Finland & Baltic Russia

July - August 2019
July 2019
  • 36footprints
  • 2countries
  • 19days
  • 206photos
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  • 4.4kkilometers
  • 2.6kkilometers
  • Day 2

    Happy Now?

    July 26, 2019 in Finland ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    Hindsight is a wonderful thing. On reflection when checking in & finding standby on the boarding passes, alarm bells should've rung. They did not. Journey in was fine, though Liz's dad looked like he was going to have to deal with the after effects of a crash on the M56. Struggled to even locate the check in desk (67-68) and signs only went upto 65 - the joys of Manchester airport. The 'cheerful' check in clerk informed us that we might get on the flight & thought that that was a sufficient explanation. I begged to differ & wanted some clarification on why & what was entailed. She wasn't keen. Buck was swiftly passed. Her manager was dealing with a guy who didn't have a visa for Finland so was struggling to get on our potential flight... He went through the details - over booked etc. Clarified that if we were refused we would be accomodated & compensated - more relaxed after that. Told to go through as normal & we'd be notified at the gate. Our bags would only go on if we did. Sounded simple - ho hum. What was more annoying was the fact that during all this Paddy Berger & Vladi Smicer (LFC greats) were checking in just along from us & all we could do was watch. But for Finair we'd have been over there with Paddy & Vladi - yeah right. Grabbed some food & tried to find a relatively cool spot - not sorted their aircon. Gate was announced & checked - boarding passes - going to Finland yeah - no compo - boo. Boarding took forever & it was the same staff as check-in & I got a snarky 'happy now?' when handing over the passport. Didn't hear, which was probably for the best. Saddled with some fidgety kids going out to Singapore - mum was wanting them to sleep but let them stuff themselves silly with sweets. Nice sunset on coming into Helsinki - apparently (no window seat) Going to be light nights up here.Read more

  • Day 2

    Bearings got(ish)

    July 26, 2019 in Finland ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    On checking in, we were informed breakfast was from 6 - 9.30 - plenty of time. Woke around 5ish & dozed a little. In fact is wasn't a little but a lot - 9. No windows & darkness can do this - probably the only time we are going to get that here. Dashed down & made it in time. Checked out & train into town easily. 1 mile walk from the station to the apartment seemed do-able & there were no complaints from Liz ... at that point. To be fair the tram was an option all the way & it wasn't pushed but her shoulders weren't happy with 12kg if weight. Unsurpringly the apartment wasn't ready so off for an explore. Headed to the coastal walk taking in the Finnish Icebreaker fleet - world leaders apparently. Pleasant walk took us to the tourist harbour & the market. Picked up a dollop of cherries & headed for a shady spot in a nearby park. Cherries & a sea breeze - nice.Read more

  • Day 2

    Church frenzy

    July 26, 2019 in Finland ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Prior to travelling, youtube tourist vids had a bit a hammering & one of the things mentioned was a secular chapel near the station. Tourist Info was at the station so 2 birds killed with 1 stone - happy days. It was as typically Scandinavian as you could get. If Ikea made chapels... Inside it was amazingly peaceful - the noise of Liz moving the leaflet was quite stark. Took a couple of photos & got told off - with a sign. The warden came upto me & waved it at me - no words said other than a sheepish sorry. Took in some bizarre art - a holy car [as in a car with holes], a chrome war memorial & a statue that spoke to you??
    Apparently foodwise the Finnish have a couple of weaknesses - berries, licorice & ice cream. Done the berries, aint doing licorice & had some epic gelato (as it was called) along the esplanadi. Very rich & very bad for me. Nice. Tourist info provided an abundance of maps & leaflets & ideas. Headed back via the 2 cathedrals. Both very different - can't think what that reminds me of. Checked in to discover that the radiator was stuck on - not great with it being high 20's. Eventually got some fans, chocolate as an apology & an assurance that maintenance would be onto it tomorrow. Local supermarket for a pasta tea.
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  • Day 2

    The Golden Hour

    July 26, 2019 in Finland ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Post pasta bloatedness called for an evening constitutional & even at 9 the sun was out but the fierce heat had subsided (at least outside - not in the bathroom) Decided to have a walk along the waterfront the other way to a little island. Nice & quiet until we got to the Karaoke bar - not in full swing but busy. Crossed a little bridge & turned back to see the cathedral looming golden in the setting sun. Crossed a causeway to the island to be greeted by hefty clouds of midges. They subsided a bit on the island but the party dudes increased not the most tranquil of sundowner locations. Made for the exit - Liz chased by the midges - already sussed who was the tastier.Read more

  • Day 3

    Goose poo spotting

    July 27, 2019 in Finland ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Handily enough there was a bike hire shop just round the corner. The bike share & scooter share options didn't work, former too complicated, the latter too expensive. With the weather being so nice & the trams potentially being stiflingly hot, cycling seemed the best way of getting a little way out to parks & beaches. Initial impressions suggested Helsinki had an abundance of cycle lanes & was flat - big ticks for Liz. On that basis hunking big city bikes were chosen - cheapest. All was well & flat until the railway had to be crossed. Heavy & high gears didn't go well. First stop was the church in the rock - literally a church built into a rock. Bit of road & up more hills only to find it had closed 5 mins ago. Headed to the nearest beach for a pit stop. Getting busy so decided to go to the Sibellius monument in some shady parkland area - for it was getting hot now. Unfortunately numerous coachloads of Yanks & Japanese had the same plan. Not quiet the peaceful spot imagined. Took in a waterside cafe for lunch - cheese & ham pasty - was corrected (it's a pastry) & some cake. Found a goose poo free spot & holed out in the shade before heading to the beach for a first ever Baltic swim - bracing.Read more

  • Day 3

    Rocking it.

    July 27, 2019 in Finland ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    A Baltic swim definitely cools but Liz needed a little quality shade time before we tried the climb to the Rock Chapel again. Equally, dripping in a church probably isn't the done thing. Less coach parties at the chapel this time though it was still pretty busy & despite the signs indicating silence, it was anything but. An official resorted to a stern warning & then the most mellow & drawn out shhhhhhhhhh you could imagine - possibly a doped up teacher pensioner. Liz chilled & I mooched. The plan was to follow the cycle path back to market square taking in a city vista along the way. Road works & my inability to signal my intentions led to a fraught Liz - hot, bothered & not happy about having to go on the roads. An orange juice wouldn't cut it but that was all that was going. Thankfully post orange, the cycle path became more reliable & flatter. Stopped to watch in wonder / horror at Finland's highest bungee. The cycle guy was a little bemused that the bikes were wheeled up rather than ridden - the final hill was the final straw. Weariness meant eating in & a short walk to the icebreakers.Read more

  • Day 4

    Half of Helsinki on an Island.

    July 28, 2019 in Finland ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Habitual holiday morning run around the peninsula - already very warm at 8.30. Laid back breakie & ambled into town to catch the ferry to Suomenlinna Island Fortress - problem was that on a hot Sunday it was possible that half of Helsinki had also decided to seek out somewhere peaceful, a short ferry away from the city - thus not peaceful. Took a chance - hoped for the best that the hoardes would be spread out. Short crossing with some nice views of the city. On docking, we made a point of going the opposite direction to the masses, which happened to be in the direction of the WW1 Prisoner of War memorial ... in theory. Try as we might, it could not be located. Took a shade break to plan & watch one of the many cruise liners depart Helsinki. Slow walk uphill to begin exploring, just as the next ferry came in. Rats. Stopped at a water fountain & amusedly watched as people struggled to fill up bottles - really wasn't as hard as they made it look. Took a shade stop in the church - yet another Ikea looking church. At this point it occured that picnic options would be good - bit late for a supermarket in town but back where the boat docked was a grocery store. We turned left off the boat, if we'd turned right we wouldn't have ended up doing a huge circle but directly in front of the store - ah well. Found a shady spot at the Artilliary Bay Quay, ate & watched the world go by. Considering how many people were here (full ferries every 15 mins) it was remarkably calm - maybe everyone was at the beach. Prior to coming Liz had picked out the one museum that she might end up getting dragged around & she called it - a matter of metres from the lunch spot was one of only a few u-boats open to the public. This was probably one of the first built, as it was a prototype. It was then given to the Finnish. Liz found a shady spot while the true cramped nature of a U-boat became apparent. Yikes.Read more

  • Day 4

    Scorchio

    July 28, 2019 in Finland ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Onwards in the afternoon heat - took a wrong turn trying to find the beach but eventually figured out location & made our way to the Northern most quay - Kings Gate Quay, just as a wedding was kicking out - people in posh clobber sheltering in the shade from the sun - the Finnish are struggling as well. Found a shady spot & watched the happy couple do their stupid posing for photies thing. Liz was hankering after more shade & reading so I went off for an explore - walk along the ramparts (massive guns) - found the beach (very not massive) Took in the old dry dock as well as getting lost again. Not a problem with locating myself in a big city - a couple of islands - not so much. Decided to hit the boat back before the rush & judging by the number still arriving as we left, there may be something of a queue later on. Back to cool off & another meal in. Evening walk & things were definitely fresher - sign of things to come. Watched a bubble guru entertaining the kids producing clouds of bubbles with a simple contraption. Fascinating.Read more

  • Day 5

    Cruiser coach carnage

    July 29, 2019 in Finland ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Woke up to find things sonewhat cooler - still bright but breezier. Still ended up sweating buckets running. Ate up & pack up time, though no great hurry. Hertz pick up at 12. Still Liz wanted to see Helsinki Cathedral - the white one - so needed to leave a little extra to do that & get across town. Checked out & dumped bags. Lots of people on the cathedral steps, most probably from cruises. A busker was doing the theme to Titanic - classic not knowing your audience. Looking down from the steps 13 coaches were parked up & a few round the corner. This wasn't likely to be a tranquil experience. Suprisingly it proved to be more so than expected. A volunteer took to the pulpit to give an account of the church's history - made it harder for people to be noisy. Had a little wander round & by the time we headed off there was a queue to get in. Car pick up was nice & easy. Guy in front had to go & get his car - we had ours brought to us. Lots of toys but concentration was needed - had to avoid hitting people, bikes & trams. Back to the the apartment, loaded up & headed out to Hanko.Read more

  • Day 5

    Hanko - a Finnish Llandudno

    July 29, 2019 in Finland ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Between Helsinki & Hanko - trees & more trees. A 70 mile journey drew parallels with day trips to Llandudno. We didn't pass through a single town or village of any note, plenty of farms & a couple of intriguing war museums - the parallels dried up pretty quickly. Plesantly surprised to note, on arrival, that Hanko has a Thai restaurant, also has an Elvis burger - all isn't great. Happily we could check in early, though the cakes in the cafe were more appealing to Liz than unpacking. The usual explore - 3 beaches a stones throw away. Took a look at the tourist quay - lots of expensive boats & restaurants. Headed to the main beach - where 'everyone' was. It was busier than the other 2 beaches - more by default - the other 2 had no-one on them. Took another bracing Baltic dip - though it wasn't as bad as expected (again) though very shallow & the lack of waves made getting in a challenge. Not the only challenge - finding an open restaurant. Seems the thing to do here is lunch late or dinner early. By 6 most were closed - it'd blow Spanish minds. Ended up resorting to one of the pricey quayside joints - the priciest pizza ever - was very nice though.Read more