Helsinki

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This morning I crossed the Gulf of Finland on another large ship and arrived at Helsinki around noon. My first stop, after dropping my suitcase at the hotel, was to visit the famous Cafe Kappeli where I had a large cappuccino and a caramel pastry. Suitably fueled, I set off to walk around the central city and saw some of the important sights including the Lutheran Cathedral and Finlandia Hall. The latter is, according to Rick Steves, the most important building architecturally in Finland. I can’t say that I was familiar with it. Maybe it’s more impressive inside, but I couldn’t get in because today it was hosting a meeting of some high-up people from the European Union. I visited a couple of other museums and churches, but my favorite thing of the day was dinner. I returned to Cafe Kappeli and had a nice glass of Chianti Classico to accompany my order of reindeer steak and sausage. I have heard reindeer called “the beef of the north” and I agree with that, based on my one experience with it.

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