Chasing Summer –

Finland- Land of the Reindeer

Helsinki

The capital isn’t that big, or at least the section tourists will visit isn’t. There are about 1.3 million people, but the city has a small-town vibe. I arrived on the ferry at 9 and it was raining. It was not hard but a constant rain that wouldn’t go anywhere anytime soon.

My cabin under the cars.
View entering Finland. Ducks and geese galore.

It was a 30-minute walk to my hostel that fortunately would store my luggage until checkin time at 3pm. Off I went for a rainy walk to see some sights and grab some lunch.

It’s wet here- check out these Fungi, they’re huge.
Erottaja Fire Station and Museum. Put into commission in 1891.
Inside the german church built in 1864.
Me and the water fowl out for a walk.
St. John’s Church – constructed in 1888-1891 in Gothic Revival style.
Design Museum -The building was built in 1894 in a neo-gothic style.
This was all along the streets.
Are they keeping the turtles form washing out to sea?

In the later afternoon the sun came out so off I went on a second walk-about.

Central Station
Helsinki Cathedral
Senator’s Square
Check out those birds watching the food very carefully. Watch out for theives.
Uspenski Cathedral – 22 carrot gold covers those shiny bits.
There is a tall ship race that will take place here over the next few days- ferry times will be affected.
Amusement park – Flying Cinema
Reindeer hotdog
Live music at the park.

By Water

I caught the 4pm water cruise that shows some of the highlights of Helsinki by water. It costs 26 Euro and takes 90 minutes. There are several different cruises offered from the basic Helsinki highlights that I did to pizza cruises, bridge cruises, and so forth.

Because the tall ship races are happening this week/weekend there were even more tall ships in the port area than normal. There is almost as much water traffic as there is road traffic.

Leaving the South port behind
Sea Fortress Suomenlinna – UNESCO World Heritage Site
Some of the tall boats

Porvoo

Porvoo is a picturesque town 50km away from Helsinki that makes a great half day trip. I had read about it and decided to forgo the very expensive tours heading that way and go on my own. Buses run every 30 minutes on a regular schedule both ways, and the price depends on which bus you take.

I took a 10:30 bus there (100 minutes travel time) and a 1:45 bus back, giving me 3 hours to wander Porvoo, which ended up being perfect with two stops for treats.

My first stop at a traditional bakery

Once I arrived, I thought there would be a tourist map, but no go. There are some about a ten minute walk away at the old toem of Porvoo, so I recommend using the buses free wifi to check out the direction on google Maps before you get off. But straight ahead and to the right is the general direction.

The map shows where the bus station is. I got it from a store near number 2
Gives some information about each stop.
Porvoo is well known for the red sided warehouses along the river front.
This is the top of Castle Hill. There is no castle remaining, just the moats and a couple of dips where cellars were once located.
Porvoo Cathedral

Three hours was great for me as I got to see everything I wanted and had time to eat. At first I thought it was going to be way too much time but my wandering around took longer than I thought it would. I also visited several shops even though I wasn’t planning on buying anything.

After two days in Finland I was catching another ferry to Estonia. This one was on the exact same ferry that I had taken a couple of days ago from Sweden to Finland.

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