STOCKHOLM - SEPTEMBER, 2013

I boarded a ferry in Turku, Finland for the eleven hour cruise to Stockholm, Sweden. The ferry was much like a small cruise ship, with restaurants, nightclubs, and a casino on board. But the best part was the views from on deck, where I spent most of my time during the trip to Sweden. On leaving Turku we sailed through the Turku Archipelago for several hours. The archipelago is made up of many islands on which many summer homes are built. The ferry passed very close to the islands, and the scenery was very beautiful.

The route was very busy with ferry traffic, and we often passed other ferries. It made me wonder how difficult it was to pilot the ferries, especially at night and in poor weather with so many ships passing through such a narrow passage between thousands of islands, large and small.

The last three hours of the cruise we entered the archipelago leading into Stockholm. This archipelago was made up of thousands of small islands, some inhabited, and some not. Many residents of Stockholm maintain summer homes on the islands, and they are very beautiful. The ferry passed very close to the islands, and you had a great view of the island scenery and the small villages on the islands.

Stockholm is a city of over two million people, built on over twenty islands connected by bridges. I stayed in the downtown area, and was able to walk to all of the major sights. The Old Town area, called Gamla Stan, was a great place to walk and to sightsee. The Royal Palace is located there, and at noon, there was a changing of the guard ceremony. These are pictures of the Old Town area.

These are pictures of the Royal Palace, and the changing of the guard ceremony.

From Gamla Stan I walked around the harbor to Djurgarden, which is an island in the harbor where the Nordic Museum and the Vassa Museum are located. It was a beautiful, clear warm day, and the walk along the water was very nice. Along the harbor are located many restaurants and boats for sightseeing.

The Vasa Museum is one of the most popular tourist sights in Europe. The museum houses the Vasa, which was the largest wooden battleship of its time. The ship sank forty minutes into its maiden voyage in 1628, and remained on the bottom of Stockholm harbor until it was raised in 1961, 333 years after sinking, and was placed into a specially constructed museum, which was built around the ship after it was transported to the Djurgarden island. The ship was preserved in the cold harbor waters, and has been beautifully restored.

I took a day trip to Drottningholm Palace, the queen's 17th century summer home, and current residence of the royal family. It is often referred to as "Sweden's Versailles." I took a boat ride beginning next to the Stockholm City Hall to the palace which took about one hour, traveling through the Stockholm archipelago islands. The palace was surrounded by the royal gardens, which now serve as a large public park. Another beautiful warm day spent in the beautiful Swedish outdoors.

When I returned from my trip to Drottningholm Palace, I took a tour through the Stockholm City Hall, which is a very beautiful building, and the site of the annual Nobel Prize dinner and ball.

This is the room where the Nobel Prize dinner is held each year. The room seats 1300 people, and the Nobel Award winners enter the room down the large staircase at the end of the room.

 

After the dinner, all guests go upstairs to a large ballroom called the "Golden Hall" for a formal dance. The room's walls are covered with 19 million gold mozaic tiles. It was very impressive.

The City Hall is also a working legislative chamber for the Stockholm City Council, made up of 101 representatives [mostly women] who meet one night each week to conduct city business. The ceiling of the council chamber is of an open beam style representing a Viking longhouse.

After my three day stay in Stockholm was over, I prepared for the next segment of my Scandinavia trip, a six hour train ride to Oslo, Norway, leaving behind the beautiful country of Sweden.

HELSINKI - SEPTEMBER, 2013

I took a twelve day trip to Finland, Estonia, Sweden and Norway in September, 2013. This was my first trip to Finland, Estonia and Norway. I had been to Sweden about forty years ago. My first stop was Helsinki, Finland, the capital of Finland. After a long flight from Los Angeles, via Newark and Oslo, Norway I landed at the Helsinki airport on the outskirts of the city of Helsinki surrounded by beautiful farmland and forests. After about a 30 minute bus trip from the airport, I arrived at my hotel in the center of Helsinki. Helsinki was a smaller city with no major tall buildings, but many parks and pedestrian streets filled with restaurants and shops. The two major sights in town are the white colored Lutheran Cathedral located on Senate Square [also the site of the Finnish Parliament Building], and the dark colored Orthodox Cathedral. Both are located on small hills overlooking the harbor in Helsinki.

On the second day that I was in Helsinki, I took a short boat ride to the Suomenlinna Fortress which is located on an island guarding Helsinki's harbor, and which served as a strategic fortress for three countries [Finland, Sweden, and Russia] from the 1700's. Now the island [actually four islands connected by bridges]is a large park containing museums, military buildings [including Finland's Naval Academy], restaurants, a garrison church [which was Orthodox until the 20th century when it converted to Lutheranism], and the fortress battlements. It was a sunny, beautiful day, and I spent the entire day walking around the island and viewing the sights.



 

On my third day in Helsinki I took a two hour ferry ride across the Gulf of Finland to Tallin, Estonia. Tallin is the capital of Estonia and has a very beautiful old town area dating from the 15th and 16th centuries, surrounded by walls and towers. Actually, Tallin was made up of two feuding medieval towns, separated by a wall. The upper town, on a hill, called Toompea, was the seat of the government ruling Estonia. The lower town was an autonomous Hanseatic trading center filled with German, Dutch, and Swedish merchants, who hired the Estonians to do their menial labor.

Leaving Helsinki harbor the ferry passed very close to the Suomenlinna Fortress, and you had a marvelous view of the entire fortress complex, which I had visited the previous day.

After the ferry landed in Tallin harbor, I walked to the Old Town, and entered the walled city where the cobblestoned streets led to many old buildings, churches and parks.

I had lunch at a wonderful outdoor restaurant on the Town Hall Square.



I then walked up to the upper part of the Old Town to view the pink colored Estonian Parliament Building, and had a terrific view over the Old Town and harbor area of Tallin.

After a wonderful afternoon spent in Tallin, I returned to the harbor where my ferry was loading trucks and automobiles for the return trip to Helsinki.

Just behind the hotel where I was staying was a large park with a lake that connected to the harbor. One night after dinner I took a walk around the lake which was probably at least a mile in circumference. It was a beautiful evening.



The last day that I was in Helsinki I took a train to Turku, about two hours away. Turku is the historical capital of Finland and the port where I would catch a ferry the following day for Stockholm, Sweden. My hotel overlooked the Turku River which flows through the town. I walked along the river to the Turku Castle and the Turku Cathedral, which was built in the 12th century when Finland was first Christianized. I really enjoyed Turku, and I wished that I had more time to spend there. 

Along the riverwalk were also several old wooden ships, as well as many restaurants and museums. Many people were out and about in the evening and in the morning walking along the river.

Tomorrow morning my visit to Finland comes to an end as I board a ferry to cross the Baltic Sea to Stockholm, Sweden. Finland is truly a very beautiful country, with warm and friendly people. I hope to return again some day to visit more of the country.