May 29

Helsinki

[And this was our afternoon excursion . . . ]

[So, we’re on the ferry – good day for a sunburn . . . ]

[Cruising by . . . yacht clubs?]

[Helsinki behind us . . . ]

(Suomenlinna ahead . . . ]

[The fortress . . . ]

[Bird shots . . . ]

[Because they were there . . . ]

[And we have arrived . . . ]

[The pink clock-towered Jetty Barracks is the entrance to the fortress . . . ]

[Looking back at whence we came . . . ]

[Cafe Silo?  I’m not sure how’d that sell around these parts?  But we trudged up a mini-hill to get here . . .]

[Where we were . . . ]

[It’s a church/lighthouse combo . . . ]

[Tourists milling around . . . ]

[Dr. Kiehne practices the choreography for his opening act on Austin City Limits . . . ]

[Two stories on red brick on top of one story of rock, i.e., late Paleolithic . . . ]

[Massed tourists, a phenomenon becoming increasingly global . . . ]

[Pam spots an ‘op.’]

[A Super selfie in an overhead mirror . . . ]

[Where we were, again . . . ]

[Another excellent guide whose name escapes – in fact, there’s not much I keep captive any more . . . ]

[With Pam shooting behind them, Tom and the Super ponder things Finnish . . . ]

[If I had a boat . . . ]

[The Fortress is a World Heritage Site . . . ]

[Into the catacombs . . . ]

[Pam adopts the James Earl Jones expression before he slips into the Field of Dreams cornfield  . . . ]

[The Super is standing where . . . ]

[One of these used to be (canned photo) . . . ]

[The Super tries to be friends . . . ]

[But his faced remained stoic . . . ]

[Me neither?]

[I believe these are called cannons . . . ]

[And I believe this is called a drydock . . . ]

[Actually, a rather famous drydock . . . ]

[The dry dock in Suomenlinna is the oldest in Finland and one of the oldest operational dry docks in Europe. The construction of the dry dock began in 1750. The dock’s basins and service buildings served as the base for the Swedish Coastal Fleet’s Sveaborg squadron until 1808. Ships for the Swedish Coastal Fleet were built there in the 1760s under the supervision of the famous naval architect Fredrik Henrik af Chapman. During the Finnish period (1918– ) the State Aircraft Factory used the dock for building the first Finnish airplanes. In the 1930s, the dock’s inner basin was used as a naval submarine base. After the Second World War, Valmet Oy took over the ship-building operations, initially building ships as war reparations to the Soviet Union.  (Suomenlinna Sveaborg Sights)]

[There was a huge owl flying along the side of the building to our left, but alas I couldn’t get a photo . . . ]

[But if you look really close, just slightly below photo center, you can see a mother duck out for a stroll with 3 ducklings . . . ]

[Best identified through the magical powers of googling, a wooden, yellow building . . . ]

[What we in the trade call a “scenic overlook” . . . ]

[What we in the trade also call a “scenic overlook” . . . ]

[The scenic overlook of the Gulf of Finland . . . ]

[Scenic, from a different angle . . . ]

[Overlook, from a different angle . . . ]

[Yup, that’s what it is.  A Viking probably stood here once . . . ]

[A mass of humanity on a dirt road . . . ]

[Wrapping up the circular tour . . . ]

[To open water . . . ]

[Just strolling along a waterway with a bridge and background church . . . ]

[Outdoor live theatre . . . to be or not to be . . . ]

[Suomenlinna by summer . . . ]

[And by winter . . . ]

[Homeward (Helsinki) bound . . . ]

[Good-bye, Suomenlinna . . . ]

[Hello, Helsinki . . . ]

[Gabriella – the ship . . . ] 

[Helsinki Allas Sea Pool . . . ]

[I thought I saw Havis Amanda down there . . . ]

[Close enough . . . ]

[Yes, it’s getting to be dinner time . . . ]

[And here is where we did it . . . ]

[Pam preclaimed here is where we were looking for . . . ]

[The Super snags a window seat . . . ]

[A small delight appeared on the table immediately . . . ]

[As you’ll recall, this is right across the street from Helsinki Cathedral and Senate Square.]

[As you’ll also recall, they were prepping for a big event – thusly, our window view was obscured by the goings-on.]

[Nevertheless, the Super gave it the ole college try . . . ]

[OK, let’s fine dine!!]

[Who’s going to be first to spill their wine?]

[Why yes, I did have the vandace!  “Vandace” means “giant fish” in Finnish . . . [

[It must be good?  They appear to be preoccupied . . . ]

[The Super butters up.  We all proclaimed our meals to be DEEEE-LISH . . . ]

[Some desserty looking thing!  Yes, we dug in – I seem to recall Pam reported we walked seven miles on the day.]

[On the way “home,” we can do better . . . ]

[We can do better yet . . . ]

[No, I guess we can’t . . . ]

[Maybe the girls did better?  (Pam’s photo)]

[What I see in the mirror every morning.  Oh, did I use that already?]

A note in Finnish hotel bathroom: “Help us to save water. If you need fresh towel, throw yourself on the floor. If you don’t need fresh towel, hang yourself.”

Up Next:  Looks like Estonia.

May 29

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital city and most populous municipality of Finland. Helsinki is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. They city has a population of 642,045 with a metropolitan area of over 1.4 million. Helsinki is located 50 miles north of Talinn, Estonia, 250 miles east of Stockholm, and 240 miles west of St. Petersburg, Russia.  It has close historical ties with these three cities.  Helsinki is the world’s northern most metro area with over one million people, and the city is the northernmost capital of an EU member state. Helsinki is the third largest city in the Nordic countries, after Stockholm and Oslo. Helsinki has one of the highest urban standards of living in the world. In 2011, the British magazine ‘Monocle’ ranked Helsinki the world’s most liveable city.  (Wikipedia)

[While breakfasting in the hotel, we couldn’t help but notice the . . . chandeliers?]

[On our first full day in Helsinki, we began our walking tour of the city.  As you can see the weather was terrible!  Actually, the locals were in total awe of the good weather they were having – it’s never this nice here, they would exclaim!]

[Located on Railway Station Square in front of the National Theatre Building, this is either Aleksis Kivi or . . . Jessica Lange?  If Kivi, the writer who founded realistic Finnish lterature.]

[Anteneum Museum across Railway Station Square . . . ]

[Follow the guy with the Viking ‘lollipop,’  whose name we can’t remember . . . ]

[Finnish National Theatre . . . ]

[Pam and Tom are all ears as our guide explains things around us . . . ]

[Makkaratalo (Finnish for “sausage house”?), a/k/a, shop till you drop . . . ]

[And the classic railway station in City-Center . . . ]

[Again, Makkaratalo . . . ]

[The front of the railway station, highlighted by a prototypical Finn striding by . . . ]

[With angle, I can capture the entire station name . . . ]

[Sorry, I don’t do Finnish . . . ]

[Where we were in the grand scheme of things . . . ]

[Passing through Makkaratalo . . . ]

[Wow, the Finns pay homage to the Minnesota state fish – the crappie!]

[Finland’s Parliament House . . . ]

[Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art . . . ]

[Upon further review, it’s not a crappie . . . ]

[It’s  Laulupuut, the giant pike . . . ]

[In front of the Helsinki Music Centre . . . ]

[Artsy . . . ]

[Mannerheim Statue . . . ]

[Marshal of Finland Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, by Aimi Tukuainen, 1960.  The bronze statue is 5.4 m tall. It is raised on a granite podium, 6.3 m tall, 6.3 m long and 2.72 m wide.  Mannerheim is a symbolic figure in Finland since the Finnish Civil War 1918.  (Wikipedia)]

[Your guess is as good as . . . ]

[Urbanity . . . ]

[The largest department store in the Nordic countries . . . ]

[The statue of Vainamoinen by Robert Stigell (1888) decorates the Vanha Ylioppilastalo (Old Student House) built in 1870. (Wikipedia)]

[Three Smiths . . . ]

[The safari continued down a major commercial street toward the waterfront . . . ]

[Actually, I prefer “wear what fits!”]

[Aha, outside the shadows of the commercial street . . . ]

[Johan Ludvig Runeberg, a Finnish national poet, in Esplanadi Park.]

[The waterfront is nigh . . . ]

[But first, an obvious favorite, Havis Amanda at Market Square . . . ]

[Pam and Tom ride the Ferris Wheel at every place they visit – this one was no exception.]

[Market Square]

[Helsinki Cathedral in view down a narrow street . . . ]

[And closer-upper . . . ]

[Shouldn’t every great city have one?]

[Getting closer . . . ]

[Shouldn’t every great city have one?  BTW, that’s the main building of the University of Helsinki in the background . . . ]

[Prepping for Flag Day of the National Defense Forces – 100 years on June 4 . . . ]

[Helsinki Cathedral is the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Cathedral, located in the neighborhood of Kruununhaka in the centre of the city. The church was originally built from 1830-1852 as a tribute to the Grand Duke of Finland, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. It was also known as St Nicholas’ Church until the independence of Finland in 1917.  (Wikipedia)]

[The cathedral overlooks Senate Square . . . ]

[Shhhhhhhhhhh . . . ]

[Again, shhhhhhhhh . . . ]

[Overlooking Senate Square from the cathedral.  We later fine dined in the building directly behind the statue of Alexander II . . . ]

[Suspected to be tourists . . . ]

[Leaving the cathedral grounds to visit here, the main library of the university . . . ]

[Final pix of the cathedral . . . ]

[The National Library . . . ]

[Again, shhhhhh – we’re inside the library . . . ]

[Funny, that doesn’t look Finnish?]

[The Uspenski Cathedral spire . . . ]

[And even more of the cathedral . . . ]

[The waterfront . . . ]

[We’re climbing to:  Uspenski Cathedral is an Eastern Orthodox cathedral, dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos (the Virgin Mary). Its name comes from the Old Church Slavonic word uspenie. Designed by the Russia architect Aleksey Gornostayev (1808–1862). The cathedral was built after his death in 1862–1868. The Cathedral is set upon a hillside on the Katajanokka peninsula overlooking the city.  Uspenski Cathedral is claimed to be the largest orthodox church in Western Europe.  In 2006, about 516,500 tourists visited the church. (Wikipedia)]

[View of Helsinki Cathedral from Uspenski Cathedral . . . ]

[Pam and the Super readying for the final climb into the cathedral . . . ]

[Decent view, n’es pas?]

[Pam and Tom’s Ferris wheel . . . ]

[Inside the cathedral (oh, you figured that out?) . . . ]

[Like many such buildings of antiquity around the world, undergoing major fix-up . . . ]

[Professor Kiehne shoots . . . ]

[He scores . . . ]

[Back at the waterfront – swimming pools with “treated and natural” water . . . ]

[It’s lunch time, but we figured this place would be too crowded . . . ]

[So we walked on . . . ]

[Hey, we found vendors!  In a tourist area?  Amazing!]

[Keisarinnankivi – The Stone of The Empress.  The folks at the bottom were tourists from Schenectady, or not . . . ]

[A tourist, not from Schenectady . . . ]

[Remember, it was lunch time . . . ]

[You scream, I scream, Finlanders scream, for ice cream!]

[Sightseeing the Helsinki Sightseeing boat . . . ]

[Don’t know why I took this shot – other than to show we’re in transition back to our starting point . . . ]

[Bye-bye, waterfront . . . ]

[Hello, Havis Amanda . . . ]

[Nice bird . . . ]

[Nice . . . whatever . . . ]

[OK, it’s a thing with us . . . ]

[The gulls really ought to show her more respect . . . ]

[And then we stumbled into a rock concert . . . ]

And now, a little live music.  Proof once again that rock ‘n roll unites the world!

[Promenading through the promenade . . . ]

[Back to Johan Ludvig Runeberg – as with Havis Amanda, he now had an avian perched upon his pate, coming . . . ]

[And going . . . ]

[The image in my morning mirror . . . ]

[This completes our morning tour of Helsinki.  The afternoon tour begins on the next posting.]

It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia.  ~  Sarah Palin

Up Next:  Likely “Russia”

May 27 & 28

* Faux Cyrillic with the backward ‘R’.   Я, “Ya,” is actually a vowel and the last letter in the Cyrillic alphabet.  The correct spelling of Russia in Cyrillic would begin with ‘P’.  So, this spelling of Russia is just . . . to look cool?

Our Viking river cruise, beginning first with three days in Helsinki and Talinn.  We rejoined old cruise partners Pam Mathison and Tom Kiehne, who seem to have visited every country on the planet in the last year!

[Leaving home and blog office behind . . . ]

[We were the only two Executive Express passengers from Alex to MSP – giving us the feeling of  being limoed.  At the airport, we survived the TSA shakedown but needed wine anyway.]

[Helsinki is really that far away?]

[Before boarding, go into airplane mode!]

[Why are we leaving the great spring weather of Minnesota?  Oh yeah, it just started being great.]

[About to endure 8 1/2 hours of agony!]

[But I think it’s coming to an end . . . ]

[It seems Finland may have even more lakes than Minnesota . . . is 188,000 more than 10,000?]

[Not densely populated here.]

[Aha, a building.]

[Welcome to Finland! My first visit . . . ]

[We’re “here” – about 18 hours door-to-door.  We met Tom and Pam in the lobby, but nap time came first for us.]

[But we didn’t go “there.”]

[Where multi-syllabic words and names hold fort . . . ]

[Where we stayed in Helsinki . . . ]

[We’re just off Kluuvi, the commercial centre of the city . . . ]

[That nap thing . . . ]

[A little outdoor area in the “backyard.”]

[I did a quick walkabout.  This is the “centre,” the tower is the main train station . . . ]

[Sidewalk cafes abound along this street . . . ]

[Walking the other way, then looking back at our hotel front . . . ]

[And now we’re off in search of our first fine dining experience . . . ]

[Ateneum is one of the three museums forming the Finnish National Gallery. It is located in the centre of Helsinki on the south side of Rautatientori square close to Helsinki Central railway station. (Wikipedia)]

[The railway station . . . ]

[We have crossed the square, our hotel is at the back center . . . ]

[And now paralleling the train station . . . ]

[And now past it . . . ]

[With Pam, Tom, and the Super leading the way, we approach our destination in the FORUM building . . . ]

[And this is Kaarna, recommended by a Viking rep.  It was a home run.  We ambled maybe a half mile through downtown on a beautiful evening to get here. . . . ]

[All modern and stuff . . . ]

[I’m so hungry I could eat a reindeer!]

[Why yes, we are excited about eating!]

[Me too!]

[The menu . . . ]

[I think we all opted for the “classics” at the top and bottom of the menu page . . . ]

[Looks like someone had soup?]

[And you can’t skip dessert!]

[Bon appetit (well, I don’t know the Finnish equivalent) . . . ]

[The perfect end to our first day.]

Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife announced that they are getting a divorce after almost 30 years of marriage. When asked why, Putin said, ‘We tried to make it work, but you know what they say: Men are from Malgobek, women are from Kadnikov.’  ~  Jimmy Fallon

And from my fortune cookie as I write this:  Travel with an open heart and positive expectations.

Up Next:  Likely more  Яussia, but maybe not soon . . . or often.  After 17 years, we’re relearning the joys of moving.

Thanks for joining me!   This is the follow-up to the original, “alexandriacardinals.wordpress.com,” which overwhelmed the system’s ability to handle it any more.  Thus, this is “Part 2.”  As the original was initially described: