We started Tuesday with our own walking tour along Western & Southern edges of Helsinki. Just a few blocks from our hostel, we passed by one of the area’s oldest cemeteries. The grave markings were slightly different than traditional Christian crosses and they had this great old stone wall around the perimeter of the graveyard, it had a thick layer of fuzzy green moss on top and spilling over the sides.
Continuing on, we came upon one of the many waterfronts to the Baltic Sea. There was a small beach-like area and a few other spots where the rocky land dipped into the water. There were a few developed piers and marinas, along with many sailboats (even though it would seem that the climate would only support boating for a couple of months out of the year). There was a group of sailboats heading out towards open water for a race
Following the water south led us back towards downtown and the harbor area. We passed through the same market we had walked through yesterday and around to the Viking ferry terminal. There we purchased our 2 fares for passage to Stockholm. Although there are many ways you can get from Helsinki to Stockholm, it would seem that ferrying is the best. Additionally, the ferries are outfitted like cruise ships & the schedule includes evening departures that create a sort of all-night booze cruise over to Stockholm. For 150€, we get a 2 person cabin with private bath. More details to come on Thursday…
http://www.vikingline.fi/onboard/gabriella/
One thing that we’ve heard lots about since arriving in Finland is the abundance of reindeer meat & prepared food options. So, for lunch we decided to try it out at the market. We stopped in at a small café and ordered 2 dishes – an Open-faced Reindeer Sandwich and Lapland Cheese with Cloudberry Jam. Both were DELICIOUS!
Feeling a bit guilty about eating reindeer, I decided that we should look for a reindeer postcard to send to Emma (my 5 year old godchild). I found one in short order at a gift store in the train station. David picked out a Finland postcard also and we sat down to each write messages. I told Emma all about the 250,000+ reindeer in Finland and also about the rumors that Santa Claus resides in northern Finland.
We mailed our cards at the Postii (post office) and continued our walk. We stopped at a large Alko and found a traditional Finnish beer called Sahti -- it's a sort of spiced beer fermented and filtered with Juniper Berries (it is really yummy!). We also stopped at the Super Market where we picked up a few food supplies for sandwiches.
After all of the reindeer excitement, we were ready for a quick catnap, so back to the hostel we went. Once we were back up and about, we went downstairs to catch wi-fi and to handle a few online transactions. First thing was booking a flight and our hostels in Sweden. We have decided to go to Stockholm from Thursday through Sunday morning, then rail over to Oslo for a few days, then rail over to Copenhagen. From Copenhagen, we will take a quick flight back in to Helsinki on Saturday (Aug 20).
With more of our travel arrangements out of the way, we headed out to see what Helsinki nightlife was like. First stop was an outdoor bar called Storyville. The place was great and there was live music being performed by a solo artist on a banjo. The second song he played while we were there was about New Orleans (go figure!).
It stays light out much later than back home...the above pictures were taken at around 9:30 p.m.
From this place we hopped around to a few other great little bars and returned to the hostel at around 1:00 a.m.
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