Helsinki, Finland 4 - 7 July

Lurve Finland!!!! Arrived 6am (Fin time) y'day after long haul flight from Honkas. Chucked bags into Hotel Katajanokka (Helsinki Prison till 1995) and a fantastic hotel! Had to kill time till room ready at 2pm, so after meeting Andrew and Suzanne from Perth followed them down to harbour (5 mins walk) and ended up jumping on Ferry to Parvoo, oldest Finnish town. Two and a half hours on ferry each way on this beautiful harbour (where's my kayak?!) seeing lands of the Vikings. Parvoo gorgeous, walked up 800 year old cobbled road to church of same age. Once Catholic and now Lutheran I bet this church has seen many an event in 800 years. Parvoo was rebuilt a couple of hundred years ago after a cook caused a fire that burnt down most of the town.  We watched traditional glass making and felt making. Shopped in lovely shops with Finnish goods. Got back to hotel at 7pm and were pretty trashed!!!
On Monday we had a 'washing day. Not prepared to pay 12 Euro to wash one pair of jeans through the hotel laundry, I did the 'bath tub wash'. Then we spent the afternoon on pushbikes touring Helsinki. We threw a softball in the park, had icecream by the beautiful harbour and then happened across a chess park. In this park people (mainly older men) had been meeting for many years to sit and chew the fat and enjoy the long summer afternoons of Helsinki while playing chess on huge outdoor chess boards with 2 ft high pieces. There were 5 large boards and then a sheltered area with 3-4 table sized chess boards. We chatted to the man in charge to ask if we could take a photo and recognising us as friendly Aussies he asked if we would like to have a game, which of course we did. It was just one of those lovelyu travel experiences where you happenchance upon something simple and lovely and get to know the locals just a little better.

On Tuesday we followed Suzanne and Andrew's trail blazing and took the one and a half hour fast boat to Estonia. Wow, what a history! Estonia was establisheed at the end of the last galcial age around 8500BC and has had an important history as port for one of the World's major trading routes.  Estonia has had a chequered history of ownership, most recently as part of the Russian Empire. While it gained independence in 1918 from Russia it was illegally annexed back by Russia and only gained true independence in 1991.

We wre grateful to meet two of the world's most genuine guys,Kimmo and Mike on board the Linda Line over to Tallinn (capital of Estonia). Kimmo and Mike are business men by day and by night DJ 60s-90s canadian music in the night spots of Helsinki.The guys were lots of fun and shared a mass of information with us about the best places to see in Tallinn and also the life in Finland (which we think is pretty magic, except perhaps in winter!). Kimmo and Mike introduced us to one of the world's best chocolate shops in 'new Tallinn'. Then headed us of towards the medieval walled city of Old Tallin which is nestled amoungst the high rises and newer buildings. We were enraptured to walk the old cobbled streets, explore the old taverns with their medieval features in tact and just sit and absorb the sites of this place while having a cool drink and some lovely food. The currency is Kroons and 1 Kroon is about 9 cents Australian. After moving through HK dollars and Euros the conversions were starting to do our heads in, but we got the hang of it.We had a wonderful time in Tallinn and are really grateful to Mike and Kimmo for the tourist advice.



Days are 20 hours of sun long, people so lovely, scenery picturesque!