Monday, September 22nd - Helsinki city center walk

After a good night's sleep on the overnight cruise from Stockholm, I set out to explore Helsinki on foot. Following Rick Steves walk advice, I completed a clockwise circle. On the 12 to 6 portion, I passed the Three Smiths statue celebrating the importance of workers (first picture below), the bold facade of the central train station (second picture below), and the National Theater (third picture below). The Havis Amanda statue (fourth picture below) stands right in front of the orange tents at Market Square.

Turning inland at the imposing Uspenski Cathedral (first picture below), I continued through Senate Square (second picture below) and Esplanade Park. Esplanade Park is green space filled with statues (third picture below), people, and activities. I stopped by my hotel and then finished my day with an early dinner at the highly recommended Lappi Restaurant. The food was great, but the atmosphere and service was dead. I had my dessert of Rhone wine, tawny port, and chocolates in my hotel room while I processed pictures and prepared for my day trip to Estonia on Tuesday.

I woke early for my cruise to Tallinn, Estonia. The cruise takes 2.5 hours each way. I had a a big breakfast at my hotel and then Ubered to the Viking terminal and boarded the 10:30am cruise to Tallinn. I booked two return trips, 5pm and 7:30pm, not knowing how much time I wanted in Tallinn. Arriving in Tallinn at 1pm, I immediately got lost trying to find my way to the Old Town area. High winds and on-and-off rain showers complicated navigation. 45 minutes later, I finally ended up on Pikk Street in Old Town in front of the quirky Hell Hunt Pub (fourth picture above). Walking down Pikk Street, I found the main old town square (first picture below). I tried to follow Rick Steves recommended Tallinn walk, but the narrow winding streets complicated by only two passageways through the wall between lower and upper towns (second picture below) threw me off.

Despite bad weather and a lot of backtracking, I made it through to the upper town. Climbing the cobblestone streets, I visited the eastern orthodox Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (third picture below) and then found one of the two upper town city overlooks. The fourth picture below shows the contrast between the old and new towns. With rain coming down harder and a cold wind picking up, I walked back to Hell Hunt Pub and enjoyed a relaxing late lunch. I walked back to the ship docks and took the 5pm cruise back to Helsinki. Onboard, one of the shops had a nice brie, a small baguette, and sausages that I picked up to accompany my Rhone wine, Port, and chocolate for my evening hotel room dessert.

Wednesday September 24th - Suomenlinna Fortress island and the Rock Church

I woke to a bright sunny morning. After a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, I walked to the docks at Market Square, bought a transit day pass, and caught the ferry to Suomenlinna Island (large picture, top of page left). The sea fortress is well marked with a few different circuits to choose from, which made for a pleasant, long, morning and afternoon walk (first three pictures below). I did the Blue Trail, which was about 4 miles long. I grabbed a sandwich at the market, then took the ferry back to Market Square. I figured out the city tram system and made my way to Temppeliaukio Church, dubbed the "Rock Church" for obvious reasons (fourth picture below). I finished the day with snacks, wine, and picture processing in my hotel room. I did one last sauna as a farewell to Scandinavia. On Thursday, I Ubered to HEL airport and began my all-day journey home via CPH.

A few final thoughts: I enjoyed this journey immensely - likely one of the best, if not the best, trip I've ever taken. Like all travel, it was often confusing and exhausting (see my Travel Tips page for more). Planning my busy days punctuated by easy ones helped a lot. Each country had its charm, but Norway was the place that most left me wanting more. Scandinavian culture was infectious. I "get" why these countries are consistently among the happiest in the world. Public transportation was safe and worked well everywhere. Uber was very useful, especially in Stockholm and Helsinki. Cash was never required anywhere.