Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Touring around Helsinki

Wednesday July 21, 2010
We spent Monday in Helsinki. First we got on the train from Hanna and Tommi's house and took about 25 minutes to get into downtown. Our first stop was at a travel agent to purchase tickets on the fast ferry for our trip to Estonia. We are heading there tomorrow and will stay three nights in Tallinn, one day renting a car to travel the countryside, and the other two days to explore around Tallinn.

After that we jumped on a tram and got off at the farmers market which is close to the ocean. We wanted to catch a boat to the small, historic island of Suomenlinna (a UNESCO site). This little island was used by the Finnish military as a maritime fortress. Lots of history here and very much worth the trip.
When we got back to Helsinki, we got on a tram again and took a trip right around the city, ending up in a waterfront park, and then to the shipping docks for a nice cold beer. Helsinki is much more lively than we thought it would be, lots of people having fun and moving about in the downtown area. There was an outdoor concert with a heavy metal band and a ton of young people sitting around listening, eating and drinking. We explored a few shops, had some dinner and headed back to Rekola on the train to Hanna and Tommi's. Just like worried parents, they were waiting up for us as we arrived about 11 pm.
Yesterday's activities will be on a new post.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Enjoying your post, you'll like Tallin, the fortress is special I think. You are so close to St Petersburg, are you going?

Pat Shaughnessy said...

I'm enjoying your postings. Just keep doing it and I'll keep checking.
Love,
Mom