Helsinki, Finland

We arrived in Helsinki this morning and when I looked out the window of our room I saw a lot of construction and trucks and other stuff. Not a great view at all. Many of the ports we've been to have been working ports but this is just about the worst one yet.


We took the shuttle bus into Helsinki and when we got off the shuttle and there was an independent doubledecker sightseeing bus there and we decided to get on and see what there was to see.


Our selfie on the bus.

  
Our bus.

  
Our first stop was Sibelius Monument. It is a monument to Finland's most famous composer Jean Sibelius and is the most popular tourist attraction in Helsinki.

  


This face was suppose to be Jean Sibelius. Not very flattering.

  
Again there are lilacs everywhere. So beautiful.

 
A look down a street in Helsinki.

  
Our next stop was the Church in the Rock. The Church in the Rock is what it is called but it is the Temppeliaukio Church. As you can see it is built right into the rock.

  
It has glass between the rock and the top and the top of the dome is copper.

 
It really was beautiful.

When the tour was over we were dropped off in The Market Square, a bustling market with food, crafts and boat tours everywhere.

  
All the vendors were under the colorful tents.

We also took a walk to two interesting buildings which were close by.

  
This is the Uspenski Cathedral, which is located near the South Harbor. It was built in 1868 and is the largest orthodox church in Western Europe. We were not able to go inside.



  



The other place we wanted to see was the Lutheran Cathedral. We did not have a chance to go inside the cathedral.


Also in the square was a statue of czar Alexander II.

We always look for small watercolor paintings by local artists. Today in the market area we found such an artist and really loved his work and purchased two paintings.


This is the artist and a painting of his youngest daughter.

We walked back to the shuttle bus pick up area and then back on the boat.

  
When we got back to the port I finally saw a sign for Helsinki. There were no other signs anywhere saying "Welcome to Helsinki" or anything. There was a large metal building with a concrete floor where vendors were set up selling local items. Not very inviting though.

When we got back to the ship we went to our cabin and dropped off our things and then up to the buffet on the 14th floor. We are still in Norovirus mode and they've tightened up even more. You can't even pick up your plate anymore. The staff have the plates behind the serving tables and they will hand it to you. It's sort of scary, but Jim and I continue to be fine and continue to wash our hands at every available opportunity.

We're on our way now to Stockholm, Sweden.