spain: canary islands: gran canaria: puerto de las nievas and agaete

I arrived in Puerto de las Nievas on Gran Canaria after a 90 minute ferry ride from Santa Cruz, on Tenerife. The ferry ride was okay, though the weather wasn't great so I ended up slightly seasick. It didn't help that the boat arrived to rain and wind, which I hate.

Puerto de las Nievas is a tiny town on the coast, with a twin town of Agaete slightly up the hill. I'd booked a place in Agaete, so I had to make the walk in the rain. The walk was pretty, as both towns are quite cute. The buildings are mostly painted white, and there were a number of flowers blooming.

I'd booked my accomodation relatively last minute, so it was the most expensive place I stayed during my entire trip. I thought I'd booked a double room for 40 euro, but it ended up being a small flat with a kitchen, small living room, and a bedroom with bed space for 4!! If only I'd been traveling with someone.

I relaxed for a few hours, then went for a walk. The weather had cleared up, it was now mostly sunny, yahooooo!! It took me just a few minutes to walk back through the center of Agaete, to the church in the center of town.

Unfortuntaely the church wasn't open, so I was only able to see the outside. I couldn't find a sign anywhere with open hours listed, I wasn't sure if it would be open while I was there.

More walking took me back down the hill to Puerto de las Nievas. I headed to a different area from where the ferry arrived, as I'd seen a listing of natural pools. To get there I had to walk down a dirt road, which made me wonder if I was going the right way, but it worked out well, as I ended up where I wanted to be.

The pools weren't completely natural, but they weren't completely man made as well. Volcanic rock had been carved out in areas by the constant movement of water over time, creating areas for the water to fill in, like pools. Someone had put stairs into a couple of them, and I saw kids in the water even though it seemed a bit chilly to me. The rock into which the pools had been carved was volcanic, so it wasn't at all smooth, and I was glad I was wearing shoes with thicker soles, not just jandals.

I loved watching the waves crash into the area, over and over again. I could've stayed there for hours, if I'd been planning to stay in the area for more than just one night.

After a while I kept walking along the coast, heading back toward the ferry port. A boardwalk has been built, with extra rocks built up to protect the area from storms and the resulting crazy waters. I walked along the entire length of the boardwalk, then doubled back a little to get to one of the streets of Puerto de las Nievas. (I hope there is a shortened version of the town name, it's annoying to say the whole thing every time.)

The buildings facing the port are all restaurants/cafes or hotels. The next street back had a very small church, but was otherwise full of more hotels, cafes, and souvenir shops. The town is small enough that the number of buildings isn't big at all, though I wondered where everyone lives.

I walked to a tiny beach, and it was finally warm enough that I would've spent time in the sun if I'd worn a bikini during this walk. The view from the beach was gorgeous, I could see a cliff that probably had amazing hiking.

I was in the area long enough to see sunset, which was beautiful. I loved the colours of the sky as background to the beautiful landscape of cliffs and water. After the sun went down I got cold, and was more than ready to head back to my room to sleep.

Before going to sleep I used the stairs in my flat to get to the roof for a view of the town at night. Quiet, and pretty. 

The next morning was the end of my stay in Agaete. I had to walk just six minutes to get to the bus stop, which was awesome.

I would definitely come back to the town if I had time to do some hiking. It's a small area, but I bet the hiking is fantastic. And the small town aspect was quite nice. 

norway: oslo

Just before the end of my school year I had a long weekend. I took advantage of the extra days to travel to Oslo, Norway. As far as I know, this was my first visit to the city and to the country. I'm 1/8 Norweigan, I have no idea why it took me so long to visit the country.

My flight left Kyiv at 2030 on a Friday evening, landing in Riga. I tried to sleep in the airport in Riga, though it didn't really work. Since I didn't sleep I found a row of seats without armrests, (at least I could lay down,) and a couple of plugs.

My connection to Oslo from Riga went smoothly, I landed around 0900.

The plane was small, so small that it didn't connect to the terminal by walkway. Instead we all walked off the plane, and onto a bus. Getting through customs and passport control was easy, yahoo.

Almost as soon as I stepped into the arrivals hall I realized that this was going to be an expensive trip, no matter how hard I tried to budget. As I walked past the Starbucks in the airport terminal I did the math on the prices I saw and was shocked. Starbucks isn't known for being cheap, but WHOA.

The ATM I saw gave me the option of withdrawing Norweigen Kroner, Euro, or US Dollars. I wonder if all three were actually possible. I withdrew Kroner since I was in Norway.

I had a few options for getting into the city center, with a range of prices. I opted for the cheaper train option. I had the choice of a fast train, or a regular train, though the time difference wasn't all that much. The train I chose ended up being around 25 minutes, whereas the fast train was said to be 19 minutes. Why would anyone pay 3x the price for 6 minutes less on a train?

Oslo central station isn't as big or impressive as I'd expected. Maybe I'm just too used to the grand central stations in other areas of Europe. Regardless, it was central, and easy to exit. There was a second hand market set up just outside the station, on a small platz. From what I saw, most of what was for sale were clothes of various types.

I walked in the general direction of my accommodation, seeing what I could see along the way. Almost immediately I came close to a church. A very tall church, though I wouldn't call it grand. My travel app told me this was the Oslo Domkirche. Basically the Oslo Cathedral.

I really liked the front door, though I didn't love the beggar lady sitting in front of it. I always feel a bit guilty when I see beggars, as I rarely give them anything. At the same time, if I gave something to every beggar I saw while traveling my trips would be shorter and more expensive.

As I walked through I remembered to look up, and enjoyed the decoration of the ceiling. Very colourful, but not very complicated. Most of the walls of the church were white, or cream, and not otherwise decorated.

As I walked through I listened to the music of the organ. I think there was an organ concert later that day, and this was just practice. It was beautiful. I love listening to someone playing an organ. The music is powerful, and carries feeling really well. I wish I'd remembered to go back for the concert itself, or had been able to listen to the entire practice time. Oh well.

There was no entry fee for this church, though I suspect it was the 'main' church in the city. Yippee. Off to the side of the church was a small garden area, very charming.

Across the street from the church was a flower market. I loved the flowers, all the colours and variety.

From there I headed more directly toward my hostel. When I got there I wasn't allowed to check in early, though I was able to drop my bag off. There was a nice community area in the lobby, with plenty of people sitting around. Most everyone was looking at a smart phone, or tablet, or laptop, there wasn't so much talking going on.

I used one of my travel apps to create a map of the places I hoped to see that day. My first stop was St Edmunds church. Unfortunately, it wasn't open. It wasn't a grand church, but the outside looked very typical to what I'd expected all over the country.

The church a block over wasn't open either. I think this one was Lutheran, as are many churches in Norway. I wish they'd been open, as the Domkirche seems to be most days.

My third stop was yet another church, also not open. This one had a grand set of steps nearby, leading to a massive set of arches/columns/gate of some sort. I don't think the church was part of the steps or gate, they were just next to each other. I took a few timed photos in front of the columns, just because I could.

Behind the columns was a cemetery, which I think belonged to church number 2 that wasn't open. I did not go in, as the area was rather small and I didn't see an open gate.

Surprise, stop number 4 was another church. This one was open for visitors, yahoo!! A simple interior with a few stained glass windows. I love colourful windows. I don't know how most people feel, but I always feel more welcome in a church/synagogue/temple/mosque when there are stained glass windows. Something about colour and warmth and welcome.

I moved from there to a main street. This one had a whole lot of people out walking around. I looked into a few of the shops along the way, but they were nothing special, and I most definitely could not afford most of what I saw. Remember what I said about Norway being expensive? This goes for just about everything in every store. Crazy.

My fifth stop of the day was NOT a church. It was a museum. Called the transport museum, though it mostly focused on trams, trolleys, and buses. It was relatively small, just one large room. A small warehouse sort of space.

The entire area was packed full with old buses, trams and trolleys. I loved it. Most of them were open for visitors to walk through.

Back in the day, most citizens of the town relied on public transport to get around, and Oslo has a good system set up. I particularly liked the tram that took skiers, and their gear around. There were also heaps of route signs, you know the ones that list the starting and ending point of where the bus, tram, or trolley goes. I love this kind of history (daily life history) as much as learning who was involved in governing different countries/areas at different times.

I bought postcards here, they ended up being the cheapest postcards I found in the entire city. By a lot. The man at the cash register was surprised at how many I bought, I suppose most people are surprised when they see how many postcards I typically buy.

Back on the main street I walked back toward where I'd come from. I passed a couple bakeries, and ended up buying a scone at one of them. Expensive, just like everything else in the city. The sign said it was raspberry, but that really meant just a little bit of jam on top for flavour.

My next stop was the Royal Palace and gardens. The gardens are mostly to the back of the palace, I wasn't immediately aware they were connected to the palace when I entered. These gardens had a small pond with a bridge going over the middle, but not much else was very landscaped. Nice grassy areas, a few benches scattered here and there. It didn't feel organized, which I really liked.

As I got to the palace itself I found out I was visiting just before the palace opened to visitors for summer tours. My last day in the city was the day before the tours started for the summer. Argh.

Standing in front of the palace was a guard. I arrived just at the start of a changing of the guard ceremony, which was nice to watch. It wasn't anything super fancy, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Lots of people had their photos taken with the guard, I was one of them. (You know, the whole "I'll take your photo if you take mine" switch.) I managed to get a photo of the palace without anyone else in front by waiting for a while and hoping no other visitors would wander across the front facade.

The area in front of the palace was a platz of sorts. It was hard packed dirt, covered with very very fine gravel. I'm guessing it is a sort of parade ground from time to time. The palace itself is rather boring, very bland. Just a big building painted dark-ish yellow. Toward the front of the platz, in the middle was a statue of a guy on a horse. There were all sorts of people sitting around the base of the statue, relaxing and enjoying the day.

The palace is sortof on a hill, I went down the hill toward the national theatre. I'm used to seeing fountains in front of theaters, in a place of pride. The fountain for this theater was off to the side in the back. I don't know why.

Since it was a nice fountain, heaps of people were taking photos with the water. I didn't join in this time.

There was a strip of landscaping on the side of the theater, complete with flowers and a few statues. More people taking photos, of course.

Around the front of the theater I was rather surprised by how normal it looked. That is, it looked like a theater, but wasn't anything special. Maybe I'm crazy but I expect more from a national theater. I tried to go inside and take a peek, but all I was able to do was go up to the lobby on the second floor. It was nice, but I wish I'd been able to see inside the theater itself.

In front of the theater is a platz, and a sortof garden area. Nothing exciting. I wanted to know the name of the building on the other side of this platz. The backside of whateva this building is is somewhat photogenic. It was not open to visitors.

I made my way to the waterfront area next. I saw city hall, and was less than impressed. A large, brick building, I was not a fan. (I don't really like brick buildings, though I couldn't really say why. The exterior was ugly. The only nice part of the building was the small garden area off to one side.

My next visit was the Nobel Peace Center. Yup, the place that awards the Nobel Peace Prize every year. There is an entrance fee, (not cheap of course,) and you have to put your bag in a storage locker. You're allowed to take a camera through with you, but you are not allowed to have any bags, not even a purse.

The first floor of the center was atemporary (I think) exhibition about one of the winners. He won in 1935, and was a journalist, who wrote articles describing what was going on in Germany, and also basically said it wasn't a good country at the time. Not surprisingly, the entire German government didn't like the idea or reality of Carl von Ossietzky being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the only winner of in the entirety of the prize who did not have a member of the Norweigen Royal Family in attendance at the awarding of the prize.

The royals didn't show up because of the political situation at the time, they were trying to avoid conflict with Germany and the upcoming Nazi party. (Lot of good that did, given what happened in/to Norway, just a few years later.)

The first floor also has an area where you can sign postcards to send to countries imprisoning dissidents around the world. The second floor has displays about the various winners over the years. One room has a tablet dedicated to each winner. Another room goes into deeper detail with a few of the winners. A painting of the Chinese winner in 2010, Liu Xiao Bo mentions that he is the only winner of the prize who is currently incarcerated.

I happened to be in the room at the same time as some Buddhist monks who were taking a whole lot of photos at the area dedicated to the Dalai Lama. I'm not sure why, but I sometimes think of Buddhist monks as people who eschew a lot of modern technology, so seeing these guys so excited to take photos of and with the photo of the Dalai Lama display struck me as totally awesome.

I left the Peace Museum as it was closing. Since I wanted to take a photo of the front of the building I waited around for a while so the people skateboarding in front wouldn't be in my photo.

I wanted to visit another museum in Oslo that day, but by the time I left the Peace Museum it was too late. Instead, I walked back to my hostel, and finally checked in. I'd reserved a bed in a 4 bed dorm room (single rooms in Oslo were WAY too expensive for me,) and I got lucky. No one else had a reservation there for that night, I had the room to myself. Yippee!!

I realized I'd been walking around most of the day and hadn't eaten much. Instead of staying in for the night, I went back outside. Not too far down the road, I chose a falafel place. My meal was just over $10, which I'd already realized was 'budget' pricing in Oslo.

On the way back to my hostel I stopped in a supermarket for breakfast food and snacks.

I turned out the lights that night after 2300, there was still some light in the sky even though the sun had officially set. This is a great time of year to visit northern countries, as it feels like it is light ALL THE TIME.

Since it was already light, I wasn't surprised I woke up pretty early the next morning. Waking up early didn't mean I got moving any earlier than usual. I really need to work on this.

I used one of my travel apps to create a walking route for the day, my first stop was a place called Vigeland Park. I'd never heard of it before arriving in Oslo, though apparently every other visitor to the city had. I definitely wasn't the only one there. My walk there took me through quiet neighborhoods, which I loved. It also took me past a church in the middle of a service. As I walked past I heard music, so I stopped for a moment. I realized it was Amazing Grace, a song that always evokes emotion when I hear it. I stayed there for the rest of the song.

Vigeland Park is full of naked statues. There are a LOT of statues. Most people enter the park near a bridge with plenty of these statues along the railings. I took photos of a few of the statues, but no photos of me with any of the statues. Plenty of other visitors seemed to be taking photos with all the statues. Am I weird for not wanting photos of me with these naked statues?

After the bridge there is a fountain surrounded by more of these statues. More photos of course. I asked someone to take a photo of me with the fountain, so I guess I wanted one of these photos after all.

After the fountain was a set of steps, and an obelisk of sorts surrounded by heaps of naked statues somewhat entertwined with each other. As the weather was absolutely lovely, there were a lot of people hanging out on these steps, soaking up the sun. I sat down for a few minutes too.

There was still another area behind the obelisk. This area had two statues, and no nakedness. There was a big sundial, and another thing that looked like a memorial. (I didn't take a photo of the sign, argh.) My way back out of the park took me along a sidewalk lined with trees. Absolutely lovely; and surprisingly quiet considering it was right next to a parkplatz.

I had a calzone for lunch from a nearby 7-11. That's not exactly a great place, or healthy, but I really needed food at that point, and I didn't want sweets.

I walked quite a while to get to my next sight. My walk took me past a small marina, and past a small pasture area where a few cows stared at me. I walked along a sidewalk/trail through trees, it was really really quiet.

I arrived at Oscarshall, and took it in for a moment. It is a small palace, but definitely eye catching. Much more so than the national theater or the royal palace.

The sign said there are guided tours every hour, but I arrived at 15 past the hour and didn't want to hang out for 45 minutes. Oscarshall was the summer palace, back in the day. I took a few photos, and moved on. My photos were of the backside of Oscarshall, since the front side was backlit at the time. The front side is more impressive, especially since the front steps are approached by a small marina. How cool to arrive at your summer home on a boat!

I walked to the Viking Museum, which is not huge, but is definitely impressive. There are remains of three viking ships on display, they take up a lot of space. There are descriptions of what was found in the ships when they were discovered, as well as other descriptions of what has been found in other ships. All three ships on display were found while buried, and were used as burial places for important people. Very very cool.

There were maps showing how large the Viking 'empire' was, or at least how far the ships traveled for trade. They went a lot further than I knew.

My next stop was the Fram Museum, the self declared best museum in the world. I don't know if that's true, or even if it is measureable, but it is quite impressive. The Fram Museum is all about the exploration of the polar regions done by Norweigans.

There is an orientation video for this museum, they show it every 15 minutes in a small theater. The video gives brief descriptions of a few of the explorers described in the museum. Since I knew nothing of polar exploration, all these names and the information was a bit overwhelming.

There are two huge areas of the Fram Museum. In one of the rooms is the ship used by Roald Amundsen and his crew as they tried to travel the length of the socalled Northwest Passage. Since the ship is tall, there are levels of displays, which you can reach by climbing the stairs. Visitors are not able to go in the ship itself, darnit. The displays on the side walls have photos and descriptions of what the voyage was like. Who was involved, what they saw, what ship life was like.

In the other room the Fram is on display. It is big. I suppose explorer ships are always big, but maybe it seemed big to me because it was displayed inside.
This ship was used by Arctic explorer Fridtjof (no idea how to prounounce his name,) Nansen. This ship and its travels were financed by monies coming from the Norweigian government. The Fram is open to visitors. A gangway has been constructed to visitors can walk through the ship, and imagine what life was like for Polar explorers back in the day. There was a piano in one of the rooms, apparently that was considered a necessity!

There were more displays and descriptions on several levels of the walls of this area. A lot more information. By the end of my time in this museum I was skimming the information, and not really paying attention to all of it. The museum is really well done, but I was overwhelmed with all the information.

After leaving the museum I walked through the tiny park area next door. There was a display of a 'lighthouse' made from rubbish pulled from the sea. It made a statement to me.

My original plan had been to walk back around the long way, to the city hall area of Oslo. Then I thought about how long that would take, and realized I didn't want to walk that far at that time.

Instead, I walked a couple blocks over, and found a ferry terminal. This ferry is considered public transport in Oslo, and took me back to the port area in front of City Hall.

I followed a sidewalk and found a souvenir shop selling all sorts of Oslo/Norway items. They even sold bikinis made with the design of the flag of Norway. I asked the guy behind the cash register if anyone bought those, he laughed. I bought a bunch of Oslo postcards, and a magnet.

I kept walking and found the back entrance of the Akershus fortress and castle. I was able to enter the fortress walls, but discovered the castle was closed for the rest of the day because of some ceremony. Darnit.

The Resistance Museum is located within these walls, but I arrived too late to visit. Darnit.

The top of the fortress walls gives a nice view of the port area. There are a couple canons on display, I have no idea if they were ever used. If I remember correctly, this fortress was never breached. The only time control was given up is when the Nazi soldiers came into the country and tried to take over the people.

I walked to the opera house, which is really unique. I didn't go inside, but the outside was more than enough to keep me interested for a while.

There are views into a water area, and views over part of the city. You can walk up the roof, as it slopes down to the ground. Like I said, really unique architecture. My words don't come close to doing it justice.

On my way back to my hostel, I stopped at a place called Los Tacos for dinner. My burrito was around $10, and plenty of food for one meal. On the wall is a neon sign saying 'make tacos, not war.' Even better was the fact that the spicy salsa they put on my burrito was actually spicy.

When I got back to my room I found another girl in the room. In the end, we two were the only ones in the 4 bed room. I was a little disappointed to lose my single room, but sharing with just one other lady wasn't too bad either.

The next morning I woke up early again, and basically skipped breakfast this time. Oops.

This day the weather wasn't nearly as perfect as the day before. It was super windy, and felt much colder.

I walked to City Hall, circling around the entire building before finding the main entrance. The main entry side is more interesting aesthetically than the back side on the marina/port. But I still found it ugly.

Entry into City Hall is free, and you can walk around the building as you want. (Well, most of it anywho.)

There are tours you can join, including one in English, but the timing on that didn't work well for me.

The entry hall is huge, and the walls are covered in murals. It's an impressive room, from all angles. I walked through all the open rooms, taking heaps of photos, because each room is totally different, and totally awesome. I wished I'd had time to join the tour, it would've been nice to learn more of the history of each room.

I walked back to the castle area inside the fortress walls. The castle wasn't open quite yet to the public, so the gate was still being guarded by a soldier.

I went to the Resistance Museum, waiting just a few minutes until it opened. I was the first one in, yay. The entry fee was 50 kroner, the cheapest entry fee I paid during this visit to Oslo. You can try to visit this city on a budget, but if you do, then you won't actually get to learn history of the city.

The museum describes the surprise invasion by the Nazis, and tells all about life during those times. There are descriptions and photos of all the different ways the Nazis tried to control life in Norway. For the most part, these efforts failed. Norweigians resisted in all kinds of ways, many of them ingenious. They hid people wanted by the Nazis, they formed a resistance, they refused to teach or preach Nazi ideals. It's a great museum.

After I left the Resistance Museum, I went to the castle area, and it's museum. I paid my entry fee, grabbed the brochure, and went down the stairs. The tour of this museum starts in the basement/dungeon of the castle, and winds up at the top.

I got to see the dungeon area, a dining area, the chapel, a throne room, and more. Each room had a description plaque on the wall, which was better than the brochure. There were also numbers indicating what to listen to if you'd rented an audioguide.

I liked wandering around, and wished I had more time. I loved seeing this history, and imagining how life used to be in this country, years ago.

After leaving the castle, I walked back to my hostel to pick up my backpack. Along the way I bought sandwiches and another burrito to eat on the flights back to Kyiv.

I took the train back to the airport, and got through security and passport control quickly.

I loved visiting Oslo, though it isn't exactly a stunning city. I want to come back to the country, with a LOT more money, and plenty more time. Norway is a country known more for nature and natural beauty. I want to hike, kayak, camp, etc...

finland: helsinki and suomenlinna

Finland is a country that has fascinated me for a while.  It's both Scandinavian, and not.  It has a very mixed history, having been part of different countries, as well as being an independent country.
Thursday night I hurried home from work, packed my bag, and took a taxi to the airport. Two flights later (via Riga, which is a very fast airport for me to get through) I arrived in Helsinki at 0030.
Before flying I'd opted not to book a hotel the night I landed, for a couple reasons. First, I wasn't sure there would be public transport for me to get into the city at that hour. Second, Helsinki is a very expensive city, and I didn't much feel like paying for a full hotel night when I wouldn't get to enjoy the whole night. Hotel prices are at least €60/night!!
Sleeping in the airport wasn't bad at all, I found four seats together and was able to stretch out. Plus the wifi was good, (and free!) and I found a plug nearby. Why aren't all airports this awesome??

The next morning I found the public bus that makes rounds between the city center and the airport; it's only 5€! The ride wasn't long, maybe only 30 minutes. The bus takes you to the central train station, which is very central in the city.
The place is booked for my first full night was only a 10 minute walk from the train station. My room was ready, I was able to check in straightaway, yippee!
During checkin I realized my voice was completely gone. I could whisper, but actual talking wasn't working, uh oh. If it didn't make communication so hard, I would have been laughing.

I rested up a bit, then started exploring. The first place I went was an old wooden church in a park a couple blocks from my hotel. Unfortunately the church was closed, I wish I'd been able to see the interior. Wooden churches aren't terribly common.  The next place I wanted to visit was closed too, a market hall that was supposed to be filled with old stuff. Argh. Then I tried to find a sculpture, but I missed that too! Argh.
What I did see was plenty of people out and about. 1 May is a national holiday, so EVERYONE was out and about. Apparently the traditional way to celebrate is to have a picnic with family and friends, I saw heaps of people in the parks all day.

I saw people wearing sailor like hats, I'm assuming those had something to do with the holiday. I also saw people wearing outfits that made me think of the uniform worn by people in car shops, or race car drivers; only these had patches everywhere, and were many colors. Some people wore red, others green or yellow, I even saw orange. Again, I'm assuming there is a tradition I don't know about.
During these first few attempts at sightseeing I stepped into a convenience store. I'd heard Finland is expensive, but some of these prices were a shock to say the least. On the happy side of things, I found some of the Icelandic yoghurt I loved so much when I lived in Iceland for a summer so many years ago. YUM!
I walked up another street to a park called the Esplanade. Heaps of people here, HEAPS. All the statues had been given those sailor like caps, I thought it was cute.

There were vendors walking around with giant bunches of mylar balloons, I saw several kids ask for them.
I walked the length of this park and turned onto a street where I thought I'd find a restaurant for lunch. I found the restaurant, but it was closed. Ugh. (At this point I was thinking 'dumb holiday'.)
At the end of the park I crossed the street over to an area on the quay, I think it's called the western port. There is a market of sorts there most days, you can buy fresh fish. Due to the holiday, there were more stands than usual, many of them selling food to be eaten straightaway. I was thrilled to sit down to salmon, veggies, and small potatoes. At only 10€, it was a huge bargain (by Helsinki standards!)

From my seat at lunch I could see Uspenski cathedral. It's an Orthodox church on top of a hill close to the port area. I walked up the hill, along with every other tourist in the city, only to find that the cathedral was closed for the holiday.
I'm happy to see businesses and offices and everything else closed on holidays, it's nice to know there are countries out there that take holidays seriously, that make it possible to celebrate (or honor, in some cases) the holiday instead of having to work. At the same time, as a visitor, it's annoying to find so many things closed while I'm traveling.

I walked from the cathedral to senate square, not too far away. Along the way I saw a shop that advertised Finnish traditional items, so I stepped in. I looked at many items made of wood, wool items, etc.... And expensive postcards. 1€ each!
Due to the holiday there were a lot of people in senate square. There was a jump house set up, and some stalls with food as well. It's a nice, large area, surrounded on most sides by government buildings. In the middle of the square is a statue of Alexander II. The statue was put there when Finland belonged to Russia. It's been a source of controversy over the years, but is still there.

Helsinki Cathedral is the place to which your eyes automatically look when you enter the square. It's a Lutheran church, way up on top of steps. It's grand looking on the outside, mostly white. I entered the cathedral to find a concert of some kind. A group of kids wearing identical shirts was singing in the front. Due to the concert, I didn't go very far in the church, but from what I could see, the interior wasn't nearly as impressive as the exterior. The outside is grand, but simple. The inside is big, or rather, the ceiling is high, but it isn't terribly grand, if that makes any sense.

I went back down the stairs, noticing that the jump house had been taken down, and the stalls were being cleaned up. I don't remember what time it was, but I remember thinking it was early to be finishing the holiday celebrations. (Especially since the sun doesn't go down until after 2100.)
I found an Indian place for dinner, and ordered one of my favorite dishes, bhindi masala, (okra curry,) but it was a bit drier than I like. On the other hand, the lassi was awesome!
After dinner I walked a bit more, to work off all the food. It felt good, and since it was still light, I felt okay staying out later than I normally do.

The next morning I woke up to the news of a major, devastating earthquake in Nepal, and also found out one of my rugby friends was there and survived and was safe.
I didn't sleep well, since it was light so early, my bed faced the wrong way, and the curtains didn't block the light at all. Plus, I had even less of a voice, argh.
This day had the worst weather of the whole trip. Overcast in the morning, then the rain started before noon and kept going most of the day. YUCK. Rain is the one type of weather I hate while traveling. Thank goodness I had my waterproof (but really ugly) boots with me.

My first stop of the day was a random tea shop. Not that I needed any tea, but I couldn't help myself.
My next stop was a rock church. It is well known, but when I saw it I couldn't figure out why. It's just a church partly carved out of rock. The inside is rather plain. The church is only open a few times a day, about an hour each time. I didn't know this ahead of time, I got lucky in arriving about 5 minutes before one of the open times.
Side note: i found the cheapest postcards in the city at souvenir shops near the rock church.
From the rock church I walked to Sibelius park, to see a monument. Very nice, totally different from anything I've seen before.
From the park I walked back toward the city center, making my way to a cemetery. Hientaniemi cemetery is the Finnish equivalent of Arlington national cemetery in the states. I was the only person there at the time, it truly felt like hallowed ground.

I got back to my hotel, warmed up and charged my phone, then moved me and my stuff to a new hotel. (Slightly cheaper, and had a room available for the rest of my visit.) No one answered the bell for five minutes, which was really frustrating, since I was sick, and tired.
After settling in I went back to the Indian place for dinner, ordering a different dish this time, and repeating the lassi. Again I walked out feeling fat and happy :)
The next morning I woke up to a beautiful sunny day. I managed to get myself up and out the door before 9am! No one was around the Cathedral, so I took a few new photos with a blue sky and no one else in the photo. Much better than the flat grey background of the past couple days.

I got to the ferry terminal 15 minutes before the next ferry was due to depart. Yay for convenience! Surprisingly, a ticket good for 12 hrs on the ferry was only 5€. That might be the only time in the whole trip when I didn't feel like I was emptying my bank account.
The ferry took me to the island of suomenlinna, the ride was only 15 minutes. The island has a fortress (or what remains of it) from back when Sweden and Russia were involved in Finland.
I wandered all over the island. Unfortunately the mitary museum (the museum I most wanted to see,) wasn't open yet for the summer, booo.
I also discovered the church (built by the Russians as a military church) is only open for special occasions. More booo. How do I get a list of when EVERYTHING is open?

A most excellent discovery was the ability to walk through the tunnels in the walls of the old fortress. Some are pitch black! Voices echo, very cool. While it was excellent to walk through in the dark, my camera is not good enough for that situation. Oh well, not every experience needs to be documented.
I got to see some of the big guns still there, from Russian days. Seeing how different parts of the island came from different parts of history made me a very happy geek. I loved how there were signs explaining all of this in various parts of the island.

I ate lunch (which is brought with me, knowing food prices at the two cafes on island would be super high) sitting on a small cliff, my view overlooked a small beach. LOVELY.
The island is hilly, the paths and such go up and down. I walked across a small bridge to an area marked on the map as a naval academy. After wandering around that area I saw a small sign saying it was an active military area, and not open to tourists. I'm not sure if that meant the academy grounds, but it was too late to do anything but walk back to the ferry terminal.
After taking the ferry back to the city, I walked up the hill the Uspenski cathedral. This time it was open, yay! I got an external photo with a blue sky, and an internal photo with sunlight streaming in. Yay!

My next stop was the Finnish national museum. There are permanent exhibits on all aspects of Finnish history (geological, cultural, etc...) and it was hosting a temporary exhibit on religions around the world. My favourite exhibit was that of currency and medals from all through the history of the country. It included Swedish and Russians currencies from the appropriate times. Awesome. The front door of the museum still has a bullet hole from the 1918 civil war. Hmmm.
The next morning I used my new favorite travel app (triposo) to create a path around the city to see what I wanted during my last half day in the city. I started at a supermarket to buy chocolate. Great big bars of chocolate. Yum. Why haven't I seen Finnish chocolate anywhere else? I bought postcards near the rock church.

The first church I wanted to see was closed, boo. I saw the 'sight' of an intersection with five streets. Why was that listed as something to see?
I was happy that St. John's church was open. I really liked it, especially the organ, and it had great stained glass windows. Stained glass windows in a church always make it feel more friendly and welcoming; I feel more like I want to worship in a church when it has stained glass windows.
My last church of the day was closed as well. Oh well.
I got another lunch of salmon by the water, YUM!
From there I practically ran back to the hotel, grabbed my backpack, and hoofed it to the train station to catch a bus to the airport.
Another side note: the next day I went to the doctor in kyiv and was officially diagnosed with laryngitis. Four days later I could finally talk again! Sortof.