Day 5 - Helsinki
We had a lie in today and late breakfast. It was raining so we spent some time repacking our cases ready for our night on the train tomorrow.
By 11 it was a lot brighter and the rain had stopped so we went out. We first walked to what looked like a park near the hotel but it was all fenced off and some sort of work was going on. Behind we could see the buildings of the Botanical Gardens but couldnt see a way of getting there. So we headed back to the harbour area which we saw briefly the previous day. We went into an indoor food market and there were some unusual menu dishes including Reindeer, Moose and Elk.
We then went to the Uspenski Cathedral. This is quite a striking Russian Orthadox church on a hill.
According to the map there was a walk around a peninsular which should have given views of the little islands just off the mainland but it wasnt that good apart from a section of promenade near the cruise ship terminals.
As we got near to the hotel it started raining again so we went back for a coffee and short rest before joining the city walking tour by which time it was brilliant sunshine. The tour was very interesting and informative and the guide spoke excellent English. We have learned a lot about Finland and Helsinki today.
Some interesting facts:
Street signs are shown in Finnish and Swedish - this is because Swedish is the second national language after Finnish. Citizens can choose to have education, health care and general administration in either Finnish or Swedish but if Swedish is chosen for a childs education, then the child must learn Finnish as well. Also the buses carry the destinations in both languages.
Animal pictures were once used to identify residential blocks and some still retain the plaque on the outside of the buildings.
University students can be identified because they wear different colour boiler suits or overalls. We saw some in orange and others in mauve (freshers). The students sew cloth badges onto their overalls to depict which facalties they have studied in and for subjects and achievements. Thought that would be a good alternative for Steph when she runs out of blanket space.
There is an archipelago belonging to Finland called Aland between Sweden and Finland consisting of 6700 islands. The islands are autonomous and as such the 30,000 Swedish speaking citizens are not bound by any Finnish laws or taxes.
Alcohol was competely banned in the 1920s but one man called Niska, who came from the Aland Islands, managed to regularly supply the wealthy citizens and made himself a lot of money. He became a national hero and has a restaurant named after him.
Photos taken during the tour:
We then went back to the hotel for a coffee and short rest before going to find somewhere to eat. Paul did find somewhere but I wasnt keen on being seen there so we found an italian instead.
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