Helsinki part 2

Our last day in Helsinki and we woke to another beautiful day. Apparently warm sunny weather is a bit of a rarity in Finland and even makes the news headlines. We are lucky to have seen Helsinki at its absolute best.

We caught the tram to the railway station as a bit of a trial run as we needed to leave early to get to the airport (it all worked well as I am writing this blog at the airport). After that we caught the HOHO bus to pick up a couple of sights we missed the previous day. First stop was the Sibilius monument - an unusual sculpture dedicated to a Finnish composer. We checked out the interior of the Russian Orthodox cathedral (was closed on Monday), had some lunch and bought some Finnish lollies that are apparently an acquired taste. They are like a salty licorice. I don't like licorice but first taste I thought it was ok, second taste not so much.

In the afternoon we caught the ferry to Suomenlinna Island - a sea fortress that protected the city of Helsinki. We inspected a WWII submarine , a military museum and generally walked around the island enjoying the scenery and the sunshine. In the evening we went to a traditional Lappish (Lapland) restaurant where they had a fish boat - large boat filled with ice and variety of seafood dishes and salads.... something a bit different and it was very nice. Surprisingly one of my favorite dishes was some sort of fish (pike?) that was pickled? with a purple fruit (lingonberry?)

Overall, we had a great time in Helsinki and would recommend it to others... just make sure you order the fine weather as Helsinki in the middle of winter is covered in snow and ice and sees just 2 hours of daylight.Read more