Blogs from Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland, Europe

Finland day two. The hotel is a bustle with people, a conference is being held in the hotel. The lobby is stuffed with people, groups of people laptops open, discussing topics important to them. We make our way to the breakfast bar, just off of the lobby. A lovely mix of old brickwork, and contemporary furniture. Giving a lovely vibe of traditions held, living alongside new. The smell of breakfast offerings dances in the air, a greeting for our senses. I find the usual fair of cheese, crackers, bacon and eggs. As well as the object of my desire, local delicacies. I try a pastry with rice in the middle, that is traditionally served with butter mixed with eggs. They have ginger snap type biscuits, and an Oreo type cookie that contains a minty filling. The ... read more

The first 4.5 hr sail out of Stockholm was incredible weaving through hundreds of islands of every size from small treeless rocky outcrops teeming with sea birds, vast forested & uninhabited islands to idyllic island locations with private homes ranging from traditional red log cabins to palatial homes many with flagpoles flying proudly. Don’t know if they’re only holiday houses or permanent homes but would certainly be less idyllic in winter. We checked into the Hotel Arthur for a two night stay before an orientation walk around the city’s landmarks Including the Lutheran cathedral on Senate Square & the Uspenski Orthadox Cathedral. The rest of the old town is not that interesting with much off the city’s architectural design occurring during Russian occupation. We had our last group dinner for three passengers finishing today but will ... read more

Wednesday 29thMay 2019 Hello from Helsinki After an early breakfast we made our way by taxi to Ferry Terminal D at the docks in Tallinn for the two-hour journey across the Gulf of Finland to Helsinki, Finland. Helsinki has been on our list since that wonderful mid-summer in 2005 when we entered Finland from Sweden in the north in our motorhome and only managed to get as far south as Oulu. Time was the enemy then as ever and we promised to return one day and visit Helsinki. Getting around Helsinki is remarkably easy. A €3, two-hour ticket, took us by tram directly to our ‘hotel’, The Hellsten Senate, a fairly basic apartment complex with our own suite – lobby, large bedroom and bathroom, kitchen, lounge and diner with TV and really great value in this ... read more

Barbera didnt really want Gary to come up and play basketball with me and dave but, like a trooper, he completely ignored her and joined us in a game. We played 1x1 with one watching and, once I beat Gary, he and dave had a game together. None of what happened next was my fault....I was a mere spectactor. Dave threw the ball and it richoched off the hoop and onto Gary's head...unfortuneatly, he had his sun glasses on and it was this which did the damage.... The glasses were impaled onto his nose and cut the bridge quite badly.... we did not see the blood at first but once Gary had walked over to us it was bleeding quite badly. Oops!! we then told Gary that he was not permitted to return to Barbera until ... read more

Lunar/Chinese New Year means the opportunity to get out of China for a bit. I wouldn't have minded travelling in China, but probably left it too late to any train tickets and decent accommodation. Flights within Asia were almost as expensive as those to Europe and there wasn't really anywhere in Asia that I really had my heart set on visiting. Europe on the other hand, there were quite a few places I fancied. Finnair had a direct flight to Helsinki that left and arrived at a decent time, so I bit the bullet and got the credit card out. The flight was fine and only took about 8 hours. The food was a bit hit and miss, but the cabin crew were lovely. Walking through the airport was like a ghost town, I was unsure ... read more