Up early, we watched the ship work it’s way
through the minefield of rocks and islands to get into Helsinki harbour. Even the docking is tight due to the narrow
entrance channel to the wharf area. Nevertheless were are all secured by 8 am
and soon after passengers start disembarking.
Once again we chose not to take a ship
organized tour, but walk around the town and see the limited attractions on
foot. It is a relatively modern city by European standards developed during the
period of Swedish rule in the mid 16th century to compete with
Tallinn.
The cruise terminal is a long way from
town, so we caught a shuttle bus into the city centre and started exploring
from there. It took a little while to get our bearings and then we were off. It
has been over 10 years since I was last here, so the memory is a bit rough.
We started off near the top of the
Esplanade, where the shuttle bus dropped us off, which is near Stockmans, the
largest department store in Helsinki. Bearings now a little clearer, I could
see part of the railway station in the distance, we walked down the pedestrian
mall to the Station and surrounding square. The station itself is a very
prominent building, but the attraction is all on the outside.
From the station we walked down to the
water, to a nice park and the Kaisaniemi Botanical Gardens, which apparently undergone an upgrade this year.
We walked along the waterfront for a while,
going around in a bit of a loop back in the direction of the lower part of the
esplanade.
Along the way we came to Senate Square and
the imposing Helsinki Cathedral. The University is also in the same area.
There is a massive staircase leading from
the Cathedral down into the square itself, where buskers were trying to make a
living, with some unique offerings.
Further on we were back down on the
waterfront at market square. There was plenty of activity here, with a few
cruise ships in port. The market has a good collection of uniquely Finnish
Souvenirs , food stalls, clothing and fresh produce. It was easy to walk around
the stalls for a while and take it all in.
Interesting way to display "Chinese" Food
The need for coffee then prevailed and
found a quiet coffee shop, that appeared to be part of a new development in the
Market Square precinct. After coffee, we continued our walk around the
waterfront past lots of lovely old ships , and some new ones, and restaurants.
We then decided to take a shortcut back up
the hill to return to market square and emerged at the Upenski Cathedral, the
largest Orthodox Cathedral in Western Europe, completed in 1868. The red brick
construction is quite distinctive, and it is mounted high on a hill with good
views of the area.
Upenski Cathedral
Helsinki Cathedral
Market Square
Hoping to find free wifi and lunch, we
walked back up the Esplanade to Stockmans and sure enough, they had a nice
little deli with free wifi, where we could have a light lunch and check the
email. The internet here is slow.
Kappeli Cafe on the Esplanade
The Seagulls seem to be a bit irreverent about the statues
Whilst in Stockmans we went to the
supermarket and stocked up on a few things before deciding to get the bus back
to the ship.
The ship sailed pretty much on time at 5
pm, and we spent quite a while on deck watch the ship gingerly find its way
back out of this archipelago, which is littered with little Islands and half
submerged rocks.
Finally, about a hour and a half later, the
pilot was dropped off and we continued on in the direction of Stockholm.
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