After hearing that the Finnish people consume more coffee per capita than any other nation, we decided to get in on the action. As we stopped to visit the Sibelius musical monument we just had time to made a quick detour to a boathouse we could see in the distance, emblazoned with the word 'coffee'.
We raced back to the bus in record time. If it had been 1952 we probably would have won a medal in the Helsinki Olympics. The stadium itself was still standing - just - and after going up in the rickety elevator we were able to see the sights of Helsinki. Yes there were church steeples, amusement parks, the stadium itself and gorgeous lakes in this view but the most noteworthy sight would be the revolving McDonalds yellow arches, a real sign that we weren't isolated in the far north of the world anymore.
Lunch consisted of hiding from the rain under trees and fighting off seagulls the size of small cats. Then it was time to head into the heart of the city and begin a leisurely day of enjoying civilisation. When Australians go to Europe we get tired of all the 'ABCs' (translated: 'Another Bloody Church'). In Helsinki, however, we saw three pretty cool ones. Firstly, a church cut into the side of a rock face, and built out of rocks and natural materials.
Secondly, a large white Lutheran church with a great staircase, An impressive building with large steeple visable from all over town, very large but basic interior. Most of the excitment came from racing Kate up the stairs (she won). Thridly, the Russian Orthodox church built between 1862 and 1868, which challenged the Lutheran Church for the title of the most beautiful building in Helsinki. Inside, it was definitely the most ornate, with gold leaf everywhere.
Next stop was the free Helsinki Museum. We were greeted with ladies in traditional dress exiting the building (never found out why) and an awesome looking gift shop. Attractions inside the museum included shackles, artefacts from Finnish life over the last 100years and the most interesting comic about a distillery worker who turned up drunk to church in the 15thCentury. He threw up everywhere but refused to leave, was forced to repent and then blamed the whole ordeal on a stomach bug. How that has made history books is anyones guess!
After all this history and culture it was time to do what we do best - shop! Together we wandered down to market square with the unmissable red and orange tents and the enticing aroma of fried fish. While the fish could best be described as 'unusual' we were quite satisfied with the pastry stands. When one lady told us a particuluar pastry was traditionally Finnish we had no choice but to purchase the delicious item. We wandered around the souvenir stalls until it was time to catch the ferry across to Suomenlinna island. Luckily for us there was more than one boat, as we ended up missing the first two due to the distracting markets.
On the island we rested for awhile in a large park area surrounded by an old church and fortress walls. Then very casually we strolled the sights, including tunnels through the fortress, cannons overlooking the headland, the Kings Gate (best described as 'the Shire') and cobbled streets leading past memorials. We aren't entirely sure what an open prision is, however after following vague signs we think we came into very close proximity with convicted felons working in a labour colony hidden from the main tourist pathway. After almost 3hours we were very happy to see the ferry arrive so we could rest our weary feet on the trip back to the city.
After settling in at the campsite we headed back into Helsinki to sample the Friday night nightlife. After a couple of attempts (apparently some nightclubs have an age restriction of 24+) we managed to find a place where the whole group could enjoy themselves. The highlight? Glitter-confetti :)
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