The Emerald Isle

Ahhhh, Ireland. So beautiful. Green and lush, and the people are SO welcoming and friendly. One person said that you never really get lost in Ireland (at least for long) because you just stop and ask someone. I guess whoever said that didn't mean in the bar district at 2am haha! No but really, people have been very helpful. 

We did a ton of walking around in Dublin when we were there. We saw the Famine Memorial, the Ha'penny Bridge, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Castle, and more. The pedestrian walkways are excellent. All cobblestones and shops and pubs. Many, many pubs. B&B's are my favourite type of accommodation (although I think S prefers hotels) because I like meeting the people and I like the home cookin'!  Dragging your bags up and down stairs is a bit of a chore, though. 

Our first driving destination was to visit Newgrange in the Boyne Valley. It's a huge stone-age tomb that is older than the Pyramid of Giza in Egypt! Pretty cool. Then we were off to Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. It's quite a sight! Hexagonal columns all around the bay. Not sure the science behind it, but the interpretive centre has a whole giant-fable to go with your exploration of the area. I posted photos of both Newgrange and Giant's Causeway on FB if you want a look.

The next day we drove from Bundoran (a cute little coastal town) to Galway (a cute large coastal town).  Our B&B was right on the water: Galway Bay/Atlantic Ocean! Just a short swim and we'd hit the Maritimes. ;)  Another great pedestrian area in Galway with wonderful buskers, shops, pubs, and ice cream parlours. S and I enjoyed people-watching and drinking from the outdoor patio and walking around the city square. Nice!

The landscape reminds me quite a bit of when I visited Scotland in 2008 with C. Rocky areas, fields, hills and small mountains are all over the place. We've been lucky to have fairly cooperative weather. The mildness has been a welcome change from the hot & sticky, and the occasional rain shower is, dare I say, pleasant!

After leaving Galway, the next stop would be at The Cliffs of Moher. Ireland certainly has impressive natural formations! I was dismayed to see that people could walk right along the edge of the cliffs with no railing or anything to keep them from plummeting.  We didn't try it. From where we were, the view was fantastic and we had the pleasure of listening to a harpist.  Excellent. 

After a quick stop in Shannon, we headed to Limerick for the night. It was a pleasant enough city, although for us it was pretty much a stopover. S walked around a little and saw the local cathedral and castle, and I opted for a massage at the spa! It was pretty decadent. In fact, the best food I'd had in Ireland so far was at the restaurant adjoining our hotel. SO GOOD. Of course that may be partially due to the fact that we have been eating a lot of the same food, over and over.  We are both looking forward to peanut butter when we get home!

From Limerick, we headed to Killarney.  What's the difference between a "twinned city" and a "sister city"? Whatever it is, Killarney has plenty of both.  It also has a National Park, and it is the starting point for the Ring of Kerry, which is an all-day drive around a southwest peninsula (kind of like the Road to Hana in Maui).  We didn't have time to do it all, but we did see Killarney, Ladies' View, Ross Castle, Torc Waterfall and the town of Kenmare. Next time we'll plan our time better and do more!

Our last night in Ireland would be spent in Cork.  We drove around and saw much of the city while locating our B&B, and we walked down the street to have dinner at the aptly named Serendipity Cafe. Electric guitar serenaded us while we had yet another fantastic meal; we listened to Clapton, Metallica, Cash, and others. It was pretty cool, gotta say. 

Before leaving the Cork area the next day, we had to go to Blarney Castle and kiss the stone. I was convinced it was an overpriced gimmick but when we got there, there was actually quite a lot to do there, which made it more worth it. We walked through the beautiful gardens, and even one called "poison garden" which had all poisonous plants, including the marijuana plant, which had a cage all around it as to discourage samplers. There was a waterfall, and lovely trails all over. Oh yeah, and the castle too. And the stone. 

Last bit of Ireland was spent driving back to Dublin for a short flight to London, and then we'd have two separate flights back to Vancouver (I had a direct flight and S was via Amsterdam).  

Random bits about driving in Ireland:
- we rented a Toyota Auris at first. It was a standard transmission and it actually indicated when you were supposed to shift up or down. I thought that was cute!
- driving with a stick shift was fine and all, but I soon realized that my fine manual dexterity isn't as good with my left hand.
- the rural roads in Ireland are crazy. They are super narrow, there's usually no shoulder whatsoever, and the speed limits are unbelievably high. For example, the posted limit of 100km/hr was two feet in front of another sign that said, "Be careful of walkers on the road."  There are regularly trucks and semis coming the other way, and let's just say it gets hairy. 

- the roundabouts here are excellent, but I'm not a fan of the double-lane. Makes it confusing for where you think someone beside you is exiting and I don't like guessing about where other cars are going. So, I pretty much stayed in the outside lane in the roundabouts.
- no passing while in the slow lane. I knew this and was respecting it, but somehow without my even realizing it, I messed up. Right in front of a cop. Just my luck, eh? He made sure I was clear about that particular rule. 

- we changed over to a Skoda Octavia with automatic transmission after three days, so that S could drive too. I needed a break.

- they have "traffic calming areas" here. At home this would mean speed bumps, but here it means no passing and narrower lanes (as if they aren't narrow enough!)

Random bits about travel/this trip:

- a suitcase with four wheels on the bottom is awesome!!

- I think I need to be a little less efficient with my packing. I had tons of space in my suitcase, and about a week before the end, I got thoroughly sick of wearing all the same clothes. 

- if we could do it over, I'd plan the Ireland portion of this trip differently. Definitely less driving and more time spent enjoying locations. As it was, we were pretty go-go-go, which was like our tour (except we didn't have someone else doing all the "work" for us!).

- maybe I'm getting old, but a month is a long time to be away from home.  I think I'll prefer to do shorter trips in the future. Maybe. 

Our big adventure has come to an end!  Thanks for reading along and travelling with us!

xo

E!

Berlin and Westward Bound

Berlin. What a city. So much character and history. We saw The Wall, the Wannsee villa where the senior officials of the Nazi regime met to determine the "Final Solution," the Cecilienhof Palace (where Truman, Churchill, & Stalin met to decide the future of Germany/Europe after the end of WWII), Alexanderplatz, Brandenberg Gate, the Holocaust memorial, and more.

It was ridiculously hot, and we were in a constant state of stickiness. I tried currywurst, which is basically a hot dog covered with ketchup and curry powder. We had Starbucks, and some of our group went to McDonalds. Despite that though, the food in Germany is pretty good.

The last night in Berlin was a farewell dinner for the end of our tour. We were taken to a local place for food and all the drinks we could drink. There was singing (again with the volunteers and volun-tolds) and dancing. It is amazing how close you can become to people who you share these kinds of experiences with! I do hope that I'll cross paths with many of them again. The next day people left Germany for various destinations. S and I had most of the day to sightsee, and then we had a late flight to Dublin!

Abridged list of things I will never do again:

- schedule a flight to a foreign country that arrives after dark, especially when I have to find my own way to the accommodation

- rent a car wherein I am the only driver

- forget to get a list of detailed directions and maps of the area

Well, we had the directions, but they were printed in German. And anyways, one missed turn and those directions are useless in a city of one-way streets. After our own (many) attempts failed, and after we had asked countless people for directions, we actually paid a taxi driver to take us to our B&B while we followed behind. Brilliant idea, no? Well turns out that he got our street mixed up with another street (one was a St. and one was a Rd.) and left us in the completely wrong part of town, stranded. This was at about 2am.

Good thing/bad thing was we saw a lot of downtown Dublin. Well, S did anyways. I was too busy being stressed about driving stick and staying on the correct side of the road (S saved us from a near significant-mistake at one point). The street signs, if they are even there, are so far up and difficult to read. Even though it was a Sunday night, the bars were hopping and there were drunks everywhere, stumbling across the road and into the path of our car (they had no idea how perilous this would be).  I think we were the only non-taxi on the road.

It was a disaster. There was much colourful language (not at each other, just at Dublin in general). There was talk of sleeping in the car, and doing "business" in the alleys. I almost cried and/or threw a tantrum, but (barely) managed to keep it together. By the time we made it to our place and woke up the owners, it was 3:30am. We were still on Berlin time so it felt like 4:30am. Our flight had landed at 11:15pm and the B&B was 20 minutes from the airport. Not a great start.

The next day would prove to be much, much better. It is amazing what a good sleep, a good meal, a shower, and fresh cool air can do for an individual. :D

Xo

E!

Minsk & Warsaw

Leaving Russia and heading into Belarus, we noticed an immediate change in landscape and housing.  Much less disrepair and abandonment.  As we got closer to the city, it was noticeably clean and beautiful.  I don't know what I expected from Minsk, but I didn't think I would be so impressed!

Goran said that Belarus does not have a good reputation, and he tried to explain why. Specifically, the government is a dictatorship, and the leader of it does not have completely positive relationships with other countries in Europe. The value of their money is so weak that one Canadian dollar equals about 8570 Belarusian rubles. It is apparently the only country (in Europe?) that uses no coins whatsoever.

However, despite all of that, Belarus is one of the nicest places we've seen thus far. It did not seem to me that people were destitute; there was nice housing and no beggars and people seemed happy (although that's a pretty big assumption I suppose). Indeed, Goran says that the reputation "doesn't add up" to what we see in the country. And Goran also knows people who live there as well. So... perhaps Belarus is one of Europe's best-kept secrets!

Our free time in Minsk had us walking along the river.  The evening was warm and perfect. There were ducks swimming and couples in rowboats. Garden sculptures (different themes - perhaps a competition?) lined the park. Statues, flowers, benches and ahhhhhh.  Very nice. I would go back to Minsk and spend more time if I could.

Warsaw was something different altogether. It was easier to communicate with people, but there was tons of graffiti everywhere, and it was dirtier. On our city tour, the buildings were beautiful and ornate, but we were reminded that they are mostly not originals as nearly the whole city was destroyed in WWII.  But like Goran said, it truly is a city that "rose from the ashes." The Old Town was excellent (and quite a tourist haven) and we enjoyed sitting outside, on the patio, having lunch and people-watching (and being regularly bothered by the best-dressed gypsy children I have ever seen).

One of the optional excursions we chose to do was to attend a private piano recital given by a professor at the music department at Warsaw University. Warsaw was home to Chopin, and so we listened to his music, closed our eyes, and were transported away to another time, place and feeling. It was transcendental, truly. What a privilege to be able to experience that!

Our dinner was at a Polish specialty place and it included traditional Polish singers and dancers (not to mention all the wine we could drink). It was great fun, and even more so when they took volunteers (and volun-tolds) to learn dance routines and fun competitions like cracking whips and laying eggs. I'll just let you imagine it. :)

Then, off to Berlin!

xo

Elaan

Novgorod and Moscow

Velikiy Novgorod was an enjoyable little town. Smaller than either St. Petersburg or Moscow, Novgorod still holds an important place in Russia's history: it was the cradle of Russia. It was where the country began. We did a tour of the Kremlin (fortress) and learned much from our local guide, Irina.  I could see myself living there. It was a quiet, attractive town with several things to see and do.

Worst sleep in Novgorod, though. We accidentally left the windows open and there were mosquitoes in our room. Did they bother S? Nope, just me. I was covered in bites when I woke up. No air conditioning in our room and the blanket was scratchy, but I had tried to stay covered up. Obviously to no avail. I had even woken up several times in the night because they were buzzing around my ears. Ahhhh! No sleep made for a very long day.

Although the drivers are crazy, driving in Russia is relatively peaceful because nobody uses their horns. Although many people do use their cell phones - Goran says that it is not allowed, but obviously they are still working on that. :)

The first night we arrived in Moscow, we had dinner at our hotel and then went out for our first excursion: to tour the metro. During Soviet rule, the metro was designed to be the "working man's paradise," and you can see how.  Elaborate chandeliers for lighting, sculptures, mosaics and paintings. It makes you feel as if you are in a museum (but like anywhere with crowds, when you are standing around staring up at things, you have to keep your bags secure to avoid pickpockets).

We ended our excursion by walking to Red Square. As we walked along, we saw the department stores lit up in lights (Gum {pronounced Goom} being the most dominant and extravagant), the new pedestrian walkway, the towers of the Kremlin, and the church with the golden "flames" on top. So beautiful!

But then we turned the corner.

St. Basil's Cathedral is simply amazing. I was totally dumbstruck by the sight of it down at the far end of Red Square, and I think I ceased to hear anything that the guide was saying at that point.  I just kept walking forward. The colours, the shapes, the design and patterns are so unique and distinctive. So many of our group said that THIS is what they came to see. It was so exciting, and our group celebrated with, yes, you guessed it, champagne and vodka. I took a lot of photos and I'm pretty sure that I had a grin on my face for the rest of the day (maybe that celebration helped a little, ha!).

Lenin's tomb is in Red Square too, but you cannot see it anymore. You used to be able to go in and look at him because he was embalmed, but supposedly he's being moved to the family plot soon.

The next day was a full day in Moscow with our local guide, Vera. She was born and raised in Moscow and had so much information about the city and the rest of Russia; I learned so much and came away with a different impression altogether (as I thought I would). All of the stories I'd heard about Russia were generally negative. Now, seeing it from another insider's point of view, I was impressed and enlightened again. 

Moscow is pretty awesome! Despite not being able to drink the water (as with anywhere in Russia), it is very clean.  There is only 1% of unemployment (compared to 15-20% in the rest of Russia) and there are 250 McDonalds! That's a true measure of success, no? ;) Some of the main streets had eight lanes on each side! Talk about busy. Traffic is a problem in Moscow, but not one that we experienced, luckily.

Before the trip, I didn't know much about Russia's history, politics, relations with other countries, government, or standard of living. We are given so much information and it's pretty fascinating! There are many perspectives that I was surprised to hear. For example, apparently the Russians did not like Gorbachev very much. We were told 3 reasons for this:

1) When changing from a communist system to a market economy, people suffered because they could not buy food. They would have to line up from 6am at a store just to get any food they could. People didn't care about democracy, they just wanted to eat. People were starving under this poorly effected changeover.

2) Gorbachev put an anti-alcohol law in place that limited the amount a family could buy in a month to a ridiculously small amount. So people went from buying and drinking freely (which apparently was quite common during Soviet rule), to having almost nothing, overnight. Again, the consequences of this poor transition were dire; people suffered and in the worst cases, died from ingesting toxic substitutes. Viktor in St. Petersburg told us that after Gorbachev closed bars and liquor stores, there were more casualties in lineups for alcohol than there were in the Russian troops sent to Afghanistan in 1979 (perhaps an exaggerated remark, but still, it was significant).

3) Gorbechev's wife, Raisa, appeared with him everywhere. This had never happened before in Russia. No former leaders' wives made any public appearances. The Russian people felt as if it was inappropriate and "showing off."

Something else I learned was that many Russians are quite liberal, but due to the size of the country and the population, they struggle to make change. For example, the populations of St. Petersburg and Moscow are apparently quite liberal, but the rest of the country are not. The people who live in the country and in remote villages are quite orthodox and conservative (in both their religion and politics).  And the country is so large that even though Moscow and St. Petersburg have a combined population of about 20 million, it is still outweighed by the rest (another 120 million).

When we went to the armoury section of the Kremlin, I was pretty blown away. There are so many authentic artifacts in there it is mind-boggling. Most amazing were the ten Faberge Eggs, and the actual carriages used hundreds of years ago to transport Catherine the Great and other leaders. There were also dishes, elaborate coronation outfits, crowns, costumes and thrones. All original, hundreds of years old, and in wonderful condition. In times of invasion, these items were moved to Siberia so that they escaped destruction and plundering.

We also did a tour of the famous Novodevichi convent and cemetery. The cemetery was run by the government who decided which people would be interred there. There were many famous Russians in there, like Boris Yeltsin, Raisa Gorbachev, government ministers, military leaders, scientists, artists, and the like. What is different about this cemetery is that it was basically a sculpture park. Each tombstone was a work of art, most of which were sculptures or images of the person's face or body. It was very different. I enjoyed it very much, though. 

Russia has so many beautiful buildings, museums, artifacts, parks and special attractions. I can't forget, however, that all of it came at a cost. Most of this beauty came off the backs of the people, by taxing or withholding or punishing. And sometimes it cost human lives too, as in the example Goran told us: There is a tower on St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg which is gilded with gold, and the method of infusing the gold was deadly (it used mercury) and killed over 60 workers before it was finished.  But, if the leader in the 1830's wanted a gold tower, so be it.

I don't pretend that this only happens in Russia (indeed it has happened every place in history, and still happens today!) but when you find yourself surrounded by so much extravagance and opulence, you can't help but think about it. I can see why communist theory was such an attractive one.

Dinner was rushed, and the clutz in me came out when I was going up stairs in my flip-flops and tripped on the top step.  I literally fell into the arms of the woman leaving the restaurant (to everyone's delight) but not before I had bashed my foot (to my dismay). I went to the washroom to clean off my foot but there were no paper towels and only a Dyson airblade hand dryer - you know, the kind where you put your hands in vertically, up and down, and it dries them in 10 seconds? Well let me tell you, it is rather difficult to get a foot in there!  Yup, that was me in the WC, with my foot in the dryer.  :) I think I surprised the next woman that came in.

Our last evening in Moscow took us to the circus, which was quite different than I was expecting. It was a show of acrobatics, clowns, and animals. At first I thought the animal shows would be like seeing Superdogs at the PNE (which is my favourite!) but alas it was not. The stunts they had the animals doing were certainly impressive from a training point of view, but some of them looked unsafe, and as the evening went on, the "wow" feeling quickly turned sad.

They had all these animals in the lobby and were charging $30 to have your picture taken with a tiger cub, an elephant, Dalmatian dogs, a young jaguar, a muzzled bear tied to a chair, a kangaroo/wallaby (don't know which), exotic birds, a monkey, and more. Just seemed wrong. Not my kinda entertainment. (Although, I do try to suspend judgement where I don't know all the facts and conditions. I remember visiting a zoo in Chicago where I spoke to an employee who gave me much more information than I knew about zoos and it totally changed my perspective.)

Next we are off to Belarus, and as far as I can tell, it's mainly a stop on our travels. We travel all day from Moscow to Minsk (Belarus), and the next day we travel all day from Minsk to Warsaw (Poland). Two long travel days!

Cheers, 

Xo

Elaan

From Russia With Love

So, we reached the Finnish-Russian border and everything proceeded fairly smoothly. Despite being told it could take up to 3 hours, we got through lickety-split!

As soon as we were driving on the Russian side, it was like being in a ride at Playland. Not only were the roads way bumpier, but the drivers were crazy. We were swaying and swerving and generally trying not to watch. Just the way it is in Russia, it seemed. Things mostly improved once we hit the city.

St. Petersburg is amazing.  SO much to see, SO much beauty and culture.  It looks like Amsterdam with its canals running throughout, connecting the many islands that make up the city. Huge buildings, sculptures, statues, history all over the place.  And a very different feel than Scandinavia.

In Russia, the average wage is $800 per month. 60% of men smoke, retire at age 60, and have a life expectancy of 62 years.  Pretty awful. We were given a little forewarning by Goran (our travel director) about what it would be like and what to expect.  He emphasized that we need to think that it is "different," and not "wrong."  True of travel anywhere, I suppose.

I think he said something like, "If people seem stern or somber or miserable, it's not because they don't like tourists. It's because they do not have much to be joyous about."  Isn't that telling?!  And I guess he would know, since Goran's wife is Russian.

We did a city tour along the main drag, and got to see Peter and Paul Fortress. Then we checked into our hotel. In the evening we took a riverboat canal cruise (with all the champagne and vodka we could drink!) which was just lovely. It was nice to be on the water and sail around the city. We didn't take the metro but were told that some of the underground stations go as deep as 80 meters into the ground!

The next day was very busy, and we were up very early. The Hermitage is totally amazing and is comparable to the Louvre in Paris. You could spend all day in there and not see everything. Our local guide, Viktor, took us around and showed us all the highlights. I have decided that I really like artwork by Vincent Van Goh and Claude Monet.  It is quite the experience to stand back when you look at a painting, and then look again close-up. I enjoy that change in perspective! However, not much time for that in the Hermitage. It was quite overwhelming in there.

During our free time, we walked the main drag of St. Petersburg and it's quite the scene. The thoroughfare is littered with sculptures, churches, statues and monuments amongst the stores and coffee shops. Keep in mind that nothing is in English. It is all Cyrillic writing everywhere and it's very rare to see something in the English alphabet. Almost nobody speaks English either (we are told that young people may have had a little of it in school) so we are mainly gesturing and pointing.  Sometimes it makes for rather funny conversations, heh.

We were lucky enough to have another museum later on (note my mild sarcasm) that was the former home of the Romanovs (Russian royal family in power from 18th c. to 1917) and also learned the story of Rasputin and saw where he was poisoned and then shot.

Before heading back to our hotel for dinner, we saw St. Peter and St. Paul's Cathedral which was located inside the fort that we had seen yesterday. Important Russian leaders are entombed there, such as Peter the Great, his daughter Elizabeth the first, his wife Catherine the first, Catherine (the second) the Great, Alexander the second and his wife, Nicholas the second and his relatives, and others of course. By this time of day I was feeling rather exhausted, physically but also mentally. This is a lot to process!  Each time we see a sight, we are led around by a guide that does not stop talking. I can handle it for one or two sights a day but more than that is rather draining.

We ended our day by seeing a Russian Folk Show, which had all traditional singing and dancing. It was very lively, and at intermission there was more vodka and champagne for our group. You had to pay a small sum to take photos, and I got a few nice shots of their colourful costumes and instruments.

Our last day in St. Petersburg started with the Gardens of Peterhof, comparable to and opulent like Versailles in France. All of the fountains run without pumps, and only operate on the principles of gravity. Not sure how that works, exactly. :)  Then off to the palace of Catherine the Great, which had been mostly burned down and destroyed by the Nazis as they were leaving the building.  It had been built in 9 years, but it has continued to be restored from 1945. 

Speaking of WWII, it has left its mark in this city, and we crossed over the front lines a few times, taking note of the monuments marking where the Germans were stopped by the Russian army. Hard to believe we are so physically close to this history.

Our local guide, Viktor, talked to us not just about the sights and historical leaders, but also the more recent history and Russian philosophy. He was open to all our questions and tried to explain Communism philosophy (and why it doesn't work). He shared with us the following:

The paradoxes of Communist Russia; found in The Russians by Hedrick Smith

1) everybody has a job, but nobody works

2) nobody works, but the economic plans are fulfilled

3) the economic plans are fulfilled, but people have nothing in their apartments

4) people have nothing in their apartments, but have many luxury items (black market)

5) people have luxury items, but most are unhappy

6) people are unhappy, but 99% vote for communist candidate

On to Novgorod for a night and then Moscow...

Xo

Elaan

Fabulous Finland

While sailing into port in Finland, you can't help but notice how beautiful the landscape is. It reminds me of Northern BC.  Helsinki is quite the busy and modern city, although it had a much different feel than any of the previous places we'd been.  It seemed more country and less cosmopolitan, if that makes any sense. Not that it didn't have amazing and intricate buildings and culture, but our brief visit gave us more exposure to less of that.

We started with a city tour, which took us around downtown. Being right on the water, Helsinki is beautiful in the summer, and even though our day was a little cloudy, it was warm and pleasant outside. We went to a park and relaxed a little while taking in the artistic feats of a local sculptor, and marvelled at the view at the water's edge. Apparently, one in five families own a yacht (at least a small one).

Summer doesn't last long here, and if they are lucky, they might get 5 months of water time before it starts freezing.  When the water freezes over, Finns switch over to skating and skiing on the surface.

The Finnish language is totally different than Norwegian or Danish or Swedish. It actually belongs to a totally different family, which includes Hungarian and Estonian. 90 percent of people in Finland speak Finnish, and only 6 percent speak Swedish, although it is a very bilingual country in terms of signage.  Here are some street names in Finnish that I copied from a map:  Uudenmaankatu, Eteläesplanadi, Töölönlahdenkatu

Crazy, eh? (Our American friends have been teasing us about the "eh" a little bit.) With all those vowels it's no wonder that sometimes people think my name comes from a Nordic country!

Education here is totally free.  Even students from abroad are able to study in Finland free of charge!  However it is quite expensive to live in Finland, so we are told that there are not too many takers on that deal. 

At the end of the city tour, we headed to the market and did a little shopping. We also had lunch - it could have been moose meatballs and reindeer sausage, but S and I settled for crepes.  Delish!  Then we walked around the city: there was a jazz festival going on, there were street performers, live music, some of the buildings were named after animals... Oh, it just goes on. We could have spent much more time there than we had. 

In the evening, we went to Hvitträsk, which is a home that was designed by some famous Finnish architects (Saarinen, Gesellius & Lindgren) around 1900, now turned into a museum.  Very cool.  It would be so great to design your own home out in the woods somewhere. It was funky and colourful and fun. There was also a sauna, which apparently the Finns are big on. It was a whole other building built down at the beach of a lake. They would steam themselves for 10-15 min, jump in the lake (best in winter, after cutting a hole in the ice), come back out, re-acclimatize, and then start the whole process over again. 

Our local guide said that some new apartments in the city were all outfitted with saunas, but the non-Finns didn't know what to do with them and used them for storage!

Other random facts we learned:

- Finland was part of Sweden for 650 years until Sweden had to give Finland to Russia after losing to them in a war. Finland was then ruled by Russia for 110 years until their independence in 1917.

- For part of that 110 years at least, Finns enjoyed more freedom and independence under Russian rule than they had under Swedish rule (and the Finns loved Alexander the II better than the Russians, who assassinated him!)

- Health care is organized and affordable, but not free. 

- 32-35% income tax (up to 64% for highest bracket).

- Ice hockey is the most popular sport.  Yah!!

We definitely could have used an extra day (or more!) in Stockholm and Helsinki. Just getting little tastes of these places! On to Russia...

Cheers,  :)

Elaan

Sweet Sweden

After a long 8-hour drive, we arrived to Stockholm, Sweden.  Our hotel was actually located inside a shopping mall, which has its benefits I guess, although I am not one for shopping and usually buy very little when I travel.

Our evening began with a trip to Kaknästornet, the highest point in Stockholm.  The tower is 155 meters tall and offers panoramic views of the city. Nice. Then we headed to a local place for a dinner with Swedish delicacies. It was yummy! However, it was the dinner conversation that I'll probably remember more.

  

The next day we did a city tour of Stockholm. It's quite a beautiful and sophisticated city. It includes so many islands that there are 50 bridges. 80% of Stockholmers live in apartments and according to our local (Swedish) guide, Swedish people are "very good at complaining," haha.  There are pedestrian walkways and cobblestone streets, and many fascinating and colourful buildings.

We went to the building where the Nobel prizes are awarded and where the celebration banquet is held (all Nobel prizes are awarded in Stockholm, except for the Nobel Peace Prize, which is awarded in Oslo).  The "Gold Room" was amazing and filled with golden mosaics from floor to ceiling. Lots of photos there!

Then we went to the Vasa Museum, which is where the great Vasa galleon was rescued from the depths of the waters where it sank, and restored. It had been under water for 333 years and was amazingly intact.  It. Was. Awesome!! I wasn't expecting much but was totally blown away when we got in there.  I took photos but that is something that'll never do it justice. A must-see for anyone visiting Stockholm (oh, but a tip: go with a group guide in order to avoid a VERY long line).

Free time downtown had us walking around the pedestrian area, looking in shops, stopping for an expensive cup of tea (tea + apple strudel = $15), taking photos, taking in the views, and people-watching. There are gypsies here, or at least they look like gypsies. There were also people in costume that looked like street performers, but they didn't perform; they just went around begging from people.

After that, we were headed to our cruise ship for our overnight sailing to Helsinki! I've never been on a cruise, but this is apparently a mini version of the real deal. There were shops, a casino, a sauna/pool, restaurants, buffet, live music, cabaret shows, etc.  Certainly enough to keep us busy until we crashed into our cabin for the night. When we woke up, we'd almost be in Finland!

More to come...

Elaan :D