Helsinki Tour Day!

Starting our Day in Helsinki

Our morning started early so we could enjoy the breakfast buffet before the boat docked and our Helsinki Tour began. Unfortunately, everyone else on the ship had the same idea! The food was good with a lot of options including some Swedish and Finnish specialties. Despite the breakfast crowd, we were able to sample all our preferences and still have plenty of time step out on the deck and take pictures as the boat slowly pulling into the Helsinki Port.

Coffee & Pastries in Helsinki

The boat docked at around 10:00 am. and we quickly disembarked the ship along with everyone else. It was a short walk from the boat to Market Square and the Esplanade Park. The beautiful Esplanade Park was the original site of a colony of wooden houses. In 1808, a fire broke out and the colony was destroyed. Years later, in 1812, a city plan was devised to turn the site into a promenade for locals to enjoy. Eventually it became Esplanade park showcasing beautiful statues and fountains surrounded by high end stores and restaurants.

Our self guided tour took us through the middle of the lovely Esplanade Park. We turned right, and only a block away, we found the flagship Fazor Cafe. Fazor is a world famous French-Russian confectionery with chocolate candies in signature blue wrapping. While in the cafe we were somehow able to get a table, which are hard to come by, and enjoy coffee with scruptious Fazor desserts.

The Helsinki Tour begins

Our tour continued through the older part of town to the National Library of Finland and the Senate Square. The square was built and designed by the Russians when they occupied Finland in the early 1800s. Surrounded by Art Nouveau style buildings the square represents the 4 powers of state: senate, church (Helsinki Cathedral), university, and commerce. The cornerstone building, overlooking the square on high stairs is the iconic Helsinki Cathedral. In the center of the cobblestone square is a statue of Tsar Alexander II, the emperor of Russia and Grand Duke of Finland.

We continued into the busier part of town to see Ateneum Art Museum, where we took a quick peek inside the entryway. While in the area we also viewed the beautiful Finnish Nation Theater and the Helsinki Central Station. The Art Nouveau style station was built in1919 and is noted for being one of the world’s most beautiful station.

As we continued, we also walked by the Kamppi Chapel of silence. The Chapel, located in the busiest part of Helsinki, is a place for calm and quiet. It’s contemporary architectural style with its simplified design stands out amongst the busy streets and large buildings nearby.

To finish off our tour of Helsinki, we walked back toward Esplanade Park to the Market Square to find lunch. Market Square is a market place with pop-up tents selling souvenirs, street food, and snacks situated by the Helsinki Port. Food booths, in semi-enclosed tents, mostly sold fish dishes such as fried shrimp, fried calamari, and smoked sardines. We made quick work of our seafood lunch, then headed back out tour more of the area.

Although we had pretty much concluded our walking tour of Helsinki’s landmark buildings, we caught sight of another cathedral near the main port. The Uspenski Cathedral is actually located on an island that is part of downtown Helsinki. It sits atop a cliff overlooking the main port on one side and the small boat docks along the other side. A short climb up, we were able to walk inside the cathedral. The main chapel had an amazing interior with it tall arches, a large dome ceiling, and massive gold chandeliers. There were also many religious icons on display dating back to the late 1800s.

Finishing off our Helsinki Tour

To finish off our day we found ourselves wander back down to the boardwalk to view the small boats. Although it was still sunny, it was bit windy and chilly, so we opted to have a glass of wine at place overlooking the boardwalk. We found a trendy looking wine restaurant, appropriately called Crazy Wine. After one glass of wine, we noticed our 6 1/2 hours of tour time was almost up, so we made our way back to the boat.

Another Night on the Boat

After checking back in and freshening up, we headed back to the Sea Pub for drinks until dinner. The Grand Buffet selections were the same as the night previous, so we made quick work of dinner and then back to our favorite pub, once again.

Much later in the evening when the New York Club openned, we enjoyed cocktails and listened to Karoke for the first hour. The club changed to a DJ and we enjoyed the dance music so much better. We had some good laughs and good conversation until we were ready to head back to our cabin for the night, all the while our boat cruise was cruising back to Stockholm.

Read about the first day of the tour in my previous blog post Helsinki Boat Cruise.