Helsinki, Finland- Fish, Furs & Flowers

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Helsinki, Finland, can you find it on a map? We had no idea exactly where Helsinki was or what it would be like. Once again, another beautiful country. We continue to have unusually warm weather and the locals are loving it- it will probably turn out to be the hottest day of the year for them!! About 86 degrees. In parks and along river banks, people were sunbathing and out biking or hiking.

One of our first stops was at a huge Lutheran church on the old main square in Helsinki. Most of Finland is Lutheran. On the day we were there, there was a car show going on with old Fiats all lined up. Some of them were so tiny and very cute! We walked a few blocks to the harbor where a “market” had been set up. They were selling all kinds of food items, including dried fish. Some of the small herrings were fried (Cope thought they were frogs legs!) and sold in a little basket (like French fries in the states) and people just ate them like finger food.

At the outdoor market we saw lots of items made out of moose, seal, fox and mink. All beautiful, but Jean couldn’t bring herself to buy any of them…all those cute critters. Then it was onto the bus and through the country to a farm where we had lunch. The farm produces a yellow flower that is used to make oil (they say it is better for you than olive oil…oh sure ;-) We had lunch in the “mill” of the farmhouse before heading to Porvoo, which is the second oldest city in Finland, 1346. A very cute little ancient town with a good ‘feel’ to it! We went to the old town which is built on a square as most of these towns were, with a church on the top of the hill and a river running through the valley. Beautiful countryside with pine trees as far as the eye can see. We took a few minutes to go out of the old town to the “new” town and found a grocery store, where once again, we couldn’t read anything and reverted back to looking at pictures on packages (sad ;-) but we did find Coke light, peanuts and some candy. When we were checking out the grocery clerk was surprised when Cope said “Good Afternoon”, as it was a local store and tourists wouldn’t normally go there… but she smiled and said “Good Afternoon” and seemed to enjoy speaking English.

Well we still haven’t seen darkness since Prague. Very strange.
Our time in Helsinki was short, but we got to see a lot of countryside and a little of the city. On the ship by 5:30 and off to…Russia!

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Photos

Lutheran Church
On the main square in Helsinki

Farm near Porvoo Finland
Yellow flowers used for making cooking oil