#3 Helsinki, in 2 nights and 6 Hours!

Ship to Helsinki.

Finland in 2 nights and 6 hours. Yes, you heard that correct. This is the ship we traveled on to Helsinki, leaving on Sunday and overnighting for a mid morning arrival, for a 6 hour stay in Helsinki, Finland. As per custom for Abby and John, we get on a Hop On-Hop off city tour bus to view this city.  Complete trip is 1 1/2 hours and we get a quick overview and insight to the highlights of Helsinki. Population of Helsinki is just over 500,000, which equal 1/10 of the countries population. The adjoining metro area makes up to 1/5 of the countries population. So we're seeing a large chunk of Finland.

Grabby & Scout gets a warm
welcome aboard!

Scout in the kids playroom on
the ferry.

One of the first things we notice, is that Helsinki is a very clean city! Which we have not always found in Europe. Another great thing about these side trips we take with Becca & Jesper are they always take us off the beaten path to find places to eat. Helsinki was no different, I can't remember the name of the place but we had Finnish meatballs and mashed potatoes. Surprisingly, they were similar to the Swedish version.

Tourism in Europe is big! Asians are a large bit of the tourist you run into. As the rest of us who are traveling, they're having a blast and are very friendly.

Open air markets are also very big in Europe. Communication in Finland was a little bit harder, but with a credit card available, instant communication takes place.

Back on dry land and waiting for
transportation to get us home.

Abby up early to enjoy coming into
the Helsinki port!

To get to the ferry we called a cab. When we got back to Stockholm we took the rail home. Transportation is very easy in Europe with lots of choices.

Open air dining.

City view of Helsinki from the ship!