So after standing on the back deck for about a half hour drinking beer, canoodleing, and watching Stockholm drift away as we weaved through narrow water sandwiched between tiny islands, we decided to go back inside, test the wifi and then get to the sauna before it closed.
If you know me, you know I don't do well inside boats. Put me outside where there is fresh air and a horizon and I am happy as a clam even on not so steady seas, but inside...yeah not so much. Well, I was doing alright to this point, so we got all connected and went about 100 ft down the hall and found the sauna. Of course the saunas were separate (male/female) so Igor and didn't go in together but they had a common area with hot tubs, we decided to meet up out there after. I didn't bring a swimsuit (only thing I missed in my packing because seriously who thinks of packing a swimsuit when going to northern Europe/Scandinavia/Balkans in the winter?) but thankfully they had swimsuits that you could rent, so I did. :)
Met some nice Finnish ladies in the sauna and stayed in a bit too long. I got out and felt sick from the heat and the soft rocking motion of the ship. I took an ice cold shower, which didn't help that much and went to sit out in the hot tub hall hoping that would make me feel better. Igor was already out there and so I sat for about 10 minutes listening to him talk to some other American and then decided that maybe the best thing for my nausea was to go lay down. So I left Igor to play in the sauna a bit longer and went back to the room and laid down for a while. It helped. Igor came in and sat with me after a little bit and then about an hour later I got hungry so I went in search of food. (A good sign after nausea). The only thing that wasn't really expensive was the cafe, one floor up, so I went there. It was quiet and the food was pretty good so I had a quick bite and then went back down stairs.
Igor was already asleep when I got in, which was fine with me, now full and it was nearly midnight I was ready to sleep too. I got all tucked in and was asleep within minutes. We woke up a little bit later to the ship slowing considerably and the engines making a lot of noise. Turns out they were making an intermediary stop somewhere, at an island between Sweden and Finland called Mariehamn. Thankfully, it was pretty quick and we were back in the open water and asleep in no time.
In the morning we got up, had a quick bite to eat in the cafe again, packed all our things and ran back up to the top deck in time to see our approach into the Helsinki Harbor.
Our host from Stockholm was nice enough to help us find a host in Helsinki. We had tried and failed to find anyone ourselves and as it turns out that was a blessing. The girl we ended up staying with was named Heidi (pronounced in Finnish as Hadey). She was great! She met us near the harbor at Uspenski Cathedral and then walked us to the main square Christmas market at Helsinki Cathedral. Then she took us back to her place so that we could drop our bags and she could finish up some things around the house.
Heidi had a very nice place, small, homey and filled with her own style. She was super sweet and made us some Indian chai, which was fantastic, we talked for awhile and then Igor and I headed out to check out the town. We took the very short subway ride into the center of Helsinki and started our walk the earth tour. We stopped in a bunch of coffee and bread shops (Emery there was even one that was serving Hungarian Goulash!). Finally deciding on one we sat down and had a nice hot cup of coffee with some bread and various dips. Our favorite was some sort of garlic spread that was totally awesome. Then we were out the door and walked through several Christmas markets, testing all sorts of things from jams to jerkys, cheese, bread, candy. It was all really good. We found one vendor on the main square that was nice enough to sell us something in Swedish money, because that was all I had on me at the time. She was super sweet and let us try all her traditional Finnish candy that she makes her self in the forest somewhere a couple hours from Helsinki.
If at this point you are thinking "how could they possible still have daylight if the sun goes down at 3," remember that our boat got in at about 11 so we had lots of time. We went to another Christmas market about an hours saunter away from the last one, right on the water near where we had come in. They were selling reindeer wraps (similar to a kebab with reindeer meat), so of course we got one. Thankfully, they took cards because I figured it would be pushing our luck to find two people in the same day to take our Swedish money. By the way really yummy, and not at all gamey like I thought it might be. We decided to walk and eat at the same time, which as it turns out was maybe not the best idea. Igor finished his half of our reindeer kebab really fast, but as usually, I was taking my sweet time, when a seagull dive bombs me. I ducked behind Igor and out of the way and then another came at me. All of a sudden they were everywhere and Igor was laughing as I stuffed the rest of my kebab in my mouth (huge mouth full by the way) to protect it from being bird food. Not my best move I will add, as seconds later I started to choke on it, which also sent Igor into a giggle fit and me too once I had got some air. Not my most glamorous moment but hey that's what makes memories, right?
So our eventful afternoon continued, we kept walking through Helsinki, decided to find out where we could get our ferry tickets to Tallinn. We walked down to the harbor and got our tickets for the two hour ferry trip, we werent't as lucky this time but no matter.
By this time it was almost dark and Igor let me navigate us to the central square where the Helsinki Cathedral was. We had been there earlier in the day talking to some guys about fishing and where the best spots where in Finland. Problem was I hadn't been looking at the map all day, I had just been letting Igor lead, which in this case was not a good thing at all, as we were supposed to be meeting up with Heidi at 6pm. We were a few minutes late but we made it all the same, because I asked Igor to take back over and figure out where we were. We arrived at the square and met Heidi just in time to see the St. Lucia ceremony start. I am not going to really explain what it is all about, it will take too much time, but the super short version is that it used to coincide with winter solstice when the Julian Calendar was the universal calendar and has continued to be a big thing throughout Scandinavia ever since.
We watched the ceremony, which was ehh, but the best part was on our way back to Heidi's after. She told us that there was an orchestra playing in the subway tunnel and that they were really, really good. They had been playing the theme song to a tv Igor and I really like called "Game of Thrones." It just so happened that they were still there when we got to the tunnel. They finished their first song and Igor requested that they play the "Game of Thrones" theme song, of course they did! Igor talked about this for the whole next week (no joke). And still sometimes hums it at random intervals throughout the day. Yes, it was that good and the video doesn't even begin to do it justice. It was like our own semi-private symphony.
The rest of the evening was spent finding some food to make for Heidi and her husband. Having fun making veggie stirfry and then staying up late chatting as Igor and Kahil (Heidi's Indian husband) fell asleep early. :)
P.S. as promised Igor's Twin
If you know me, you know I don't do well inside boats. Put me outside where there is fresh air and a horizon and I am happy as a clam even on not so steady seas, but inside...yeah not so much. Well, I was doing alright to this point, so we got all connected and went about 100 ft down the hall and found the sauna. Of course the saunas were separate (male/female) so Igor and didn't go in together but they had a common area with hot tubs, we decided to meet up out there after. I didn't bring a swimsuit (only thing I missed in my packing because seriously who thinks of packing a swimsuit when going to northern Europe/Scandinavia/Balkans in the winter?) but thankfully they had swimsuits that you could rent, so I did. :)
Met some nice Finnish ladies in the sauna and stayed in a bit too long. I got out and felt sick from the heat and the soft rocking motion of the ship. I took an ice cold shower, which didn't help that much and went to sit out in the hot tub hall hoping that would make me feel better. Igor was already out there and so I sat for about 10 minutes listening to him talk to some other American and then decided that maybe the best thing for my nausea was to go lay down. So I left Igor to play in the sauna a bit longer and went back to the room and laid down for a while. It helped. Igor came in and sat with me after a little bit and then about an hour later I got hungry so I went in search of food. (A good sign after nausea). The only thing that wasn't really expensive was the cafe, one floor up, so I went there. It was quiet and the food was pretty good so I had a quick bite and then went back down stairs.
Igor was already asleep when I got in, which was fine with me, now full and it was nearly midnight I was ready to sleep too. I got all tucked in and was asleep within minutes. We woke up a little bit later to the ship slowing considerably and the engines making a lot of noise. Turns out they were making an intermediary stop somewhere, at an island between Sweden and Finland called Mariehamn. Thankfully, it was pretty quick and we were back in the open water and asleep in no time.
In the morning we got up, had a quick bite to eat in the cafe again, packed all our things and ran back up to the top deck in time to see our approach into the Helsinki Harbor.
Our host from Stockholm was nice enough to help us find a host in Helsinki. We had tried and failed to find anyone ourselves and as it turns out that was a blessing. The girl we ended up staying with was named Heidi (pronounced in Finnish as Hadey). She was great! She met us near the harbor at Uspenski Cathedral and then walked us to the main square Christmas market at Helsinki Cathedral. Then she took us back to her place so that we could drop our bags and she could finish up some things around the house.
Heidi had a very nice place, small, homey and filled with her own style. She was super sweet and made us some Indian chai, which was fantastic, we talked for awhile and then Igor and I headed out to check out the town. We took the very short subway ride into the center of Helsinki and started our walk the earth tour. We stopped in a bunch of coffee and bread shops (Emery there was even one that was serving Hungarian Goulash!). Finally deciding on one we sat down and had a nice hot cup of coffee with some bread and various dips. Our favorite was some sort of garlic spread that was totally awesome. Then we were out the door and walked through several Christmas markets, testing all sorts of things from jams to jerkys, cheese, bread, candy. It was all really good. We found one vendor on the main square that was nice enough to sell us something in Swedish money, because that was all I had on me at the time. She was super sweet and let us try all her traditional Finnish candy that she makes her self in the forest somewhere a couple hours from Helsinki.
 |
| Christmas market |
 |
| Helsinki Cathedral |
If at this point you are thinking "how could they possible still have daylight if the sun goes down at 3," remember that our boat got in at about 11 so we had lots of time. We went to another Christmas market about an hours saunter away from the last one, right on the water near where we had come in. They were selling reindeer wraps (similar to a kebab with reindeer meat), so of course we got one. Thankfully, they took cards because I figured it would be pushing our luck to find two people in the same day to take our Swedish money. By the way really yummy, and not at all gamey like I thought it might be. We decided to walk and eat at the same time, which as it turns out was maybe not the best idea. Igor finished his half of our reindeer kebab really fast, but as usually, I was taking my sweet time, when a seagull dive bombs me. I ducked behind Igor and out of the way and then another came at me. All of a sudden they were everywhere and Igor was laughing as I stuffed the rest of my kebab in my mouth (huge mouth full by the way) to protect it from being bird food. Not my best move I will add, as seconds later I started to choke on it, which also sent Igor into a giggle fit and me too once I had got some air. Not my most glamorous moment but hey that's what makes memories, right?
 |
| Old Market Place |
 |
| on the way to the harbor |
By this time it was almost dark and Igor let me navigate us to the central square where the Helsinki Cathedral was. We had been there earlier in the day talking to some guys about fishing and where the best spots where in Finland. Problem was I hadn't been looking at the map all day, I had just been letting Igor lead, which in this case was not a good thing at all, as we were supposed to be meeting up with Heidi at 6pm. We were a few minutes late but we made it all the same, because I asked Igor to take back over and figure out where we were. We arrived at the square and met Heidi just in time to see the St. Lucia ceremony start. I am not going to really explain what it is all about, it will take too much time, but the super short version is that it used to coincide with winter solstice when the Julian Calendar was the universal calendar and has continued to be a big thing throughout Scandinavia ever since.
We watched the ceremony, which was ehh, but the best part was on our way back to Heidi's after. She told us that there was an orchestra playing in the subway tunnel and that they were really, really good. They had been playing the theme song to a tv Igor and I really like called "Game of Thrones." It just so happened that they were still there when we got to the tunnel. They finished their first song and Igor requested that they play the "Game of Thrones" theme song, of course they did! Igor talked about this for the whole next week (no joke). And still sometimes hums it at random intervals throughout the day. Yes, it was that good and the video doesn't even begin to do it justice. It was like our own semi-private symphony.
The rest of the evening was spent finding some food to make for Heidi and her husband. Having fun making veggie stirfry and then staying up late chatting as Igor and Kahil (Heidi's Indian husband) fell asleep early. :)
P.S. as promised Igor's Twin
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