Helsinki, Finally!

It seems something short of forever but we have, at last, made it to Suomi (that's Finnish for Finland).
To make our 0730 flight we were taking no chances. 0445 reveille, no bfast, and the "Hotel Hoppa" bus back to LHR. After security, we had a meal (courtesy of BA) at the Giraffe Risto (recommended by one of the purple-shirted Heathrow Helpers.
Our flight was smooth and FinnAir brought us in to HEL :without further eloquence".
My first impression of Finland from the air was that it looked like an Ireland with fir trees: overcast, rainy and very, very green. The train from HEL was clean & quiet; just 22 mins to downtown.
We spent our day with an abbreviated tour sked: Market Square, Uspenski Cathedral, Old Market and Helsinki Cathedral.
Supper was at the excellent Armenia House around the corner. We split the Tolma starter, then I had Pasuc Tolma and M had Khozi Khorovac. Both accompanied by lovely Armenian red wines. For dessert we stopped at the local K Market and a bar of Fazer chocolate which is made in Finland.
We'll get more done tomorrow.
TLæs mere