Day 5 -- Sea to Helsinki, and traditional Helsinki dinner.
We drive around Helsinki, which is not really that big of a place.
Here is the Parliament.
We stop at the monument to composer Jean Sibelius...
...which doesn't look at all like him. The artist declined to say exactly what this is, but said
that it is NOT organ pipes.
After the public outcry, they added a likeness of Sibelius himself.
A random moose sculpture next to this building.
The Presidential Palace.
Helsinki Cathedral. Most churches are Lutheran in the Scandinavian countries.
Some street performers busking.
Here is a video of them doing that classic Helsinki song: "Theme from the Game of Thrones".
Choices abound, including moose meat pie and a reindeer burger...
...but we were in the mood for some traitional Helsinki pizza. Actually, most of the food was
underseasoned for our taste, so we got one with diavolo sauce for some heat.
A last shot back so you can see the size of the "ferry".
Arriving at the Hotel Grand Marina.
Kimberly was having a trip of mechanical difficulties. Here is her mugging after the handle for the
window comes off in her hand.
Out for the traditional Helsinki dinner, in one of the oldest wooden buildings in Finland.
Our hostess introducing the menu.
An appetizer of a fish mousse and cucumber on brown bread.
Artichoke pie.
Smoked salmon with potatoes and a Finnish tartar sauce.
Dessert was pancakes with honey, strawberries, strawberry compote, and strawberry ice cream.
On a walkabout to burn off dinner. This is the town sauna in the foreground. The ferris wheel in the
background has mainly normal cars, but two of the cars are saunas, in case you need to steam while
doing your sightseeing.
Then after the sauna, you jump into either the fresh water pool or the bay.
Next to our hotel was the Uspenski Cathedral, the largest Russian Orthodox church in Western Europe.
Helsinki is a bilingual town, so all the street signs are in Swedish and Finnish, not that that
helps us any.
