Helsinki!

From Helsinki

Oooooooooooo!

This weekend has been the most fun I've had for quite a while :) My Finnish friend Outi managed recently to get 8 free tickets for a cruise to and from Helsinki with a day spent there in between, so on Saturday myself, Jane, Outi, Raquel (from Spain), Dorian (from France), Mike (from the Netherlands - I can't pronounce his real name, let alone spell it!), Julian and Johannes (beide aus Deutschland) sailed out from Stockholm on the good ship Gabriella, and that night was largely spent partying courtesy of the duty free shop (It's been over a month since i last saw cheap alcohol!). Having never been on a "booze cruise" before, and not really knowing the group apart from Jane and Outi, these were pretty much new people for me, and it was great fun getting to know everyone and exchanging bits of languages, cultures and sayings. Of particular note from the first evening are the phrases "Qué pasa i ton menté?" and "Sieben Bier sind auch ein Schnitzel!". Make of these what you will... :)

From Helsinki

After a relatively meagre amount of sleep and an inversely proportional amount of breakfast, we arrived in Helsinki at about 10, and, leaving Outi to spend the day with family and friends, the rest of us bought ourselves a natty little Helsinki Card and hopped on a coach for a tour of the city's main sights. The audio tour was available in 10 languages, including Latin and "underground Helsinki Finnish". The former particularly confused me, due to the unsurprising lack of Roman centurions on board, but I was also highly amused at the idea of a dialogue essentially describing the Finns as being "down with" Tsar Alexander II "cos he wus chilled out, innit". Despite these little eccentricities, the tour was rather interesting, and included such gems as "In days gone by, Finnish women often gave birth in a sauna [...] followed by a pint of beer and a sausage!" and "You can't beat a good sausage". Ah, foreigners.

From Helsinki

After the tour, we took a quick closer look at some of the sights for ourselves, including the stunning white cathedral in the square (see attached), then took a spot of lunch before hopping on a boat over to a neighbouring island, Suomalinnen. Previously fortified by the Swedes when they were in charge, it's full of cannon and big walls, but is also a lovely island with some great scenery. When we got back to the mainland, we had a peek around the market and a bite to eat (a bowl of what was simply and accurately described as "fried small white fish") before boarding the boat for the journey back.

From Helsinki

Unfortunately, the past 24 hours had taken their toll, and we had to have a nap before the fun started. Even then, it was a little more subdued then the previous night, but nice and chilled out, and the early night did me the power of good.

What with it being over 10 years since I've been to Helsinki, I was pleased I still like it as much as I remember doing. There's definitely a different atmosphere in Finland to Sweden, and I'd like to spend some more time there in the future. Overall t'was a most excellent weekend, great to meet more new friends and a big thanks to Outi for organising the whole thing and inviting us all on it :)