Tom and I rode across the Baltic Sea on this "ferry." It was more like a cruise ship, as Tom rightly pointed out. I mean, a basic cruise ship, but a cruise ship none the less. We hadn't expected to be sitting in a lounge, making the two-hour trip from Tallinn to Helsinki. It was great! Also, since both countries are a part of the Schengen Agreement, we didn't have to show our passports when entering Finland. That threw us for a loop a bit.
The evenings were so light there. It was 9:15 at night and this was the color of the sky in Helsinki.
The Radisson Blu provided us a vitamin shot as a part of our morning fare. What a nice way to get your day started, even if it was just a sugary fruit drink.
Thanks to Misha's research, we caught a round-one game of the World Hockey Championships. USA versus Sweden. USA killed it -- 5 to 3.
USA! USA! USA!
A very particular kind of dog was not welcome here.
Tom wanted to check out an old military fortress on Suomenlinna, an island near Helsinki. People live on the island today, but it's also a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was founded in 1748 when Finland was a part of the Kingdom of Sweden, and had been under Russian rule for a while as well.
Helsinki has Ben & Jerry's!
This is the Kamppi Chapel. It's in the heart of Helsinki and is a "place where people can have a moment of silence and meet each other." It is made of wood and won the International Architecture Award in 2010 by the Chicado Athenaeum. It is very serene inside.
The main Helsinki train station.
