After invitation from the TDA (Tallinn Diplomatic Association) my Danish roommate Laura and my Norwegian roommate Hanne and yours truly decided to go on the announced daytrip to Helsinki, Tallinn’s sister capital on the other side of the Gulf of Finland on Sunday the 24th of August.
We left from Tallinn harbour in the morning, just making it aboard a few minutes before the ferry left. I quickly turned seasick and was much relived when we reached Helsinki one and a half hours later.
After a bus trip around the city, which was very touristy and not very interesting, we were dropped of at the Helsingin tuomiokirkko also known as Helsinki Cathedral. A beautiful and simple cathedral in a neo-classical style by the one side of Senate Square and the end of a very steep stairway.
We left from Tallinn harbour in the morning, just making it aboard a few minutes before the ferry left. I quickly turned seasick and was much relived when we reached Helsinki one and a half hours later.
After a bus trip around the city, which was very touristy and not very interesting, we were dropped of at the Helsingin tuomiokirkko also known as Helsinki Cathedral. A beautiful and simple cathedral in a neo-classical style by the one side of Senate Square and the end of a very steep stairway.The hilly and watery terrain and the ether of decay and time’s toll, which old military 
installations always emanates, made the Suomenlinna naval fortress the highlight of the trip. The fortress lies as a collection of mounds, fortresses and houses on a small archipelago outside Helsinki. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site, and intact because the Finish general who were supposed to make use of it had simply chickened out and not resisted the invading Russians. Bad luck for the city of Helsinki then, good luck for the city now.
On the way back to Helsinki it began pouring down and we spend the last hour in the city in the guts of Stockmann department store, waiting to dry.
On my way back aboard the return ferry named “Galaxy” I was almost tipped over by a stampede of rude elderly people pulling their monthly ration of tax-free liquors and cigarettes after them in small scotch patterned trolleys. They were a species of elderly people which I was already acquainted with from my childhood near the Danish/German border trade area.
The “Galaxy” lived up to my expectations; a floating commune of hotels, malls and entertainment parlours complete with karaoke and piano bars and cowboy themed restaurants. A ship which could be found sailing anywhere in Europe or the rest of the world for that matter. A shining star of globalised bad taste in “travelling”. All in all, the “Galaxy” seemed to appeal to the type of people which did not have the means or the courage or the energy to do something truly exiting, but instead dosed themselves numb on pastel colours and rampart consumerism. At least the views were fine on the observation decks.
installations always emanates, made the Suomenlinna naval fortress the highlight of the trip. The fortress lies as a collection of mounds, fortresses and houses on a small archipelago outside Helsinki. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site, and intact because the Finish general who were supposed to make use of it had simply chickened out and not resisted the invading Russians. Bad luck for the city of Helsinki then, good luck for the city now.On the way back to Helsinki it began pouring down and we spend the last hour in the city in the guts of Stockmann department store, waiting to dry.
On my way back aboard the return ferry named “Galaxy” I was almost tipped over by a stampede of rude elderly people pulling their monthly ration of tax-free liquors and cigarettes after them in small scotch patterned trolleys. They were a species of elderly people which I was already acquainted with from my childhood near the Danish/German border trade area.
The “Galaxy” lived up to my expectations; a floating commune of hotels, malls and entertainment parlours complete with karaoke and piano bars and cowboy themed restaurants. A ship which could be found sailing anywhere in Europe or the rest of the world for that matter. A shining star of globalised bad taste in “travelling”. All in all, the “Galaxy” seemed to appeal to the type of people which did not have the means or the courage or the energy to do something truly exiting, but instead dosed themselves numb on pastel colours and rampart consumerism. At least the views were fine on the observation decks.
And then of course there was the buffet.The buffet at Galaxy was truly galactic in its proportions, complete with an orbiting fringe of pensioners slowly circling and sampling the dishes as they went along in the queue. After having engorged myself completely on three plates of entrées and one plate of main courses I was ogling quite warily at the cluster of slowly melting desserts, not quite sure I was up for another round. But I was very impressed and proud when Laura and Hanne threw all inhibitions aside and shamelessly grabbed the big plates and filled them with as much dessert as they would hold, ignoring the clever comments from grannies and fellow travellers alike.
All in all a good day.
1 comment:
hehe, well what can I say? It is just not in my genes to resist free chocolate... ;-)
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