EuroTrip - Day 7

The City with Cobblestones Roads

There can not be a better start to a day than the one with a view of rising sun from the deck of a ferry followed by a refreshing bath in hot water shower. Our time in Helsinki was bound to be good.

We met Tanya at the harbour itself and headed straight for our tour of the city. We were four when we started from Paris, Bansi made us a hi5 and now we had our 6th partner too.

Helsinki is a relatively less crowded city for a capital. The city is marked by its cobblestones roads that are present in most part of the central district. There is tram that runs through most parts of the city and is supposedly a good way to take a glimpse of this city. We saw some of the historical monument and took umpteen pictures. The lake close to Finlandia Hall is really beautiful. We saw many joggers and runners doing their rounds at 1pm in the afternoon. For them, it is pleasant as long as the sun is out in the sky. There we also saw a lot of runners/joggers using sticks similar to those used in ski (Pooch says they are called nordick poles). Something new and strange for us.

Oh yea, forgot to mention that Finnish girls are very pretty. And their fashion seem to beat any weather. There is something in their blood that can enable them to cheerfully wear shorts and skirts in such temperatures.

The struggle for vegetarian food continued as the UniCafe (I think the name comes from University Cafe) was closed. Tanya had suggested this place for nice and cheap buffet lunch with some Vegan options. Our quest took us the basement of a mall called Forum (oh Bangalore! I miss you so much) where we found a restaurant serving vegan falafal. The owner offered to give some discount on the menu price, free water and also a complimentary coffee. We could not have asked for more. Falafal is a nice dish and is quite filling. The hot coffee energized us again.

After bidding goodbye to Tanya we headed to Market Square to catch the ferry to Suomenlinna Sea Fortress. It's a beautiful fortress island with lots of historical places. There are lots of tourist who spent their day in the various restaurants and cafes on this island. We did a self-guided walking tour and explored it. Without a story, many places lose their charm. But this place has so much to offer due to its natural beauty that you just don't feel like coming back.

After collecting the food for next couple of days, we boarded the train for Rovaniemi - the Santa Claus village. Interestingly the train we took is also called Santa Claus Express. Ab jab Santa uncle ki hi baat ho rahi hai, let me also tell some trivia. Silja lines is the official carrier of Santa Claus (yes, the same cruise company that got us from Stockholm to Helsinki.

We are traveling without reservations which means that we need to look out for any free seat and occupy it. For now, we have a seat. Hoping that nobody else embark this train now so that we don't need to do lots of shuffling the seats. The train is more or less local so tonight there is very less chance of a peaceful sleep. Still hoping for the best. Good night. Over and Out :-)