Helsinki is a beautiful place, and R hadn’t been there before so we decided that it would be a good place to stop into between Stockholm and the Baltic states. The ferry trip from Stockholm was uneventful even with the fog, and we slept well in our cabin. The breakfast that came with the Premium cabin was varied and delicious (and they had a dedicated GF stand at the buffet.)
We hopped off the boat along with everyone else with their trolleys full of duty free booze, and headed to our hotel, the Noli Katajanokka II, a big suite-hotel very near the docks but also a quick walk to the middle of town. They held our luggage until we were able to check in (at 3pm, via computer – much easier for the system to deny a request for an early checkin than a person to do so, I guess!) and we headed off to Market Square, Market Hall and the Esplanade park. This was followed by hanging out at a big bookshop, then popping into the gaming store Fantasiapelit where R found a couple of minis that will be useful in our D&D game.
We checked into the hotel eventually, before heading out to a bar R was keen to visit – Teerenpeli, which had a bunch of craft beer and cider on tap. I ended up having a blueberry cider while R went for a tasting paddle of four craft beers. It started to rain as we were having dinner there, so we got a little damp on our way back to the hotel, catching the tram and stopping at the local K-Market for breakfast supplies on the way.
The next day we hit the water, taking a sightseeing boat through the archipelago, seeing some of the islands where people were relaxing or flying kites, and the fortifications, plus the icebreakers on their summer holiday in the harbour. The market hall next to the square was the logical place for lunch, so we shared some salmon soup and a baked potato with reindeer meat, and R tried the reindeer spring roll.
Over the next couple of days, we wandered the shops a bit, looking at Finnish art and craft, books and souvenirs, picking up the obligatory snow globe plus a cheese slicer as something a bit different. The hotel had a sauna, so we ticked that off the list. We watched a tribal and fusion bellydance group TribalTanssiKeskus who were performing on the Esplanade stage – between them they danced for almost an hour, and showed a bunch of different fusion styles as well as FCBD style.
We also checked out some restaurants on R’s list, like Zetor, the “110% Finnish”, tractor themed restaurant with various connections to the Leningrad Cowboys, which cooks steak apparently on tractor lids. Tasty food and interesting decor! Fazer Cafe (my list) was also delicious – lots of sweet things including this GF rhubarb cake.
Then it was back onto another ferry (conveniently located near the hotel, since we stuck with Viking Line) and off to Tallinn. This ferry was the Gabriella, sister to the Cinderella we’d arrived on, and we decided to go with a Standard cabin this time since we’re only onboard for a couple of hours. We were on Deck 5 instead of 11 like last time, and amusingly, heard all the car alarms repeatedly going off in the car deck one level below us. Apparently the vibrations of the boat and anytime we hit waves was enough for the cars to think something was wrong. Nevertheless, a smooth trip to Tallinn.
Two Weeks Away 