World Finland Etelä Suomen Helsinki

Necuze Family Travels 2011 Necuze Baltic Cruise

Helsinki, Finland Jul 13, 2011

The NCL Sun arrived in Helsinki, Poland (according to Dad) but to the rest of the world, Helsinki, Finland. We had another quick breakfast at the buffet and strutted off the ship. We spent the night before planning a walking tour of the city and the first part of our plan was to take a taxi to Market Square. Our taxi driver suggested going to the sights first, and then offered to take us to each place as part of a private tour. Klaus, our driver, was a genuine Finnish gentleman. We first drove through a beautiful Finnish cemetery, while on our way to the Sibelius Monument and Park. We arrived at the park and took some photos while admiring the stainless steel monument, built in honor of the national composer, Jean Sibelius. After leaving the park, we passed by the 1952 Olympic Stadium. Our private tour then took us to the famous Temppeliaukio Rock Church, also known as "The Church On The Rock". Pictures cannot do this Lutheran Church any kind of justice. From there, we were dropped off at Esplanade Park to begin our own adventure through Dad's favorite "Polish" city. We visited the two cathedrals near the city's center; the Upenski Orthodox Cathedral and the Main Lutheran Cathedral. Both were very beautiful on the outside; unfortunately, we only got to see the Upenski Cathedral on the inside because after being forced to climb 68 steps up to the Lutheran Church, it was closed for lunch. We did a little shopping in the three main malls of Helsinki and grabbed a quick lunch. We had a bit more luck with our Wi-Fi situation in Finland. Not only was it everywhere, it was free! Everyone checked their Facebook and enjoyed about an hour of Internet access. At around 4 pm, we strolled through Esplanade park, which treelined the main shopping boulevard of the city. We met up with Klaus and he had one more surprise for us. A drive by his favorite ice cream shop in Helsinki. We all enjoyed a cone and made our way back to the ship. Helsinki was beautiful, clean, and most definitely green (they like Obama). Regresamos al barco and everyone was exhausted. Gaby, Dad, and I took a power nap together while Mom showered. Gaby and I found our way to our room to continue our naps and the parentals escaped to the casino. They returned $170 richer thanks to the Jade slot machine (thanks Tio Conrado). Mom and Dad missed us and came to get us so we could all enjoy dinner together at the onboard sports bar. We're here now and Mom is distributing sleeping pills again. Tomorrow, we're off to St. Petersburg, Russia to continue our Baltic adventure. Talk to you all tomorrow!  Love,  Juju

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