Helsinki and Silja Line

We get up at 7 AM Swedish time, 8 AM Finnish time. We eat breakfast and learn that the Swedish breakfast is much better than a Finnish one. If this was the first breakfast buffet we try in Scandinavia, maybe we would like it. But now that we have been spoiled, it is not so good. There are fewer types of everything really, not as many choices. Not much in the way of fresh fruit which is a favorite of ours. The yogurt choices are non existent. The hot food has horrible eggs and greasy bacon. Okay. We are too picky.

We clear out of the room and once again, put our bags in the storage area and Karlis bag in a locker. Taking 2 buses, we get to the dock where we board the tour bus. Funny. There is only one other lady on the bus besides us! It is a beautiful bus with comfy thick cushioned seats, cup holders and trays. The other tourist is from Australia and is very well traveled. Her son lives in Helsinki and she is visiting him. They went to the ballet last night and talk about that with the tour guide.

Helsinki is really a beautiful city. We go by a site where there are islands out in the Baltic Sea. The Finns actually still go out there to wash their rugs. They like the natural sea water to wash them in and claim the salt in the water is good for retaining the color of the rugs. The Baltic has a low salt content so it will not harm the rugs either. We tour the shopping district where we were last night. It is full of people today!!!There is a popular store called Stockmans. Then there are many other famous names on the buildings that we recognize. We see the Sibelius Music Academy.

The sightseeing tour takes in the most interesting parts of Helsinki, such as the historical centre, the Presidential Palace, City Hall, the Parliament buildings, Finlandia Hall and the Opera House. We will stop at the Sibelius Monument and at the Temppeliaukio Church (church in the rock).

The big white church is pointed out but is not a stop.

The Sibelius Monument is really wonderful. It is in the middle of a park and we walk up to it. There is a view of the Baltic from the large shining structure. The guide says there are two general ways people interpret it. Some say it is an abstract pipe organ and others say it represents a water fall of ice. We lean on the pipe organ side. There is also a bust of Silelius on the side of the main art piece. The tribute to him was erected in 1967. Sibelius died in 1957 and is greatly loved and revered by the Finns.

The Church in a Rock or Cave is really fabulous. It looks like an understated entrance to such a grand site. It looks like a cave when you are inside. I meet some people who are from Walla Walla, Washington! The church is nondenominational but most in Finland are Lutheran. There is a back wall where you can light a candle for someone. I light one for Julia. It is a magnificent sight unlike any church I have ever seen.

It is a very interesting tour and we hear all about many buildings in the city and their history. We see the presidents house which has 2 guards at the front doors. The guide talks about the many ice skating rinks in the city and how important they are to the Finns. . But now the Baltic is almost frozen to a safe amount but not quite. Yesterday, as the paper said, there was a man who was testing it and fell in! Luckily he was able to rescue himself.

The Finns have a real love of dipping into the icy waters of the Baltic and then going into hot tubs or saunas. They love saunas it is not a myth but a fact. Most apartment buildings have saunas in them for their tenants to use. They are group saunas so families can sign up for a time for the group or they have individual ones for small numbers too. Karli says there are saunas in Ryd in Sweden where she lives. Most homes and hotels must have a sauna for sure.

We get off at a main square where there are a few market stalls set up. In the summer I assume this place would be filled. The guide says before Christmas it is filled too. There are booths where people can drink coffee and you step in and it is heated. We walk around a bit. There are the typical handicrafts for sale. We are anxious to get to the shopping district to see the vibrant city in action. We only have a few hours before we board the ferry.

We walk around and go into shops. We stop for a lunch inside a cafe that is inside one of those malls in a building that are so popular here. The cafe is very cute and wide open to shops around it. We have some lunch specials.

Then we walk around some more. We try to stick to the inside areas to avoid the bitter windy cold. We go outside and walk up a street and into the next entrance. Funny. It is connected to the last place we were inside of! Building are very connected but you do not realize that unless you get on the right aisle of the mall. Sometimes you go through tunnels! From the outside it all looks like separate buildings.

We go back to the hotel and get our bags. We take a bus to the terminal.

Back on the ship!! It looks just the same. Our room is higher up this time but really the exact same room. We do the same as before and make reservations for the 5PM serving for dinner. We go explore the ship. This time we see different things.

This is the teenage night club and game room

The Spa area is so big and really beautiful. Hard to show it all.

Outdoor bar on the deck. Obviously closed for the season

View as we leave Helsinki

We go down to the buffet at 5 PM. We first stop by the Duty Free shop and buy some of the light up ice cubes. Our one souvenir of Helsinki! We will always remember above all how cold it was there. It was cold and windy and bitter on the 3 days were were there. If we would have been able to visit the rest of Finland, I think it would also be just as cold! So ice cubes are appropriate.

The buffet was really just about the same. Well, maybe different salads, maybe. Definitely different desserts. The desserts are really wonderful and I love the addition of fruits and cheeses. There is a fig, date, banana type bar too. Very interesting.

After the dinner we see some more entertainment in the center of the ship. There is a dance team much like the one on the other ship. They are quite good! Then there is a man who does a high wire act up on ropes. He is good but we enjoyed the Bulgarian couple much more. The same string music was there too but with different musicians.

We went to the night club for the entertainment after the teaser. It was more fun actually. We went a bit early before it all started. We were really just checking out the area to see if it was different at all. There was a childrens activity taking place. When we came on the ship there were these 2 people in costumes of Finnish cartoon characters. There are here doing dancing and games with the young children. One little boy is so taken with the characters he just keeps hugging them! It is so cute. It is obvious he watches the cartoon.

After the the club performers come on. They are dancers and the same ones we liked at the teaser midship on the promenade deck. They are very colorful and look like they are having a lot of fun. After the show, they lowered the dance floor! Amazing. It took about 15 minutes and you could barely see it move.

Then the dance band came on. People actually came out and danced this time. There was this one man that danced very flamboyantly and was good. He was dancing with all different partners. Seems like he loved to go out dancing and this was his big chance to show off. We decided to go home after he got tired and no one really went out to dance. The ship is a lot less crowded this time. Last time there were many Russian people traveling to Helsinki then home. Now there are not that many left since the holidays are really over. I hear a lot more Swedish being spoken.

We go off to sleep. It is kinda sad. This is the last night of our adventure really. The rest is just preparation for our trip home. We go to Linköping tomorrow night, then Arlanda Airport Hotel.