Helsinki, Finland: We took a walk this morning along the waterfront, from our hotel to the open-air market. This much is old Finland: cobbled streets, government buildings, an orthodox cathedral with gold leaf onion domes, tour boats and ferries, the usual detritus of a seaport, plus a ferris wheel, advertising Finnair, the local flag carrier airline.
Lots of tourists in evidence here today. As usual, we found cobblestones hard to walk upon. And we saw nothing at the market we wanted to buy, a common experience in Europe. Souvenirs are rarely our thing.
Afternoon consisted of jet-lag-recovery naps, followed by supper with our tour group. The menu was salmon, I suspect a common choice in the days ahead. After supper we walked a couple of blocks to a hole-in-the-wall convenience store trying (but failing) to be a supermarket, where we bought sodas, bread, and chocolate - our urban version of iron rations.
Europe is overrun with ferries, mostly not the double-ended style you see around Seattle. The ones here resemble passenger ships except for the large door in the stern into which drive all manner of cars, trucks, busses, and more. Ferries leave here headed for Sweden and the so-called Baltic Republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. I wouldn't be surprised if they also go to Poland, Germany, and Denmark.
Our tour leader says a major reason for locals to take the ferry is to buy cheap, duty-free liquor as taxes on alcohol are very high throughout this region, except at sea. Plus booze is popular as a sort of antifreeze and it enables shy Nordics to get past their inhibitions.
