Finland

We’re on board our British Airways Airbus A380 now just waiting for everyone to board. We’ll be leaving a little late but hopefully the pilot can make up the time in the air.
Next stop, Vancouver!!!

The flight from Moscow to Helsinki was uneventful, which is how I like them. We arrived on time and we were greeted by a bus to take us to the terminal. This time the bus ride was 2 minutes. Once inside, we were able to proceed directly to the Transit area so no landing card or showing a passport. We only had to do a security screening again then it was off to more...

After our leisurely day of sightseeing and harbour cruising, we decided more relaxation was in order. Monday’s seem to be a day where a lot of places are closed. After some searching the web, we found this sauna, only 20 minutes from the harbour. A tram and bus ride later, we arrived about a 1 minutes walk to the sauna. If it wasn’t for Eduardo seeing the...

This last photo is interesting. It’s the place where people bring down their carpets to wash them and then hang them to dry on the posts behind the tables on shore. Apparently the carpets are left overnight to dry without any fear that they’ll be stolen.

We got a bit of a late start today. The jet lag has been unbearable this trip. Eduardo woke up around 3am this morning, which woke me up. Then we laid around trying to get back to sleep for a couple hours. We finally fell back to sleep until 9:40am. When we looked outside, the sun had disappeared behind the clouds and we discovered the rain had followed us from...

Kamppi Chapel is a roundish, chapel in the middle of the city constructed of wood. It’s also known as the “Chapel of Silence” since it is intended to be a place to calm down and have a moment of silence in one of the busiest areas in Finland. And they weren’t kidding. It was completely silent inside when we went in. This was the last place we...

 
The Uspenski Cathedral is an Eastern Orthodox Church opened in 1868. Compared the Helsinki Cathedral we saw earlier in the day, which was very plain inside, this one is supposed to be very ornate. Unfortunately we arrived too late to see for ourselves.

Suomenlinna is an inhabited sea fortress built on six islands in 1748 which now forms part of the city of Helsinki. Suomenlinna is a UNESCO World Heritage site and popular with tourists and locals, who enjoy it as a picturesque picnic site. We walked about a 1.5 kms to the end of the fort. Near the outer edges facing the sea contained some massive leftover cannons...

This stainless steel monument is dedicated to the famous composer Jean Sibelius. It consists of series of more than 600 hollow steel pipes welded together in a wave-like pattern. The purpose of the artist was to capture the essence of the music of Sibelius. The monument weighs 24 tonnes and measures 8.5 × 10.5 × 6.5 metres.

The Rock Church is a unique building built into the side of a rock hill. The church is filled with light through the skylight around the centre dome made of copper. If you’ve ever been to Peggy’s Cove in Nova Scotia, the rocks are very reminiscent of this. There was also a cool looking organ off the side. The church is often used for concerts as the...