Stop 5 on our Baltic Sea cruise was Helsinki, Finland! In this video we started in the city of Helsinki before taking a bus out to the countryside of Porvoo. Here’s what I learned in Finland…
In late summer 2019, we took a Baltic Sea cruise on the Norwegian Getaway. We booked a bus tour of Helsinki & Porvoo, Finland through Norwegian Cruise Line. First, we started in the center of the city by visiting the center square which was called “Senate Square.” It was surrounded by Helsinki Cathedral, the Government Palace, the main building of the University of Helsinki, and the Sederholm House. We also learned more about Alexander II of Russia, whose reforms allowed Finland to become autonomous from Russia. He also sold the property that eventually became the state of Alaska to the United States.
Next, we took a break by stopping into Helsinki’s newest library called Oodi. The building was huge and had very modern architecture and design. The toilets were located below ground, which first was an open room with a bunch of sinks. Then each toilet had its own room, which a frosted glass door. It was shocking at first because you could see the shadow of the person inside the “stall” at first, but once they reach the toilet the shadow no longer reaches the door. Interesting! Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to stick around and explore more since our time in Finland was only half a day before the ship departed.
Our next stop was the Sibelius Monument which commemorates Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865–1957), whose work is credited for helping Finland establish a national identity from Russia. The monument was created by Finnish artist Eila Hiltunen in 1967 and was designed to represent steel organ pipes. Altogether, the 600+ pipes weigh over 26 US tons (24 tonnes). However, Sibelius composed very little organ music and the work was criticized. In response, Hiltunen added the face of Sibelius to the side of the structure.
After the monument, we stopped by Temppeliaukion Church, which was built directly into solid rock, giving it a nickname “Rock Church.”
Then our time in Helsinki was complete and we took a 45-minute bus ride out to Haikko Manor outside of Porvoo for lunch. We started with a salad that had bologna-looking slices of reindeer meat, followed by a salmon entree, and finishing with Finnish coffee and chocolate mousse cake with cherry sauce. After some photos around the manor’s grounds, we hopped back on the bus to head into the town of Porvoo itself.
This little town on a hill was very charming, especially with its cobblestone streets (which I talked about probably too much). We walked all around town, passing by shops and cafés, as we made our way to the top of the hill where its cathedral was located. Then we headed back down and stopped by Brunberg, a chocolate shop where I bought a bag of fantastic truffles to share with my coworkers back in NYC.
Before heading back to the bus, we dropped into a Kioski convenience store to grab drinks since it was so hot. We had fun looking at all the different drinks they had, including some kind of soda called Smurffit! Then we took the bus back to Helsinki and quickly boarded the ship. As soon as we got back to to our stateroom, we were already moving!
Fam & Friends in This Vlog: @thetristandunn | @lerieannem
