Helsinki, Finland

I’ve been recounting my adventures while not on the road. After spending a few days in Goteborg. We boarded a boat and sailed to Helsinki!

Viking Line

While planning this Scandinavian trip we had toyed with the possibility of making a quick hop to Finland (just say we did!). Our biggest challenge would always be having enough time to do it, but we found a great 2 day “cruise” that would let us sail overnight to Helsinki, spend the majority of the day there and then overnight back to Stockholm. While I would never recommend spending such a short time in any one place if you can help it, we unfortunately our time was limited. So, if you find yourself in a similar situation, it’s not a bad option!

We arrived from Goteborg by train in the early afternoon and boarded the boat at around 4pm. The boat itself had limited amenities (I would say it was closer to an overnight ferry than a cruise) but we were able to enjoy the elevated views of Stockholm’s waterfront from the deck, relax with a beverage in the lounge and have dinner at the buffet before turning in.

Helsinki

The next morning by the time we were awake, we had already docked and we quickly disembarked and walked into Helsinki!  I soon realized that I would need to revisit Helsinki and Finland in a future trip. What a gorgeous city! It was clean, modern and the architecture was a feast for the eyes! The few  hours we spent here certainly did not do it justice and I would certainly like more time to really explore all that Finland has to offer.

Helsinki Cathedral

One of the notable attractions we were able to visit while visiting (albeit from the outside) was the Helsinki Cathedral. This was a large cathedral in a central part of Helsinki. Its white outsides make it a prominent part of the Helsinki skyline.

Temppeliaukio (Rock) Church

Another attraction we were keen to visit was the Temppeliaukio Church, also known as the “Rock Church”. It is literally a church carved out of a rock, and the walls of the church are rock!  Because of rock, the church itself has great acoustic properties!

Kamppi Chapel of Silence

We stumbled upon this “egg like” structure as part of our walk, and wanted to see what it was all about. We learned that the Kamppi Chapel of Silence was a place where people could get away from the hustle and bustle of life and enjoy some moments of silence. It is beautifully designed and there is an air of calm and peace upon entering the main chapel. We spent a few precious moments here alone with our thoughts. Especially as we near the tail end of a whirlwind trip, it was good to spend some time in reflection.

We didn’t have much of a plan of attack as we wandered through the streets of Helsinki. However we did get a chance to visit the Old Market Hall which is this building that has many small independent vendors selling anything from food to crafts. Sadly, we caught them near closing and didn’t get much of a chance to browse.  We also needed to make our way back to the ship (Another thing I don’t like about cruises – being tied to a fixed schedule).

HNLMS Eversten

We had seen this large naval warship docked near our boat when we had entered the city. Being a kid at heart, I thought it was pretty awesome! But on our way back we noticed “regular” people boarding the ship and decided to see what was up. It turns out the ship was open to visitors, so we hopped onboard the HNLMS Eversten, which was a Dutch frigate. We got to walk around and take pictures. It was an unexpected and pleasant surprise!

We boarded our boat for the overnight trip back to Stockholm. We were excited to visit Stockholm, it was a city I had been looking forward to!