Helsinki

Helsinki waterfront.
see all photos »

The train journey from Russia into the EU went very smoothly, the Finnish custom control officer seemed more interested in whether or not we liked Leeds than with what we carrying in our luggage. We arrived in Helsinki just after noon. Straight away we noticed the cleaner and almost healthier feel of a modern European city. We found our hostel, close to the centre, on a small island called Katajanokka. After finding some food we spent the rest of the day wandering around the island before doing some (much needed) laundry in the evening.

Helsinki harbour.
see all photos »

On the morning of our second day, we explored the city centre, which is situated almost right on the habour front. The weather was quite suprisingly warm, and it felt quite strange to be back in a warm climate so soon after having entered a cold one. After some lunch we walked north to a small lake called Töölönlahti, and then continued on to Sibelius Park. We then walked to Kaivopuisto Park at the southern tip of the city, from the hill we could see out across the many islands in the habour to the Gulf of Finland.

Sibelius Monument.
see all photos »

The following day we didn't get up to much. In the morning we headed to a small market before walking to a small harbour inlet known as Eläintarhanlahti. We spent the afternoon relaxing on Katajanokka before catching the early evening ferry to Stockholm, which docked almost right next door to our hostel.

Helsinki is a very pleasent little city, it is quite small and therefore easy to get round. I think we were able to appreciate just how clean and friendly everything seemed even more than usual after our time in Russia. The main drawback to entering Scandinavia from Russia was the change in prices, Helsinki is not cheap, one of the main reasons why we spent much of our days exploring the city on foot. Despite the prices though, I feel it was definately worth the visit.

Toolonlahti.
see all photos »

J.