Helsinki Highlights

Saturday was a Sea Day as we made way from Germany to Finland.  But since we last blogged we have met some other guests.  Friday evening we ate with Rada who has lived in Michigan since her husband came from Serbia as an engineer for Yugo.  He has since died and she is traveling as a single.  It is fun to meet and talk with other guests and we learned a bit about the Serbia and Rada’s family there.  On Saturday we had lunch with Anita and Dick Little from Houston who told us much about cruising Carnival which they have done more, in fact they are staying on board for the next cruise which will be around Norway, and at breakfast today some folks are doing that one and even the nexy, which is trip around Ireland and Scotland back to Dover.  Something to look forward to....  The verdict is that Carnival does a better job delivering cruise value for the dollar.  The amenities are high the décor is excellent and the crew and staff are first class.

The Carnival excursions are a bit expensive but the report for the train trip to Berlin by Lyle and Marlene was excellent, although they did not get back to the ship until after 10 PM having left at 6:30 AM.

As I said yesterday was a sea day, we kept busy moving about the ship and after dinner the evening entertainment was very good. The Legend Dancers and Justin Illusion did a show featuring  nonstop dancing and illusions it was fascinating; although we kind of wished we were closer to the stage,  because we could not figure how the illusions were performed….I am sure even then we would have been confused.

So it was Sunday in Helsinki, and there were several buses that did the tour with the name Helsinki Highlights. Lyle, Marlene, Charlotte, and I left  just after breakfast at 9 AM in the standard tourist bus with a local guide.  With deserted Sunday morning streets it was easy to get around. 

Finland was part of Sweden for 600 years, the Swedes came here in 12^th Century and Sweden and Russia fought with each other. Much of the time the fighting was in Finland; in 1809 Sweden lost Finland to Russia. Our first stop was a at Senate Square.  Behind a statute of the good czar “Alexander ll” was a beautiful Orthodox church and on the other sides of the square were  government buildings and university buildings.  It also was not far from the open air market so the pictures will show you what we saw. Helsinki was settled in 1550 as an alternative trading port to Tallinn and is well laid out with the architectural style of Art Novae and National Romantic.

After an hour at the Square we drove around more on the tour bus.  The population is 600,000 in the city with a million in the metropolitan area.  But, as we know, many Finns have immigrated to US and Canada, in fact it was quoted that 600,000 Fins went to the United States and 130,000 to Canada.  Lapland is the northern 1/3 of the country of Finland and is the home to Santa Claus and many more reindeer than people.  I found a reindeer wandering the streets and gave him his favorite food…..euros.  We also stopped at the 1952 venue for the Olympic summer games and I raced Paavo Nuemi, a famous long distance runner, but even though he was bronze he won.

The average Finn makes 3,000 euros a month. The tax rate is 30% progressive and there is Value Added tax of 24%.  So far the best prices have been in Germany.  The magnets here are 5 euros and postcards .75 euros.  Money goes for health care, and education.  A unique benefit is the “baby box” for all new mothers containing nappies and supplies for a new baby.  For your second child the mother can accept 150 euros instead but most choose the gift as it has more value.  As a note, Prince George was sent one as a state gift but they are not generally available for non-citizens.  Our final tour bus stop was a sculpture as a monument to Jon Sibellius, a composer from 1865-1957.

After that we elected to be dropped off to see the Rock Church, both a religious highlight but also an architectural highlight having been shown in over 200 magazines.  The church is built into rock below ground similar to how early Christian churches were built in caves. It was not available until Noon as it is Sunday and there was active worship there, but afterwards we did walk through.  From there we walked to the Center.  Lyle went back on the tour bus, but the girls and I made a stop at Stockman’s.  Stockman’s is the largest department store in Finland…”if you can’t find it in Stockman’s it does not exist”.  On the 8^th floor we teamed up with others from our ship and exchanged dollars for euros, and then we toured the housewares department.

We then took a shuttle bus back to the ship and are now eating a late snack at the Unicorn café…I am writing and Charlotte just brought me a bowl of soft strawberry ice cream.  I will now go add some photos to the prose and try to send it before the ship leaves the dock at 5 PM

Next stop Russia…..