Gone Viking

The Viking Cruise Ship, Mariella, is the largest boat I've ever sailed upon. Having a room on board and seeing all the gambling, play areas, shopping, clubs, dining, spa and theatre brought it all together - I'm on my FIRST cruise!! Hmmmm, a virgin sailing with Viking... 

 What has made it most spectacular is going through the archipelago again. But this time the entire length. Nearly 5 hours we sailed through these large and small islands. The further out we came, the less likely they were to be inhabited, but not less beautiful. 

After a gorgeous sunset, I made my way inside and watched the people do all those things people do on cruises. Many were dressed up for clubbing, lots of families were playing in the game rooms and others were shopping. I have never seen so many people carrying large quantities of alcohol from a store, apparently it is forbidden to drink this on board. Sure... Did they not count the Russians on board?? 

I actually had a man sit at my table in the cafe and after asking me where I came from said, "You can find my name in the book of Who's Who". "Oh, where are you from?" I ask politely. "Russia, I'm a Russian artist". And that was the end of any further interesting conversation... Finnish artist? Swedish artist? Lithuanian artist? ANY OTHER artist? Now that would be cool. I must have seen too many Anti-Russian movies as a child... 

After people watching and catching up on my Internet connections, I made my way to my bunk. And now I know why it was so cheap!! I'm directly under the club!!! If only I had my clubbing clothes, then the vibrations and noise would all be fun and fabulous!! But eventually they stopped and I got a few hours of rest. Waking to my alarm, I readied for breakfast. I had the Food Garden at 7 am time slot. Wow! A great dining location facing out towards the Baltic as we entered the Finnish archipelago. And the choices were amazing, lots of salmon and herring, eggs dishes of all varieties, cheeses, breads, yogurts, fruits, and even Princess Cake!! I enjoyed a glass of champagne along with everything else that looked good. I had to fill up for the venture into Helsinki. 

Arriving in port, there is such a mixture of architecture. I am ashamed to admit, I didn't look up anything about this city before I entered it. I made up for it by boarding the Hop On Hop Off Bus with listening guide and hearing all about their 13 major sights. 

Senate Square with its beautiful white Cathederal from 1852 and memorial to the 1917 independence after the Russian Revolution. 

 The Uspenski Cathederal is the largest Orthodox Church in Western Europe from 1868. 

Anyone else noticing all the Russian influence? And I was informed about how close it is to Russia with its Baltic neighbors of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. An interesting city. I had great weather, so after my lessons, I walked along the beautiful shoreline and enjoyed the better side of Helsinki. (I know that's not 13 sights, but the others were not all that interesting.)

Interesting side point I learned along my tour: this area is used for rug cleaning. Citizens come out and use "natural" soaps to clean their household rugs and hang them to dry. There was actually someone doing it as I passed! Strange custom. 

After paying 60 Euros for a "definitely not the pilgrim" menu, I was ready to head back to the boat. Stockholm was looking more reasonably priced! And now we know who is "plundering" who here!!

I really enjoy sitting outside as the boat sails past all this amazing scenery. I don't  understand how other people would rather be shopping or playing games inside. 

Boat was passing too quickly, but these mounds are dwellings of some sort with large doors on the opposite ends. Looked a lot like Hobbitville. 

Bye Finland...