Day 16 - Helsinki

It’s a kind of dreary day in Helsinki, 35 degrees, overcast, windy, and rainy. I never for a moment thought this trip would have way more rain than snow. Basically, we have seen zero snow and a lot of rain.

We both woke up saying we felt the bed swaying as we slept last night. That’s 12 nights at sea for you.

Today, we are on our way to Suomenlinna. Of course we have to take a boat across the Gulf of Finland.

It was named a UNISECO World Heritage site in 1991.

Wiki: The Swedish crown commenced the construction of the fortress in 1748 as protection against Russian expansionism. It is a sea fortress composed of eight islands, of which six have been fortified; it is about 4 km southeast of the city center of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Sweden ruled Finland for nearly 700 years, from around the 12th century until 1809, when Finland became part of the Russian Empire following the Finnish War. (MT: so apparently the fortress did not do its ONE JOB.) Finland declared its independence from the Russian Empire on December 6, 1917, shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution. The United States recognized Finland on May 7, 1919, in a letter from Secretary of State Robert Lansing to Finnish Foreign Minister Rudolf Holsti.

First up was the church and its very big bell.

I finally got to light candles for my Mom, Don, Matt, and especially Mary, whose birthday is today.

We peeked inside the fortress walls only to see more fortress walls.

Up next, we saw the museum, cafe, and gift shop. If you know us you absolutely know we skipped the museum in favor of the cafe and gift shop. Our Aussie friend Lee would be disappointed that we took our beer in glasses, lol. We did go local though!

Of course I have two hats in the hotel and none on my head; so now I have a Finland hat. It’s cold out there and both Martha and I already have sore throats. I can hear my Mom telling me to cover my ears!

We continued meandering through the fort. This anchor is impressive as is the memorial. My Google Translate failed on the wording on the statue.

The King’s Gate is the farthest point and sticks out into the Gulf of Finland. of course there are cannons. I’m always impressed by the strength it must have taken to load and fire those bad boys.

I also took a few more pics along the way.

We rode the Skywheel Helsinki when we returned from the fort. Wiki: SkyWheel Helsinki is a 40-meter tall Ferris wheel in central Helsinki, Finland. One of its gondola cabins, the SkySauna, is the world's first sauna on a Ferris wheel. It opened to the public on June 3, 2014. We didn’t come prepared for the sauna car, dammit.

While on the Ferris wheel we discussed all the times we ridden them in our travels. We do not seek them out, but if they’re there, we take a spin. We’ve done this in: Dallas, Vienna, Stratford upon Avon, Geneva, London, Liverpool, Budapest, Las Vegas, and now Helsinki.

And then there was pizza and beer and all was right in Helsinki.