Helsinki

Yesterday we were in Finland. We arrived in Helsinki under sunny skies (we feel so lucky with this weather!) and began with a bus tour of the city. We saw impressive churches: the Lutheran Cathedral and the Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral

but Flat John and Flat Mary Ann’s favorite was the Temppeliaukio Church, also know as the “Church in the Rock” and the rest of us agreed.

The church was mostly underground and is not impressive from the outside, but by being built inside the rock, it’s quite unusual and the interior, with its copper ceiling and large organ, is so striking.

We also visited Market Square, located along the water and the home of the fountain which symbolizes Helsinki, “The Daughter of the Baltic.” In the next photo, the orange-colored market canopies can be seen.

The marker stalls contain everything from fish, flowers, fruit, vegetables, and plants to handmade souvenir items. After all that walking around, we enjoyed sampling the Finnish coffee and pastry before returning to the ship.