Helsinki

HELSINKI

Once Marc was on his way back to Switzerland, Kelly and I had some time to kill in Stockholm before our cruise ship left for Helsinki (more about that later) We decided to find our way to the Vasa Museum to view a ship that had sunk in the Stockholm harbour on her maiden voyage in August 1628. The mighty war ship had 65 guns and approximately 150 peope on board, mostly seamen, but also some family members. The wreck was salvaged in 1961 after 333 years under the sea! The reconstructed vessel, 95 percent original, is splendidly adorned with hundreds of carved sculptures. It is hard to explain how impressive this massive ship was at first sight and to see it displayed in this huge darkened room. I felt like we in the Pirates of Carribean at Disnyland.

Kelly and I boarded our ship for the 14 hour ride over to Helsinki. There are two different cruise lines to choose from over to Helsinki and apparently we chose the wrong one! I guess I can blame that one on Kelly. We soon discovered that we were on the cheaper party boat for all of the young 20 year olds, or people who were definitely on a very tight budget. It was the motel 6 of travel, barf in the bathroom and all. To make matters worse, our room was under both car decks down in the bowel of the ship. Not the best experience for my first cruise ship ride, but Kelly and I made the most of it and had a good laugh. I stayed up on deck in a tacky bar playing cards with Kelly as long as I could before I finally had to make it down to the lower decks and crawl into my tiny bed. Our room was under water and I finally fell asleep listening to the engine and the rocking of the boat over every wave.

While in Helsinki, we took a bus tour of the beautiful city. The architecture was beautiful. I guess it is compared to that of St. Petersburg in Russia. We ended up having two very nice dinners while there at Michelin restaurants. Everyone speaks English in this part of the world, so it makes it very easy to get around (unlike Lausanne). The people are all very kind and helpful also.

ESTONIA

From Helsinki we boarded another cruise liner over to Estonia. This ride was only 3 hours and we got a very nice table at the front of the ship by the huge windows. It was still light out, so we could see the beautiful coast line as we left and watched the sun go down. We stayed in the capital city of Tallin. Our small hotel built in the 14th century was in the center of the

beautiful Medieval Old Town.


The old town has twisting cobblestone lanes, iron street lamps, gothic spires and medieval churches. The town hall was first mentioned as early as 1322. Large portions of the old wall with three medieval towers still exist.

Kelly, myself and one other person took a 3 hour walking tour with our private guide. She was a local and has spent her whole life here. They claimed their independance from Russia in the 1980's. Besides their native tongue, they start learning English and Russian in the second grade. Once they reach 10th grade, they can choose a language of their choice. That means that most people speak four languages!
After two lovely relaxing days in Tallin, we headed for home. We had to time our departure, since Baltic airlines only comes to Tallin every three days. I hate to fly and taking off in a snow storm is not one of those things I look forward to. I just say to myself, I am here and must face my fears! Our flight home turned out to be pleasant, especially with Marc waiting for us at the end of our journey.

Therese