Suomenlinna, Finland

Just a word about Helsinki.

It was a chilly but pleasant (with a jacket) 45 degrees when I arrived there. Anchorage, Alaska; St. Petersburg, Russia; and Helsinki, Finland are all on the same latitude. Let me say that the sun did not actually go down. Around midnight it started to look a little dusky, then by 2 AM it was getting bright again.

I made it a point to try all of the foods (that I could find) that Finns love. The first evening I had reindeer meat with loganberries- very good. The next afternoon I had a very delicious smoked salmon soup with potatoes and dill. The day I was leaving I had a fish plate- a big piece of salmon and these little fried fish with thier heads still attached. It was all very good. One other food item: I was attacked. I ordered ice cream from an ice cream stand near the docks. As I walked away, a flock of seagulls attacked me, or rather the ice cream. They only got a little, but the cheeky buggers are definitely a gustatory hazzard when eating outside in Helsinki.

The real purpose of writing this blog is to tell you about Suomenlinna Island. I was able to take a ferry to this nearby Island that I had never heard of before I arrived in Helsinki. In the 1700's some Swedish general assembled some thousands of men to build a massive fortress on the island to protect it against the Russians. Over two hundred years it has been the site of battles between the Sweeds and the Russians, the Russians and the Finns and the Sweeds and the Finns. Finally in World War II the Nazis took a stab at it.

Acres and acres of gorgeous land, walking paths, museums, resturants, lots of the fortress walls, including tunnels, and enough room to get lost in one day. I happened to go there on a particularly wonderful day with the sun shining and a light breeze.

I move on to St. Petersburg tomarrow. Das vadanya!