Day 7 - Helsinki, Finland (July 7th)

What a relief it was to be free again and not at the mercy of a tour guide. I think we enjoyed our day in Helsinki most of all because we could do what we wanted when we wanted to do it. It was a leisurely walk into town and the first local I approached for directions was extremely friendly and eager to help. The weather was overcast this morning so for the first time we brought our raincoats. After a quick sprinkle, where we hid under the market umbrella to enjoy some Paella and herring, the clouds cleared and we enjoyed our 7th straight day of sun. Helsinki reminded us of Janet's hometown Halifax, Nova Scotia. The sights are all within walking distance and the Lutheran Church (pic below left) high above the harbor is one of the best vantage points to see the town below. What a treat to bump into our old tablemates, Alan, Pearl, Carla and Gary in the market (pic above ^). They all possessed a fantastic sense of humor that was faster than we could keep up with. After a lengthy laugh filled chat and the ongoing joke about how we dumped them after the first night's dinner, they were on their way.

A mistake is taking Janet down a shop-lined street where sale prices boast not the usual "50% off" off but "-50%" (pic below right). Janet convinced me that her purchases were great deals even after exchange but I was doubtful. Three Blacksmiths Square at the corner of Mannerheimintie and Aleksanterinkatu was bustling with activity. A young Michael Jackson impersonator was competing with what appeared to be a Native Indian band that was then followed by some Irish political demonstrators (pic below left). Some of the best experiences are finding an optimum spot and allowing the sights to come to you. Three Blacksmiths Square is one of those places and a seat with a pint of beer in the adjacent garden made for the ideal vantage point. What is it with all of the "Iron Maiden" t-shirts, I thought. I hadn't seen these t-shirts since I was a kid and all of the young men in Helsinki were wearing them. It got to the point where we started counting them into the double digits. Janet was determined to make a phone call home to see how our children were doing. Our daughter had an emergency appendectomy a week before we left and we were both nervous about making the call. Grabbing a phone card from the photo perfect 1930s era train station, we made our way with great trepidation to the most peaceful looking payphone. Thankfully, our daughter had fully recovered and was having a ball with her grandmother in Nova Scotia. A stop along the bustling esplanade where a jazz concert was in full swing was the perfect spot to write a few postcards. The excitement of talking to our daughter completely threw me and we glaringly forgot the next stop on our Rick Steve's itinerary, the world famous Temppeliauko rock church. Apparently it's a marvel of architecture completely quarried out of bedrock. But I guess we'll never know for sure.

Walking along the seawall back to the ship, we could have easily been fooled into thinking we were traipsing through some seaside park in Nova Scotia. It felt so close to home and like Nova Scotia there were rocky islands everywhere. The few tiny spits of sandy beach were packed towel to towel by white skinned sunbathers (pic below right). Janet and I were determined to keep our weight down by walking as much as possible but 5 meals a day was catching up to us and a visit to the gym back on ship was heavily anticipated. Only minutes after I jumped on the treadmill, the television was airing a Breaking News Report from CNN. A bomb had gone off in the London underground and many people were believed to be seriously hurt. I hadn't seen a television or read a newspaper in a week and I had been enjoying the isolation. It was disturbing to realize that my first glimpse into the outside world happened to be such a tragic incident. Had there been more?

Marty, our table and Russian tour mate found out that we had missed the Indonesian themed dinner the night we attended the Yusupov Gala in St. Petersburg. He made a request to the maitre d' the night before to see if we could get a customized Indonesian menu for tonight. I thought it was a bold request but the maitre d' obliged and we happily went along with it. When we walked into the dining room, my mouth dropped. He had arranged the Captain's table (a table that could seat at least 12) and our 5 former St. Petersburg tour mates were scattered around it. I was impressed that he pulled this off but it was not what I had expected. Tonight's show was Barry Manilow's "Copacabana". Bonnie warned us that it might be a little cheesy and she was right but we got a good kick out of it all the same.

I desperately needed a sea day at this point but there was no letting up. At 4AM the next morning we were to enter the Stockholm archipelago, an endless series of small islands that dot the entry into Stockholm. I decided I'd set my alarm for 6 to catch the last hour. I got up at 7.