter scene that included Santa in a sled pulled by a moose or reindeer. At 11,50 Euros it was a lot more than similarly sized balls we found in Tallinn, but what are you going to do?

There was supposed to be free Wi-Fi, but I really couldn’t get it to lock in. K and J did, so I decided to head back to the cool ship. I walked through the gated area and saw more shops ahead. I saw people with their faces in the phones and tried the Wi-Fi again. Success! I posted my pictures from Sibelius Park to Facebook and then looked around. I found a really nice panoramic postcard and J caught up to me to join in my looking around. K eventually joined us.

When we boarded the ship at 3:32, K asked at the security check and someone had turned in his hat! It’s a good thing it is so unique.

We had not had lunch or anything to eat since breakfast. We stopped at the Dutch Bar, since we were walking right by it. A chocolate pastry called Koningsbol spoke to me and, my, was it good. K chose Dutch apple pie, that was also tasty, and J got French fries with mayo that came in the traditional paper cone, albeit stuck in a wire cone, which I failed to photograph. The family of three that we had been with on the first St. Petersburg day stopped and chatted a bit before getting food for themselves.

We watched a ferry filling with trucks and cars from the comfort of our veranda. As we set sail at 5, we saw this cool sauna boat. Can’t get to a sauna? They bring it to you. The scenery as we sailed was lovely.

 

Dinner was at 5:15, as usual. Gandhi, as always, asked about our day and we asked how his was. I started my meal with Belgian endive and baby spinach to make up for no salad for lunch. J got the mushroom and wild rice chowder, which she liked. L had shrimp and crab Louis, which was nicely plated and tasty.

 

 I had Southern Fried Chicken for my entrée to see how they handled it. It wasn’t bad at all. J had double pork chop with hot pickled cabbage, another good choice. K ate the cornflake crusted trout, which came with a fancy fish knife. 

 For dessert, I had an interesting tarte tatin, which is a kind of upside-down cake. J and K continued the travels through the variety of crisps, this time being a rhubarb strawberry one that was delicious.

At 7:30, J and I went down to the first deck for a bracelet-making event. We knew that it was really just to sell a bracelet with charms, but what the heck. We both created ones we liked- and bought at the special price. We enjoyed it!

At 8:30, K and I went to see the comedian. J was not interested, but he was really funny. Afterwards, we roamed a bit and I took photos of the atrium. Then, we went back to the cabin, where K read, while I watched Paddington 2 and did needlework. It was a good movie and very relaxing. 

 We had another stunning sunset and the colors were still there at midnight, which is when this last shot was taken!