28-AUG—Helsinki

As we came into Helsinki, Theresa was up early and enjoyed the passing views, enjoying the nature, the quiet, the peace, and the WWII bunker.  Having been to Helsinki a few years ago, and such a busy trip to St. Petersburg, we opted to do little in Helsinki.  So we slept in a little (other than Theresa being up to watch the arrival), and had a late breakfast.  We waited for the Sudoku challenge, and it was a small crowd, so we were First and Second place.  Then we headed out to walk around the town.

Bunker.

Helsinki Cathedral (from ship).

On our way, we passed through the market place, where various vendors were selling all sorts of fruits, meats, hot lunches, souvenirs, and clothes, As we walked, we saw a bird perch briefly near a vegetable display and suddenly make off with one of the vegetables in its beak.  It was hard to tell what the vegetable was but it seemed to be a large pad, like peas or beans, but the size of okra.  Anyway, as we laughed about it, we watched two more birds dive in, steal lunch, and head up to a safe place to enjoy their booty.  The shop keeper was on the far end, and never saw the thieves.  It made us wonder how much food was stolen by birds, but not wonder why these birds appeared quite well fed!

Thieves sharing their spoils.

Square next to Helsinki Cathedral.

Crypt (Basement) of Cathedral.

We headed first to the Helsinki Cathedral, for a revisit from the last trip.  Even though it was cooler today, there were more people about—probably due to the at least 3 other cruise ships in town.  We stopped for a moment in the main area, then found our way to the “crypt”, which was really more of a basement than a true crypt.  It was amazing how much quieter and more peaceful it was down there, however. 

National Library of Finland.

We left the church and headed to the National Library of Finland.  Thinking of the Library of Congress, we were excited to go to a nation’s archival library.  It was certainly very nice, but manageably small.  We walked through almost all of the public areas, and marveled at the books from around the world and through history.  We even found some US History and took a moment for some reading. 

Reserved Only workspaces in the Library.

Books, and books, and books!!

Ooh!!  This looks interesting!!

Curious moment in time!

More books and beautiful capital (on the column).

This room is round!

Shhhhhh!!!!

Even the pigeons aren't fond of Alexander II
(assassinated in St. Petersburg)

We headed over to a striking building, and found it was a government building once, but they had outgrown it, so only used it for special functions, and we were NOT special, so no admittance.  Anyway, we heard there was a Christmas store, so tried to find it, but to no avail.  Finally, we walked to the shopping area that had the Soup Kitchen from so many years ago.  We debated on trying is, since it might obliterate our memories of the fantastic soups, but we decided it must be vetted!!  Well, the line was long, and the soups of the day were not fantastic (previous ones sampled were Reindeer Stew and Morrell Mushroom soup -- today was Cream of Garlic and Chicken Noodle...), so we left it to memories.  We returned to the ship, and had a late lunch. 

By 5PM, it was our last trivia contest, and we were very happy to win!!  We ended the trip with 122 “points” and were keen to find out what we could get with them.  Immediately following the trivia, it was time to redeem our points, and we got a T-shirt for 95 points, and really nothing we wanted for the balance of the 27 points.  So, we gave them to someone who was short from her goal, and headed off to pack a little and head to the show. 

The harbor.

There was a pre-dinner show, and sort of a goodbye.  Then we sat with a new couple friend that we had arranged a final dinner farewell.  It was a great dinner, and we talked about all sorts of things, including discount travel, (since she was retired airline).  It was a lot of fun!  We ran back to the room to pack in 45 minutes and put our bags out by 11, and then to the bar for a farewell drink!!  It is amazing that we have been gone for 2 weeks already, and still have a few days to go (but get booted off the ship in 9 hours!).  Looking out of our window at midnight, we saw four other ships in our area.  Popular route!