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Published: June 18th 2012
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By the time we awoke in Helsinki we were already tied up alongside the dock. After two fast paced days seeing the sights of St Petersburg there was an air of calm about how we were going to wander Helsinki. We had used the room service option breakfast for the past two days – a great way to kick off the day and also a self-imposed barrier to the lovely cooked breakfasts upstairs. My will power is zero when I see them so not going to the restaurant bar has helped. We were back in the breakfast bar today and I had waddled back to my table with bacon, black pudding, beans, eggs and all manner of extras. A few more laps of Deck 3 will be needed.
Fuelled up on the former we set out for the city centre on foot following the carefully placed butterfly markers the city council provided and seemed to arrive a lot quicker than what the info booklet said. Either we are quick or the brochures are geared more to the older cruise clientele to warn off walkers and get more onto the shuttle buses. The walk in was nice and we soon found
ourselves in the centre and doing a bit of window shopping in some of the boutiques. Finland can lay claim to be expensive by the looks of it; a polo-shirt advertised in one shop was €395. Convert that to NZ dollars and weep. I did not purchase it.
The liveliest area in the city is the Market Square, which is on the seafront. It is dotted by small tents that are either food sellers or stallholders selling crafts and souvenirs. The food being cooked was amazing – sardines, paella type dishes, potatoes, salmon, and lots of desserts. I would have eaten something but the black pudding I had eaten earlier seemed still to be in my throat. We found Mum and Dad here and saw them board their harbour cruise – it would take them out and about the Helsinki harbour, which is dotted with small islands. We needed to walk more so headed up the hill to the red brick Uspenski cathedral with its 13 onion shaped domes. While we were seated in the grounds the noon day gun went off. That certainly made a few jump and the seagulls to take flight. The Uspenski is Russian Orthodox
and its interior was again quite magnificent and the grounds gave wonderful views back over the quay. I am not sure I would be queuing up to attend an Orthodox service as you are expected to stand – there are no congregational seats. This cathedral looks back to the Lutheran Cathedral in Senate Square and that is where we headed next. The cathedral sits high up overlooking the square and you have to climb many steps to reach it and its interior is sparse in comparison to the Uspenski but they do provide seats – so religious decisions for me in Helsinki would come down to whether I wanted a nice view and interior but no chairs, or chairs but lots of steps; tough call!
On the day we were there it was the 200
th Anniversary of Helsinki becoming Finland’s capital and there were numerous festival, concerts and activities taking place throughout the city. We wandered through the park that led out of the Market Square area and away from the quay. It was packed with revellers listening to music and we also saw many actors and actresses performing what were obviously key moments of Helsinki’s history. Sadly my
Finnish is limited so we could only really follow the movements not the vocals. It was stunning park and was also filled with office workers on their lunch break. We decided to join them but rather than sitting on the grass we sat outside a hotel. I love how the Europeans set up their outside cafés with the small tables and the chairs facing the sidewalk so you can watch the people wander by. It is a wonderful way of losing an hour or so. It is also an excellent way of losing some Euros – a beer and a glass of water came in at just on NZ$30; nice beer though and as the man at the table said out loud to all who wanted to listen “everything in Finland is expensive”.
I really enjoyed what Helsinki had to offer. It was quite a contrast to St Petersburg and had more of a small town feel to it. With the quay and the markets it has held onto its seaport roots, and from there a burgeoning city has built up. The architecture is stunning and the many houses, buildings and alleyways make it a most elegant city. As
we walked back around the waterfront to the ship we could look out over the sea and watch yachts and motorboats crisscrossing the water. It really is a beautiful place and so much better than the advice I had received from someone who was on the St Petersburg tour, who told me I would be disappointed and see nothing. How wrong they were!
We now have two days at sea heading for Zeebrugge, which is the gateway to one of our favourite cities Bruges and I am hopeful that there will be time for ‘moule frite’ and a Belgium beer in one of the many cafés – can’t wait! One of the highlights of the two days was the passing under of The Great Belt suspension bridge that spans part of the divide Denmark and Sweden. It is quite a feat of engineering that uses tunnels, bridges and artificial islands. For an hour before we went under it was in view and it was like a countdown as we got closer. Finally the moment arrived and we could see that there was not a huge amount to spare between funnel and the underside of the bridge. It was 2315
as we went under and many people had wrenched themselves away from the bars, bingo, casino and European Cup to head upstairs and watch. Even at this late hour it was still very light and we had the most spectacular of views and a ripple of applause was heard as the ship completed its manoeuvre; just glad I was not steering and our capable captain and pilots had the wheel. Another highlight ticked off!
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