Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital of Finland, and is surrounded on three sides by water (yet another Venice of the North?)  It is a much more modern city that Stockholm or St Petersburg, although it still has it’s moments of history.

We started our day with a brief orientation walk (otherwise known as heading off in the wrong direction), before we caught a ferry across the harbour to Suomenlinna.  Suomenlinna is a historic island fort that was built mainly by the Swedish in the 18^th century. It became a Russian outpost during the 19^th century, and is now a listed UNESCO World Heritage site.  It's a relaxing and interesting place, but there's not really a lot to see or photograph there.

After heading back for the mainland, Kate had had enough walking, and went back on board for a rest whilst Dave had a bit of a cathedral crawl.  Helsinki has 2 cathedrals – the Tuomiokirkko (Lutheran – flashy on the outside but restrained on the inside) and Uspenskin (Russian Orthodox – restrained on the outside but very ornate on the inside).

On the left, the Tuomiokirkko (no camera trickery in the second picture).  On the right, the Uspenskin.

Various city sights - can you spot the Union Jack in the middle picture?  Click on the right picture for the answer!