Part 4-Helsinki

Port of Call #4 was Helsinki, Finland. It was an interesting day for a port call in Helsinki because it was a National Holiday and everything closed at 1pm and I do mean EVERYTHING. To make matters worse, we didn't arrive in port until 10am so there wasn't much time. I think I mentioned that we don't do museums with a 2 year-old so we usually wander the streets, look at unique architecture, churches and duomos, watch people and shop. There were several unique churches in Helsinki one of which was called the "Rock Church." Rightly so since it was carved out of a large boulder. Beautiful inside!

My favorite European thing to do is to go to an open air market and the one in the center of Helsinki was fantastic. I just loved to wander through all the beautiful produce and find unique veggies and fruits I've never seen before.




I love fresh cherries and for some reason on the ship we only had melon, oranges, apples, and bananas. There were no strawberries or cherries to be found. Well, needless to say I couldn't pass these up and Ella discovered a new love...."cheewies" She was stained red but it was adorable to watch her eat them. She would take a bite then hand it to me to remove the pit and give it back to her to finish. She ate all but about 10 of the "cheewies" I purchased.

Regardless of the National Holiday we had a blast just cruising the streets of Helsinki. It was as if we had the entire city to ourselves!

Next Stop...St. Petersburg, Russia