July 18, 2008 - Helsinki

Helsinki, Finland is a city of 556,000 in a country of 5,000,000. Finland has an area approaching the size of Germany but with 1/10th the population. Greater Helsinki has 24 municipalities with a total population of 1,300,000. 29% of jobs and 33% GDP. Helsinki is Finland's capital for business, education, research, culture and government. Immigration of rural residents to Helsinki has made it one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in Europe. Sweden ruled Finland for 600 years. Many wars finally gave Finland their independance. The Fins still have a great affection for the Swedish people and both are usually bilingual with each others language.

Finland is, like Denmark, a highly socialized state. the average wage is $40 - $60,000 per annum. All income is taxed at between 28% and 60%. these extremely high taxes provide socialized health care and education. Even foreigners can enter Finland hospitals and receive free health care. Advanced education - university - is paid by the state.

Our bus took us basically north through the city. We zig zagged around and the Olympic Stadium for the 1952 Olympic Games, Parliment house and the new Opera House. The National Museum, Findlandia Hall and the concert/convention center were all designed by the famous architect Alvar Aalto.

We drove north towards Porvoo, and stopped at the Sipoo Old Church, built in the 1500's it is one of the oldest granite churches in the country. As the ground is frozen in winter, burials were performed inside in the floor of the church. As the thaw came, church services moved outside to get away from the smell. Today the church is still in use, although its replacement is just up the hill.

Driving on to Hinthaara we boarded a vintage 1952 steam engined train. The train chugged us 40 minutes to Porvoo. The smell of the smoke, the clacking of the steel wheels and the old rail cars were a real treat. Arriving in Porvoo, Debbie was stopped by a reporter for the Porvoo newspaper. He interviewed her and took our picture. He stated he will email us the story.

Porvoo is a small village dating to 1346. The village is built of wood - as is most of Finland's housing - and has burned numerous times. After the last major fire - in the 1700's - the town rebuilt buildings bordering the river - actually hanging over the river. This helped when future fires occurred. Our guide took us to the tourist center and gave us 1 hour on our own. We went to City Market (remembering the mountains of Colorado). We bought soda and fresh cherries. The local chocolate shoppe had free samples - 'No Obligation' - and we wandered back to the bus.

A short drive to the Haiko Manor House for lunch. Both Italian and French diplomats, state that the worst food in Europe is in Finland. Our lunch was a green salad, chicken stew with roasted potatos and a light strawberry cream cheese dessert. It was the best lunch so far. We walked the grounds of the manor, all the way to the sea.

Driving back to Helsinki, the guide played a CD of local music that was very soft and had a sleeping pill in it; with full tummies, most napped. We arrived back in Helsinki and again were treated to more landmarks, including an amusement park and many military statues. The famous 'Rock Church' is carved out of solid granite in the middle of Helsinki. The quarried stone was used to build the surrounding walls to protect the amazing roof of the church. The roof is a 22km copper ribbon wound around itself and presents as a very tight spiral. The rock walls and floor make a very unique building.

Onboard ship we had our 26th anniversary dinner. The ship forgot, but we like each other and are OK with it. After dinner, we removed another hour from our watches and went to bed early; when they say lose an hour...they mean LOSE an hour of sleep! Tomorrow is St. Petersburg, Russia!