Day 113 - Saturday 24 August - Nokonoshima Is.

Saturday 24 August

After spending from 2:30 to 4:30 catching up on this blog, in the dark, I went back to bed and slept until after 8:00.

Steve decided that we should go on a boat ride today, so we drove to the ferry terminal down from the tower, and went 10mins to Nokonoshima Is.  We headed off along the road, along a couple of beaches, then up a very long, long hill, 3km in total.  Then we had a picnic the steps of a deserted picnic shelter, and the boys played in the long grass and on a swing.

We caught the bus back again, and the ferry, then Steve went into town and Kaori drove us home.

Day 111,2 - Thursday 22, Friday 23 - Helsinki to Fukuoka

 
Thursday 22 August.


We had done a reasonable job packing last night, so had time to go to the station and buy bus tickets without the bags.  Then we had morning tea at McD to get some happy toys.

We got the bus at about 12:15, which took us on a tour of the city and the new developments (business parks and residential) out further.

Finnair allow only 23kgs each person downstairs, and 8kg in hand luggage, and it was always going to be a problem.  So we did a weigh in, with bag A-11.2kg, B-19.4, C-21.6, D-5.8, E-7.4. Total weight for checked in luggage = 52.2 which was 6kg over.  I asked, and was quoted E95.

So we re-organised A-10.3, B-18.4, C-18.3 (check in now 47kg), carry on 15.5kg and we stuffed my handbag and carried our hoodies. All the same stuff, now legitimate, and  we saved the E95. 

We ate a sandwich and watched the planes come in, then walked for miles to the bussing off place, and were among the first in, and it looked pretty empty.  The plane gradually filled, and an announcement said they were waiting for a late flight to deliver more, so we ended up full and 35mins late. 

 Previously we had swum in the Red Sea, and this trip we paddled in the Black Sea (way back in week 3). I had  tried to fit in the White Sea, a trip from St Petersburg to Archangel, but it was just too hard, so here it is - maybe.  The dinner trolleys came at the wrong time, and I couldn't get to a window.

Friday 23 August

The guy next to me swapped seats, but even though I had extra space, I couldn't sleep until the last 15mins, so I missed the landing and docking.

and the Yellow Sea, which we just might get to on a trip to Japan via Korea.


Steve and Tomoki were late because of traffic, so we waited in the heat and humidity, and it was nice to get home.  Cars driving on the left, a house full of English speakers, and a very bouncy Taiki.  We had a big sleep after lunch.

Then I got up at 2:30 and worked until 4:30 finishing this.

Day 110 - Wednesday 21 August - Porvoo

Wednesday 21 August

Today we had a bus ride out of Helsinki to the town of Porvoo, 50km east and 200yrs older than Helsinki. V. Putin is in town today, so it's a good place to be out of. Because the Presidential Palace is right on the quay, all the market stalls were gone. I don't know what happened with the island boat trips.

 Through the barricades to a deserted Market Square.

 Auto cow sculptures.

Finland also has the highest per capital boat population.

Finland is the most forested country in Europe, the 2nd most lakey country after Sweden, and has lots of granite. The countryside is quite different from the flat fields of the Baltic countries just over the sea (it's 80km to Tallinn). 

Porvoo has survived in its medieval state, despite attacks in wars and self inflicted fires which have ravaged it over the years. But each time they have rebuilt in the old style (except for the turf roofs they used to have), and it has left a pretty old town which is very attractive to tourists.

 

We had a walking tour for an hour, starting at the church, ...

They also have a hanging boat, like the church in Vilnius.  Casper said they were often placed in thanks for safety at sea.

  ...   then were on our own for another 90mins. They were filming a movie in the old town square, and there were lots of old cars as props. So we ate on the move, and then headed back to the capital.

 Action -- and the lady wheeled the blue pram through the market square.

Old warehouses, from when Porvoo was a major port.

Because of road closures we had to walk a long way round to get to the 4D cinema. This flight over Finland was not as good as the Netherlands' one was, but we saw some nice scenes of snow and lakes. Then we came home to tackle our last packing, to suit Finnair.

 A couple of fancy houses opposite the Tove Jansson (Moomin) park.

Day 109 - Tuesday 20 August - Helsinki

Tuesday 20 August

For our trip tomorrow, I bought us "Helsinki cards", so today we set about using them. But before we did, we visited the Lutheran cathedral which we can see from our 6th storey apartment.

This is the Senate building, from which the plaza gets its name.  There is an identical building opposite, but we never found out what it is.

We got the hoho bus, included with our card, intending to ho at the flea market, but they are doing roadworks all around there, so the bus didn't stop. So we got off at stop7, walked to the market which was very depleted, and caught a passing tram to stop9, which was in the CBD, and close to the Christmas shop.  No luck there.   We caught the next hoho to the 'Rock Church' with a million others, and got a lovely souvenir, then went to the Sibelius monument - only 1/2 mill there, all wanting to have their photo taken with his face. D said that most of them wouldn't have heard of Sibelius except in the last 30mins.

The Rock church is built in a disused granite quarry, and the walls are just as they were left after the excavations.  A lot of pink rock, which looked nice.

The sign gave the reindeer's name, something like Alkus.  Another tourist asked us what it said, and what the name meant.  We all decided that it was just a name, and he may well have been called Dimitrios, like our new Greek friend.

The monument is quite nice, looks like organ pipes.

There is not a lot to look at in Helsinki, so we were soon back to stop 1, and we walked to the quay area, had lunch  ...

...  and got a ferry to Suomenlinna Fort, built in C18 over a number of islands in the harbour by the Swedes who were the goodies against the Russians who were the baddies. It has since been a military installation, and a prison, and now, with museums and restaurants, has become the local favourite place to go. We had a 1hr walking tour in English.

This big aerial photo was on the wall in the information centre,  beside  ....

...  this one, which tells quite a different story.  A lot of the Baltic freezes over, because it is relatively shallow, the water is diluted salty, and so freezes at a higher temp, and there is no tidal or other movement in the water which would break up the ice.  All pleasure craft are lifted out and stored for the winter.

The church has a light house built into its steeple.


Back at the quay, we had time to visit the Orthodox cathedral,

then at 18:30 got another ferry cruise around the islands. We had debated whether to go today or tomorrow.  It started out OK, but the wind got colder as the sun got lower, and we huddled on the top deck under blankets, refusing to go down into the cabin.

 Nice in the afternoon sun.

 Some weekenders and some permanent housing in the islands.

 Quite a few with saunas at the water's edge, so you can jump from one to the other.

 Waiting at the traffic light to go through a narrow channel.

The icebreaker fleet in dock for the summer.

Then we caught a tram back to the station and walked home.