Holiday Day Eight - Helsinki

Hi Everybody,

On the eighth day we are off to Helsinki and this beautiful building is in Senate Square. It sits atop wide steps and overlooks the large square

There was an older man singing at the top of his voice as the tourists passed by and it was quite hot today

It was bustling with activity because there are four ships visiting Helsinki today and we all seem to be visiting the same places at the same time.

This photo taken at one of the ports looks like a parking lot for cruise ships and they are all different sizes.

Our guide took us around the city telling us the history of the place and then it was time to hop onto the coach and head off to a woodland village.

This village is now a museum piece and covers a lot of woodland. It was so peaceful to walk through here.

There are several houses that you can go inside and take photographs and we took full advantage of that opportunity.

This is the inside of one and have you noticed the wood burner in the corner.

Not quite the same as those in the palaces but necessary none the less.

The walls look as if they have columns but they are totally flat. The effect is created with paint and is very realistic

We wandered into an old church and saw a beautiful windmill in the forest.

Then we stopped at the cafe in the centre and had a Cinnamon bun and some Finish coffee which was very nice and very welcome.

Heading back into the city we stopped at the monument to the composer Sibelius

 To me this monument looks like a tree ... to others it looks like organ pipes

Every one of the tubes is engraves and it is really very lovely as it glitters silver in the sunlight.

Many many people where there all taking their snap shots and it was a very warm day.

This is also near the Sibelius tree and lots of us wanted a photo of this mask and it is quite large.

 But a woman was sat on the top of it for a long time ... until somebody shouted to her to "Get off" ... which she did promptly

We had some free time in the afternoon and we wandered around Helsinki on our own for a few hours

Then it was time to find the shuttle bus to take us back to the ship and get ready to sail away at 5.30pm

Tomorrow is a sea day and the chance to relax for the day. It has been a hectic few days ashore but we have some wonderful memories of the places we have seen.

The next stop is Germany and we are going on a tour around Rostock ... I hope you will join me

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx