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Monday 6 July:
Well the big news in this part of the world is that the Greek citizens have resoundingly voted “No”.. That means they do not accept the austerity measures that are required for them to get their credit extended. So that means the banks are basically out of euros and, unless a new deal is negotiated very soon, the country is for all intents and purposes bankrupt. If that happens then they may well have no choice but to leave the Eurozone. All very interesting and we’ll keep an eye on what happens.
Another sunny day but the wind was out in force and it was a cold one! Temperature dropped to about 10 in the wind, but out of the wind it was much more pleasant.
We caught the ferry to Suomenlinna which is an island that had a fortress built on it in the 1700s. It has proved to be very effective over the years although it change hands once when the Russians took it off the Swedes. When Finland became an independent nation in 1917 it became part of the country. Today around 850 people live on
the island and the state owned rentals become available very rarely. If one does there are usually at least 50 applicants and the government chooses who gets to live there. This is done to ensure the population on the island remains diverse, and doesn’t become exclusive.
After a stop at the playground we went to the submarine and had a look inside. It is only a small sub but we could see the torpedoes, engine, sleeping quarters, and kitchen. Then I went to the main museum to learn about the history of the fortress and island while Zachary and Heather went to the toy museum. The main museum was very good – plenty of information although it is interesting that WW2 (which they refer to as the Continuation War) only gets a two line mention when they refer to the reparations Finland had to pay to the USSR. The toy museum was okay and it kept Zachary entertained for a while.
We headed back to the city to go on the SkyWheel. This is where the day unfortunately went rapidly downhill. Zachary became extremely difficult and I ended up taking him back to the
hostel (where he fell asleep). He is going through a very argumentative and defiant stage so we are coming up with a new strategy to ensure all of us can continue to enjoy the holiday.
Heather went to the post office to get a box so we can send a package of excess stuff to the Hoffmanns as well as a repair kit for the backpack. I headed down to the supermarket and then came back and cooked dinner. After that Zachary watched a “Land Before Time” movie we downloaded on itunes. Internet speeds here really show us how backward NZ is in this respect.
Hopefully our strategy with young master works and we can go to the fun park tomorrow afternoon.
Tuesday 7 July:
The downside of Zachary having a sleep in the afternoon is that he battles to fall asleep at night. So it wasn’t until about 10 he fell asleep, but at least he then slept in until 8 this morning.
When we got to the tram stop there was a group of 20 older Japanese tourists, so you can well imagine
what the number 1 tourist attraction in Helsinki was for a short while! We headed for Senate Square to get a view of the Cathedral and we had a look inside too. Then to Market Square to buy a few things, but the stalls we wanted weren’t there today so that didn’t work so well.
So we decided that as the weather was okay (not raining but a bit chilly) at the moment we would head for Linnanmaki Amusement Park before the forecast rain arrived. We found our way there and established that there were 11 rides that were free to go on. The minimum height for some of them was 100cm and with his shoes and hood Zachary made the mark exactly! The free rides were quite old ones but they were still quite good. He liked the pirate ship and the train but his favourite was the Balloon Carousel which went quite fast up and down while going round and you could also spin the carriage you were sitting in. He went on this quite a few times. He also got his first taste of candy floss.
We didn’t feel any need
to go on any other rides, especially as it was getting very windy and cold and we were getting a bit of rain coming in too. So we headed back for the hostel. Heather went to the post office to post our package while Zachary and I went to the supermarket to organise dinner.
We have an earlyish start tomorrow as we need to be at the port by 9:30 at the latest to get our ferry service to
Tallinn.
We have enjoyed what we have seen of Finland. If it wasn’t for their ridiculous language which I think would be just about impossible to learn as an adult it would be quite a liveable country. As an added bonus they have salty liquorice here – not quite the same as the Dutch stuff but rather addictive! The local beer is passable too. So we say farewell to Finland and look forward to Estonia tomorrow which I anticipate will be quite different to other countries we have seen thus far.
Monty Python’s Flying Circus were fond of Finland too. Michael Palin even wrote a song about it:
I hope the winter blues haven’t set in for you all in NZ and hopefully Finland’s most infamous (ex) citizen Kim Dotcom gets booted out of the country soon!
D-Day looms for Greece. There is growing internal pressure on Angela Merkel to take a tough line. We shall see.
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