Day 9 was our last day in Finland. We started the morning by going to see Suomenlinna island near Helsinki. Then we did a little shopping, retrieved our stuff and got on our mini cruise to Sweden
The breakfast at the Hilton was amazing! So much fruit and lots of other good choices. Even Lincoln found stuff he licked
This is the view from outside the Hilton as we left for the morning
Our walk to the Ferry took us past the Lutheran Cathedral again
Lincoln with the Amanda statue, this time with fewer people and no soap
Then we got on board the boat to Suomenlinna. It is just a regular Helsinki transport vehicle because there are about 800 people who live on the island
On the way out we spotted our cruise ship that would take us to Sweden tonight
First view of the island. It is a world heritage site. It was a former fortress, now a place some people live a park and a tourist destination
The island church. Was a Russian church, then became the army church, now it is Lutheran
Largest bell in Finland
Lincoln enjoyed coloring in the area for kids during services
Next stop was a playground. Lincoln got to play on a lot of different things and interact with some Finnish children
Then we followed the blue route. This is the view looking back at the church. Lincoln managed to walk most of the way
You could still see the main Helsinki sights if you used lots of zoom
Lincoln loved the cannons and wanted to look in every single one of them
Dinky also enjoyed the cannon
This is the view from the top of the hill. Looks like a great park!
Lincoln explored the underground bunker
And found a little cannon he could sit on and admire the view
He also found a coloring spot below the King's gate
Better view of the King's gate
Then we retraced our steps including another stop at the playground
Final stop on the island was for lunch including some beer made on the island (pretty good!). I had the creamy salmon soup and Zach had meatballs. Lincoln had pizza which he actually ate
Then it was back on the boat. This time we mostly sat on the bottom so we didn't have to carry the stroller up
The view as we arrived back in Helsinki after 20 min
Then I set off to find more souvenirs. I also explored the Stockmann department store while Lincoln napped with Zach pushing him around in the stroller
We walked back to the train station to catch the metro
After lots of elevator rides we were finally on the metro
We grabbed our stuff from the hotel and set off on the tram to the cruise terminal
And after some stressful hot waiting we boarded our cruise. Here is the main avenue down the middle of the boat
We had a cabin inside below the car deck. It was not luxery but actually kinda nice for only $110 for a hotel room that doubles as transportation to Sweden
First stop was coffee and juice at the on board coffee shop
Then we sat on the deck as we left
Goodbye Finland!
Few more islands on the way out
One last look at the King's gate
And we are on to open water
Lincoln enjoyed the glass elevator ride to the top of the boat
Better view of the main avenue
There was an intro to kids programs complete with a seal and angry bird
And then we lost Lincoln to the play area for about an hour. He loved the balls!
Dinner at the fast dinner place
Lincoln loved his hot dog, but had to eat the hot dog and bun seperetely
After dinner we went to the pub to do a local beer flight
Lincoln enjoyed sitting in the window playing potty game and coloring
And then it was off to bed for everybody
In the morning we will wake up near Stockholm ready for our next country!
No comments:
Post a Comment