Sunny Helsinki by the Sea

Europe » Finland
June 28th 2013

Published: June 29th 2017

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Tofor85

Nat Helsinki

Geo: 60.1608, 24.9525

Another beautiful day on the Baltic. Up around 9, to blue skies, no wind and pleasant sunshine. No tour today, so we disembarked the boat and set off on foot towards the city centre. Rather than take the direct route, we elected to make the most of the weather and take the scenic seaside path. We strolled along for an hour or so, by hundreds of boats, little beaches and lush green parkland. Everything here is prettier, more welcoming, visually more aesthetic, and friendlier than Russia. It feels safer and more relaxed. We turned right at the city centre, and headed through a busy marketplace towards the Uspenski Russian Orthodox Cathedral. We climbed the hill and ventured inside. It was spectacular inside, and reminded me of the similar cathedral in Tallinn. Nat associates this architecture to something out of Alladin.
Leaving the cathedral we doubled back through the market to look around. Aside from our magnet purchase, we bought a mouth watering punnet of Finnish grown strawberries. Giant, ripe, juicy and delicious we carried them a short trip to the steps of the Helsinki Cathedral in the centre square. Here we feasted on their sweet sweet sustenance. Delicious! The

Helsinki Ships

exterior of this cathedral was magnificent to behold. Great white domes and ornate decor towering over the square and city centre. The interior was surprisingly boring for a cathedral, the plainest we had yet seen. White, with little to no decoration or sculptures.
We headed back to the square, and into the free Helsinki Historical museum for a brief wander around many informative and interesting exhibits. Lunch in the city was expensive so we took a scenic casual stroll back in the direction of the port. We ended up actually having McDonalds as it was relatively cheap. After that, some time in the bar next door to have a local beer and cider.
Ive become better and better at navigating foreign places, and as such, getting back to the ship wasn't too difficult. We made it back around 4pm. Onto the top deck to watch as the ship departed Helsinki, making its way through the archepagleo, past many small islands. There was time for some scrabble before our second formal dinner aboard. After, we elected to give the casino a try, as we had a few vouchers to use also. We couldn't have had less fun. American pokies are really boring, and