I was awake before the 6.30 alarm. I had a chat to Kaoru and then went downstairs for some breakfast. It was mayhem in the restaurant. I closed my suitcase, checked out and caught the shuttle to the airport.
Checked in, waited for the flight, and eventually got home.
Melbourne airport is really slow for getting bags! After immigration I was waiting >20 minutes for my bags to arrive.
But I’m home after a wonderful holiday!
We have been traveling east for 11 hours – not sure what part of the flight we will say this started, but nothing happened anyway until about 10 minutes before landing when the girl across the aisle from me vomited butdidn’t look for a sick bag and just did it in theaisle. So the stewardesses had to work to get it all cleaned up quickly and get themselves seated for landing. Luckily none splashed on me.
Kaoru came through immigration with me. It was our first international arrival at Haneda. We had landed there once before coming back from hokkaido with Michael and Leila. Immigration was busy and we were in line for a good half hour. On the plus side, by the time we were through our bags were ready and we left.
We caught the bus to Futako tamagawa – theusual location when we are starting at Mio’s.Then a taxi to her house, and arrived just after 7. Mio gave us some food and then i went for a lay down to get some sleep, about8.
I was surprised that the next thing i knew it was 10! I dozed for a while and dropped off again until a bit after 11. I had a shower to freshen up a bit and went downstairs. Everybody was there (Nakao’s, plus Yoichi was home) so I said hello and we moved to the kitchen table to start eating and drinking.When we booked this trip we realized we hadto do an overnighter. By coincidence the day we were staying was a public holiday! Which meant we got to see everybody.
We started with some champagne and a spread Mio put on, and then beer. At 1.00 two large trays of sushi arrived. We were a bit quieter than in the past, for several reasons. All a bit older and wiser, me being tired, Yoichi had been out the previous night…but it was as enjoyable as ever. Kaoru disappeared for a sleep which i could tell sheneeded from a long time earlier. I went and had a half hour “recharge”, and got up to say goodbye to Minami as she had to go to Jouku. I then stayed downstairs and had a few more drinks, more food, and a green tea, which got me going. Mio, Kenichi, Yukari, Arisa and i played some card games.
As much fun as i was having, i thought i really do need to leave. I checked the Narita express train times and found they stop running at 8.30. And the last bus was 8.50. Crap. Plans a and b were not going to work as i couldn’t get to either on time. So it wouldhave to be a local train instead. Kozue drove us to the train station and Kaoru and i got ona train to Skytree (she didn’t trust me to get there on my own). We rushed to the connecting platform, said goodbye and i wasoff. Kaoru caught the train back to Mio’s.
It took about 90 minutes to get to the airport,and then i caught the free hotel shuttle bus to Narita View Hotel and checked in. I actually had a decent sized room! I had a bath (cause that’s what you do in Japan) andwent to bed.
The alarm was set for 6 but we were both awake before then. So we caught an earlier “Hoppa” bus to the airport than expected. Kaoru took the bags on a trolley to the tax refund counter, and because the line was long, i took our oyster cards to get refunded. Unfortunately because there was more than £10 on them i couldn’t do it at a machine, so was told where to go to the ticket office. Once I got there though, i was informed it didn’t open until 8 (it was about 7 at the moment).
I did the 7 minute walk back to where Kaoru was, and still hadn’t moved too far. So i wentto get some breakfast while Kaoru finished, and then we checked in. We went to the cafe to get Kaoru a coffee, and it was about 7.45. So i left Kaoru to relax and i went to do the oyster refunds. Luckily i left a little early as there was already a line forming at the visitoroffice, and by the time it opened it was even longer. But i got our £16.50 back for each of them which meant we now had some moneyto spend.
We went through security and wandered around the shops. Kaoru bought something from Harrods, and we bought a few other goodies. Our plane boarded on time at 920, but took off later than the 940 scheduled departure. It was probably closer to 1030 by the time wheels were off the ground.
We watched a couple of movies and got a little bit of sleep on the flight. We had a magnificent red sunset out the window! The 11 hour flight was long but non eventful.
It was nearly 9 when we woke up this morning. I had some toast and tea for breakfast, and passed the time until Hamish got up, and we all chatted for a while.
Kaoru, Yukari, Sean and i went in to the market. It was about a 25 minute walk in. There we bought some fish, veggies, wine and some bread. We got back to the house about 2, and Hamish and i got the (coal) bbq going, and then Kaoru and i went to the bottle shop to get some beers for Hamish and i. Hamish had bought some beautiful aged beef that we were going to cook along with the fish for the girls, while they preparedsome lovely accompanying salads.
I took the beef off earlier than Hamish was expecting, but to me it was perfect, and Hamish also enjoyed the meat a bit rarer than normal. The fish needed a bit longer though. We sat outside and enjoyed the sun, food, drinks and company.
Kaoru and i assessed a few different options to get to our hotel for the night (near Heathrow). We eventually decided to just get a car all the way – we were able to lock in £45, and it saved changing trains and buses, and also meant we didn’t need the un-air conditioned tube. It was considerably later than we expected by the time we got away, but an easy trip. The driver said he went as route about 10 miles longer but bypassed London traffic; it really was a hassle free trip,door to door. Sean was quite upset at havingto say goodbye which was very touching as it had been such a short time.
We checked in to the hotel and had some dinner. We did a little bit of repacking our suitcases as the room had a massive floor. We showered so as to not have to do it tomorrow and called it a night.
I was pretty rough when i woke up this morning. I went downstairs and had a bit of food and then went back to bed. But we couldn’t waste the day so we left the house about 11.00, after a bit more food and rest; still feeling pretty bad. Hamish was at work (although he went in late) and Yukari had taken the kids to school but had other thingsto do for the day.
Kaoru and i walked in to Hackney and got a hot drink, and i also bought an apple to get some sugar and liquid in me. We then caught a bus in to London, going through Angel where Kaoru used to live, but nothing looked familiar to her. We got off at London Victoria and still nothing familiar to Kaoru; i wasn’t expecting it to look familiar to me as i only came in to London a couple of times in 2001.
We walked around for a bit towards TrafalgarSquare, and stopped somewhere for lunch. After our food stop we went to the National Gallery; it was somewhere Kaoru used to go to regularly, and she was able to make her way directly to her favorite picture – Madam de Pompedeau. The route to the picture was probably the most familiar part of the day to Kaoru!
We walked around the gallery for an hour or so, looking at a number of the works of art. We then left and had a look at Trafalgar Square. This was closed off largely, for a cricket demonstration, of different variations of the game. So we couldn’t actually get to the main structure.
We walked around for a while longer, eventually stopping for an ice cream. We even found a Moomin shop! After a bit more aimless wandering we caught a tube to London Bridge, figuring we should at least see that. We had to skip the first two “tubes” because they were too full. We pushed our way on to the 3rd. They are the most uncomfortable design for the last people on because of their shape – if you are against the wall you can’t stand up straight. There was also no air conditioning, and it was hot and muggy, so a pretty terrible experience allup.
Once we got to London Bridge, we both realized at about the same time that we wereactually thinking of Tower Bridge! Well, we were here now so we took some photos and walked halfway across the bridge for a look. We then started to walk towards the Tower Bridge, and decided to stop for food. I was getting quite hungry now which meant i finally felt sober from yesterday. Kaoru had pasta and i had lasagne and salad. Still without a beer though.
It was then time to make our way to Kings Cross, where we met up with Eiko – another of Kaoru’s friends from the travel company she was working at in the past. We found theagreed venue and went to the table Eiko had booked for us. But the venue was really loud and it wasn’t easy to communicate. We had 1 drink and then decided to leave.
We found another place very close which was much quieter. We had to wait 5 minutes for a table but it was well worth it. Yukari arrived not long after to join us, and we ordered some food and drinks. The girls mostly spoke in japanese and i just passed the time, but it was easier for them to catch up that way. Eiko had travelled about 2 hoursto get there so a good friend.
About 11ish, Yukari, Kaoru and i caught the bus home. We had to wait about 15 minutes for the right bus to come but it dropped us <5 minutes from the house. Hamish was up playing music but i was too tired to join him, as much as i wanted to, so we went to bed.
Kaoru was up early. I was woken by the bins from 8 to 820 so started the day with anothercooked breakfast. A small inflatable world issue to deal with, and then we finalized our packing and passed the time. The 3 of us caught an 11.50 bus to Oxford.
We went to the John Lewis cafe between the bus stop and our next bus departure point, and had some lunch. We said thank you and goodbye, and Kaoru and I caught the 1.15 bus to Shepherd’s Bush, where we bought anoyster card and caught the overground to Hackney Central, although enroute found thenext stop to be better. Once off the train we got our bearings and made our way to Yukariand Hamish’s, but stopped at Tesco on the way for some food.
Hamish wasn’t home from work when we arrived. I had spoken to Yukari a couple of times on Skype before but it was the first time of meeting her and the kids (Jana and Sean). Jana was a bit shy at first but eventually opened up. Sean was a chatterbox from the second the door opened.Watching this 4 year old talk confidently in Japanese and English was amazing.
Kaoru and Yukuri went to the shops to get some beer and I stayed and watched the kids. Sean and i played on his slot car set and Jana did a drawing. Aunty Diane had sent me back with her old badge making set so i got that out of the suitcase thinking she might like to immortalize a drawing. She loved it! So we made a couple of badges and a fridge magnet.
Hamish got home so we met, and after a bottle of red was drunk (with the babysitter assisting too) we caught an uber to dinner. We went to a nice tapas place that charged like a wounded bull and had small servings; but they were all delicious. During our first glass of bubbles Hamish announced that tonight was their 10 year wedding anniversary! So it was something to celebrate, and celebrate we did.
We split the bill and then went to another barwhere we had a couple more glasses of wine, i got to know Hamish better, and the girls got to have a good catch up. Eventually we caught an uber home, where Hamish and i had some scotch whisky and a stout as a night cap.
No need to get up early, but Kaoru was back to her usual self so up bright and early. I got up and cooked breakfast and got ready to start the day.
We left about 10.30 and caught the bus in to Oxford. We then worked out the route to Glouster green in preparation for tomorrow. We picked up some bus timetables and checked prices. Some were £8 and some were £9 for the exact same place (London Victoria). So we took them with us and walked to the train station, and then to the Oxford playhouse where i used to work. It had a new paint coat and different clientele to when i was there, but looked largely the same. We then walked around Oxford to see if anything looked familiar. Very little. It was certainly much busier than either of us recalled but the streets and buildings were largely just like a new experience.
We stopped for some lunch and had a look at the drop off points for the buses, to assess ease of access. We also found what looked like a better way to get on the bus at the start, so we walked that to check it out – much easier! We walked around a Tesco express to pass the time and then met AuntyDiane at the Head of the River pub.
We bought tickets and then joined the 2.30 river boat ride to Abingdon. Aunty Diane had done this a few weeks ago, and i always wanted to experience a lock, so we thought this would be an enjoyable activity. In 2 hours we went through 3 locks down the Thames (or Isis, as it is called in the Oxford section), and had a generally enjoyable ride. Aunty Diane had bought some banana cake for a snack as well.
Once at Abingdon i got some more money out (at a much better exchange rate) and we caught the next bus back to Radley to get home. I then went next door to say hello to Eric and have a bit of a chat. I had forgotten what a card he was. So we caught up on a few stories for half an hour or so and then i went home.
Dinner tonight was spaghetti. I had never had this with Aunty Diane in the UK because of foot in mouth disease last time i was here,and a tart for dessert. We then couldn’t put it off any longer – we had to pack. It was surprising how we arrived with 2 suitcases, found very little in the roof to come back, but filled 3 suitcases! We had packed very loosely to ensure things didn’t bounce around, but still. ..
After a bit more talking and an email tidy up we called it a night.
We had a great sleep in this morning. Nothing to wake up for, no noise, a dark room. ..It was about 9 when we got out of bed.
I cooked breakfast (bacon and egg sandwich) and we planned our day. First job was to go up in the roof and sort out stuff i had left here in 2002 when i left. It was a great nostalgic trip seeing old skydiving t shirts, maps and postcards collected from my travels, as well as old guidebooks and other assorted odds and ends -even old payslips, for £4.30/hour! Most of them just ended up in a box for the salvos or the rubbish bin, and a very small amount went inthe “coming home” pile. Kaoru was happy asit meant more suitcase space for her to fill up!
After a shower we drove in to Abingdon and went to the bank – i had a statement showing ~£50 and wanted to see if i could get my hands on it. I had previously communicated with the bank and they had told me to just come in with id. But no. They needed proof of my current address, bank account for it to go in to (in my name, meaning exchange rates, etc, as that would be in Australia) and it would take some time. I decided it wasn’t worth my time, as i would have to come back in.
We had lunch at a Costa coffee as it was something Kaoru remembered. After lunch we had a walk around Abingdon, Aunty Diane pointing all the sights out. We stoppedat a pub and Kaoru and I had a drink (warm beer on a hot day. ..disgusting) while Aunty Diane moved her car (she was in a 2 hour free zone). We met back at the museum/old town hall, and Kaoru and i went to the top for the scenic lookout. There was a volunteer up there who pointed out the sights in every direction, making it well worth the £2 each.
We only had 5-10 minutes to look at the museum as it was nearly closing time. So werushed through that (luckily not too big) and were done. We were taken around the rest of Aunty Diane’s favorite places before going back home. We relaxed for a while and had dinner (salmon and salad), and played a few games of “Set” a pattern recognition card game Aunty Diane had. We had a look at some options for getting to Yukari’s house, and then i took Kaoru up to the pub for a drink. She had a nice cold cider and i thoughtI’d give english beer another go. Nope. Last one. We went back home, chatted for a while and went to bed.
It was no alarm this morning – there was no need. We grabbed a small bite from the supermarket and packed our bags. I weighedmine and it was ~26kg. We were allowed 2 bags of 23kg, so we did some shuffling between Kaoru’s bag and mine until i was down to about 24kg. This took us longer than expected and it was now 10.30.
We went to Pipsa’s flat to return the key to Bambi, and say goodbye to her and Tommi. We then went outside to catch our 11.00 busto the airport. Once there we had to use a Checkin kiosk. It told us the flight was overbooked and asked if we would volunteer to catch a different flight. Ummmm…no. We weren’t even next to each other although we were only one row apart and both had aisle seats so it wasn’t too bad.
I grabbed some food as i was quite hungry by now, and then we went through security and slowly looked at the shops. Eventually we were at a passport control checkpoint, which we weren’t expecting as we were still in the EU. But we even had our passport stamped. I was starting to get concerned – Kaoru had been told that she should do the tax free receipts in the UK; i hope they were right! Well find out in a week or so.
We found the gate as we were starting to wonder how far away it was. We then came back to look at shops and passed the time. We bought some food for the flight, and Kaoru bought some blueberry jam, getting ourselves down to just €10 exactly left over, so we considered that another win; and finally we boarded. Because of my silver status we could board early which was great- it meant we were guaranteed a spot to put our bags. We waited for the plane to fill up, and finally pushed off about 20 minutes late. Hopefully we will make the time up over the 3 hour flight.
The people i was sitting next to were friendly.I had a good chat to them. She spoke Russian and they had spent some time in St Petersburg. I was very interested as we weregoing to go there but decided we didn’t have enough time. They are the only people i haveheard say they didn’t enjoy the country. The people were rude and would ignore them, even though they could communicate directly with them. I think everybody else i have spoken to had done a tour so that mustbe the secret. I took a mental note that we had to do a tour when we do make it there.
The flight was uneventful and eventually we landed on time at 3.05. We collected our bags and got some money out from an ATM.First time I’ve been screwed with my ING card (but not INGs fault). The rate was worked out by the ATM rather than just giving me £’s and ING working it out. So i gota shitful rate. But at least i had money.
Aunty Diane was waiting to pick us up. So we got our 2 suitcases into her small car, plus the 3 of us, and off we went. It was a hotday -the car was saying 29! It was quite loudwith the windows open but it was needed! We went to Sainsburys to buy some ginger ale (i had some bourbon from Tallinn) and some dessert and then went to the house, unloaded the car and sat down.
After a bit of a chat we got dinner organized (cold pie and salad), had dessert (meringues) and then spent the rest of the night talking.
We were awoken about 6.30 to the noise of cars getting on the ferry. Even though we had boarded last night, departure isn’t until 8.00. Fantastic business idea – the ferry has to stay in port and incur costs, so they just open it up as a hotel and make a bit of money from it! Of course only passengers can stay, but it actually worked out cheaper for us than a hotel, and we didn’t have the stress of checking out and getting to the porton time.
We slept on and off for an hour and my alarmwent off at 7.30. Our breakfast was booked for 7.45 so we went and ate from the buffet, as the ship pulled out of port. After breakfast we went back to bed for an hour, and my alarm woke us again at 9.30. We were feelingmuch better after that extra hour! So we showered and watched the ferry go past Suomenlinna from the luxury of our couch, looking out the front windows. The whole tripin looked great, and once docked we headed towards the door to leave. We looked in a couple of rooms that were open, so could see what the interior rooms were like – we were certainly happier with what we had!
We disembarked and caught the tram and bus back home; we dropped our bags off, grabbed some things for the day, and headed off while our 90 minute ticket was still valid. Kaoru had read about the silent chapel in Kamppi so we went there. It was totally different architecture to any chapel wehad seen before. No big steeple on top and built of wood, but a modern design. Inside was very basic as it was Lutherian. Just some pews and a small alter; but they don’t do sermons there.
We then rushed off to get a bus; strictly speaking, as we understood it, a single trip ticket allows for changes to get to your destination, but you have to board the last transport within 90 minutes of buying the ticket. So we convinced ourselves that the stops at the house and chapel were just “transfer points” and we weren’t really finishing the trip yet. So the bus took us north, as we wanted to go to the Siberian monument. The bus took us close but we still had to walk 500 metres or so. We saw a Fazar cafe (the famous Finnish chocolate) so stopped there for a hot chocolate. Then just as we left it started to rain.
We had driven past the monument on the tour bus a few days ago, but now we got to have a closer look. We were hoping the rain would mean less tourists, but no, there were a few buses there so it was quite crowded. We took some photos and headed off.
Our plan, now that our ticket had expired, was to walk home. It was only about 4k according to Google maps. So we enjoyed the exercise and our last walk in Helsinki, even with the light rain. We stopped for lunchat a bakery which didn’t have a menu in English but the staff spoke great english and translated it for us. I also tried Google translate which did a good job. So we had salmon soup, and a shrimp salad, both of which were delicious but we struggled to finish it all.
Back at the house we did that job that always sucks at the end of a holiday – packing. We got things more or less organized and then passed the time until Pipsa and the boys got home. We then all went out for dinner. Kaoru and i wanted to take them out, especially Tommi as he gave up his apartment for us so we had a place of our own during our stay. So we took them to a sushi restaurant, which was actually an all you can eat buffet for €15.90 (and €11 for Bambi). We were wanting something “nicer” but they were all happy with it. The quality wasn’t that good although the salmon was great. The wasabi was terrible and had no kick. Pipsa had previously told me she didn’t eat wasabi in Helsinki and now i knew why. i told her that if she comes here again, bring the tube of wasabi we had bought them.
We were all pretty stuffed as we walked out. We then piled in to Tommi’s new car and he took us to his work. He is a producer so at his office there is a full size cinema screen and a few couches for customers to preview movies. We watched “Big Game” which has Samuel k Jackson in it and was filmed in Finland. It was one that Tommi’s company had produced.
After the movie we went back home and saidgoodbye to Ville. Pipsa came over to our room with a present for us to take to Aunty Diane. We said goodbye to her and then went to bed. It was actually dark. We couldn’t believe that in just over 2 weeks it had changed so much.
The alarm went off at 730. Kaoru was already up. We went downstairs and bought a salad for breakfast, brushed our teeth and were out of home by 830, on our way to the ferry terminal. The tram we wanted doesn’t start until 915 on Saturdays though, so we had to walk from central to the ferry terminal.
We didn’t have as much time wasted sitting around this time, as we knew how easy it was. So we were able to go straight to the departure lounge and wait for our call. We left on time (maybe even a little early) at 10.30. The ferry trip over wasn’t exciting – it was 2.75 hours this time though so noticablylonger. We found some seats and had a bit of a sleep. Then wandered the ship a bit.
Once in Estonia we returned our bus passes. We were expecting to get remaining credit refunded but (we thought roughly €2.80, plus the €2 deposit) but we only got the €2 deposit back. so that pissed us off a bit as we suspected she was going to do it after weleft and pocket it herself.
Then we went to an alcohol shop to buy some beer for Tommi. It was nearly half the price! I also bought a bottle of bourbon to take to the uk. We put the alcohol and our overnight bag in a locker at the station and were ready to start our day.
It was well past lunchtime so we found a place to eat. They had these little dumpling type things so i got meat and Kaoru got salmon. There would have been about 20 of each and we polished them off. Really nice and filling.
We then walked in to the old town. We came in a different gate so ended up in a part we hadn’t already seen. We found the centre square where i had read there would be a medievil market, but there was nothing. So we went to the tourist information to ask what time the parade starts. We are over here for the song and dance festival – a once-every-5-years event, and it starts with a parade so we wanted to see that. We walked out to the main road and there was a sea of spectators as well as and endless procession of people dressed in traditional Estonian outfits. Sometimes there were primary school kids, sometimes older people, sometimes playing music…We watched for awhile and took a heap of photos, and then started walking on towards the festival grounds.
We stopped at a fancy cafe for an hour or so.I had a macha latte and Kaoru had a latte. We didn’t need to be at the festival grounds for a couple of hours and enjoyed the sit down after all the walking. But we left and went to a supermarket to buy some food for the trip home, and a bottle of juice to drink.
We followed the procession another 15 minutes or so and went in to the festival ground. I think the entire population was there! Somehow we managed to find a spot on the grass to sit, but we were behind the speakers (so it was very loud) and we couldn’t see the screen. The audience were trying to get a Mexican wave going, and when they finally succeeded in going from the stage all the way to the back it was followed with a round of applause.
We were sitting on our homemade “sheets”. The ground was mostly dry, even though it had been raining earlier, as we were in the sun. But this kept us nice and clean, and i managed to lay down and even had a power nap!
The song festival was enjoyable. We couldn’tunderstand what they were saying and there was no translations, but the sense of pride these people had was very strong. I could see tears in the eye of one lady as they were singing what i assume was the national anthum.
Kaoru went and got us some food from a tent which was locally cooked meat, potatoes and sauerkraut. I got an ice cream for dessert, as it was still nice and warm in the sun. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
It was due to finish at 10. Boarding for our ferry starts at 11.30, and we estimated a 45 minute walk back to the port; but if everybody was leaving at once it would be much longer, and difficult to not get separated. So we headed off about 915, firstly by walking as close to the front as we could get, so we could experience the crowd more.
We walked in what we thought was the general direction of the port. We didn’t want to go on the main road again so walked through a park. There was a Japanese garden in it, with some japanese writing in it.Kaoru explained it was about a bloke who was giving visas to people even after being told he couldn’t, to let the Jews out of the country during communist rule.
Eventually we ended up back on the main road. We went in to a supermarket as we hadlearnt Finland doesn’t accept 1 and 2 cent coins, but we had a couple from our Baltic trip last week. We found a piece of chocolate for 27c which got rid of a heap of coins, and we felt like we had won, after losing the money from our bus passes.
As we approached the ferry terminal we werewell on time so stopped at a bar for a cider and rest. We got some more euro out from the ATM and went to the ferry port to pass the last 15 minutes before boarding.
Once on board we found our room. We had booked an interior room, so it would be dark (it was only one night). So we searched for our room and found we had the very front cabin (as in, facing the front of the ship)! We had 2 massive windows, and room for 2 more (but they were not cut out). We had a separate sitting and sleeping area! We had a huge bathroom! This was almost as big as the suites mum and dad get on their cruises!There was no bath but a massive shower. Then Kaoru opened the fridge and there was a sign saying “please enjoy these complimentary drinks”, which included a bottle of champagne. I had a look on the escape strategy diagram on the door and this was by far the biggest room on the ship.
We looked at our ticket and upon closer inspection, we must have decided to treat ourselves (since we weren’t paying accommodation), and we had in fact paid fora window room – the inside ones were all bunk beds. So the upgrade wasn’t quite as big as we had originally thought. But it was still a much better room than we had expected and the complimentary drinks werestill a surprise, so we cracked the bottle and watched the tv for a bit, before going to bed.
We woke around 8.30, and realizing we only had an hour before breakfast closed, went downstairs before showering. It was a big buffet with mostly Finnish style food. I had cold meats, salad, cheese, yogurt, fruit salad and hot chocolate.
After breakfast we showered and headed outfor the day. I left my backpack behind and just carried a water bottle, so it was a very easy day. We started by walking in to town and were pleasantly surprised to see a market operating! So we wandered through that, enjoying the smells of the fresh fruit.
We then walked along the water (Savonlinna is an island so there was plenty of it!) to the museum and walked around that for a bit. We then went to the castle and paid €10 for entrance to check it out. There was a guided tour starting in 10 minutes so we did that, and were able to go up into the towers, and learn some of the history of the castle.
By the time the tour was over it was almost 1.00 and we were hungry. Pipsa had told us about Hesburger -a Finnish fast food restaurant that was supposed to be good. We were thinking something like Mosburger, so thought we should give it a go; we had noticed one back in town. So in we went for our first and last. It really was just the same as McDonalds.
We went back to the market to get a Savonlinnain specialty – Lorsty (??). We had the sweet version – Kaoru had cloudberry and I had vanilla. It was basically a flat jam donut; it was nice and cleared the taste of fast burger from our mouths.
We had time to kill so walked aimlessly; we went in the Savinkinna cathedral, and a few other stores. About 3.00 I was feeling sleepy so went back to the hotel for a nap while Kaoru walked around on her own. By 4.30 Kaoru was back so we showered and put on our good clothes for the reason we had come all this way – our evening at the opera.
We were here to see The Barber of Seville. Kaoru had been to an opera before but it wasmy first time. We stopped by the supermarket to get a sandwich, and then had a beer at a food van just outside the castle walls, before excitedly going inside. We were still early so had to wait before we could take our seats.
The show was very enjoyable; a real modern version with some comedy in it. There were screens that gave a few english words to let you know the storyline at the current location. At interval i bought a bottle of waterbecause my mouth was getting quite dry.
The show finished around 10.15, so we went to the supermarket and bought an ice cream.I also had a drink left from yesterday’s purchase so we had that in the room and watched tv before bed.
Today was another slowish start. However something made Kaoru look at the train tickets and she noticed they were for tomorrow instead of today! So panic set in.
We went to the R kiosk downstairs and explained the situation. Luckily the person spoke and understood english so it wasn’t hard to get the problem rectified.
We didn’t have anything on until 11, so went to a cafe next to the R kiosk for breakfast, reorganized our bags, and headed off about 10.30. We caught the train to the city and goton a Panorama tour. It was still (just) with the 48 hours (by 17 minutes). So we got the same seats as we had used yesterday and enjoyed a different route of Helsinki. This included a stop at the rock cathedral – a cathedral built into the granite rock. It was a nice place but very touristy, and the staff were constantly shushing everybody. Unfortunately we were there 10 minutes afterour Helsinki card had run out so we had to pay the €3 to get in.
The tour finished late and we already had a tight schedule. So we hurried through the city and got to the train station with just enough time to get a sandwich for lunch, andthen got on our intercity train.
Strangely enough the seats on our ticket hadus sitting on either side of the aisle; so we summized the train was going to be full. But there was nobody next to, in front of, or behind me. Kaoru had somebody next to andin front of her. Strange.
On the journey we were watching as the scheduled time to get to each station, and the current time, were getting further and further apart. We knew there was a 6 minute transfer time, and by 2 stops before, we werealready over 20 minutes late. We waited withbaited breath on what would happen.
Luckily it all worked out. There was a train waiting on the platform but the screen only mentioned the train we were getting off. We saw somebody getting on the other train andasked them, and they confirmed it is going toSavonlinna. So another hour of traveling and we were there. We could see the castle as wearrived in town from the train window; it certainly stood out!
We got our bearings and walked to the hotel. It was only about 10 minutes and luckily wasn’t raining as we had hit some bad weather on the way. So we checked in to our room. This hotel wasn’t designed for couples; there were no double rooms. Our heads were at opposite ends of the bed with a big gap between! So we did some rearranging.
We were both pretty hungry so decided to treat ourselves to a proper meal. We found a restaurant with a view of the castle and shared a ceasar salad to start, with a whisky sour (it included an egg white so i had to give it a go as it was something i hadn’t seenbefore-really nice). I had lamb with lindumberries and veggies and gravy (and a beer). Kaoru had tortellini with pesto (so she didn’t have to share with me 😠). Then for dessert we had blueberry pie, with a cider dessert wine. €100 all up, so by far our most expensive meal, but it was worth every penny!
We walked closer to the castle to get some photos while nobody else was around. The castle was closed though for final rehersals. We went to the supermarket across the road and bought a few drinks (still before 9). We then went back to our room and watched tv for a couple of hours (we hadn’t done this before and needed a lazy evening).
I needed a sleep in this morning. Kaoru wokeme to say goodbye. I didn’t realize how late itwas (~9). So off she went to do some shopping. I had a shower and did a couple ofwork things, had a Skype with mum and dad,and was ready to leave myself around 10.15.
I got some breakfast (pastries from the supermarket) and caught a bus uptown, and went to the museum of technology. I got there just as it opened (11.00), so it was lucky i didn’t get there any earlier. I had a slow, nostalgic look at the history of technology and was amazed at what has been accomplished over a relatively short time.
There were a couple of extra buildings in the museum; these were from when it was a hydro electric plant. So i got to look around them too. And given it was raining, it was a good way to spend the morning. But eventually it was time to leave. I caught a bus back down towards the city. It was a bit of a walk from the bus stop to the market. Once i had grabbed a pastry i met Kaoru at our planned meeting point, to get on an Urban bus tour – a tour of the neighborhood’s.
We got a seat upstairs and looked at what we could through the wet windows. We stopped at the Aribba factory and museum, so got to have a 40 minute walk through there. The tour finally finished at about 3.
We went in to the main cathedral, and went down to the crypt to see an art exhibition that was on down there. On our way to the train station we suddenly realised we were outside the money museum so checked out their exhibition too.
At the train station we thought we would buyour train tickets for tomorrow. We got a number and it was going to be a long wait! i asked at the information counter and was told we could buy them from an r kiosk. That sounded easier! So we got that done in a matter of minutes.
Once back at the house Kaoru had a shower and did a load of washing. We packed our bags for the next day and then went out for pizza for dinner at a normal dinner time!
After dinner i went out for a couple of beers with Tommi and Ville – it was Tuesday night, after all! So they took me to a craft beer brewery nearby. We then went back to the house for Ville to make pea soup for Pipsa (as she missed out last night). We had a chatand then went home.
After a shower, the day started with us finding a cafe in the station for breakfast. The old lady in the shop spoke english so it was easy to find out what the various foods were.
Back in the room, i had to deal with some work issues while Kaoru planned the day. Once i had finished we left a little bit later than originally planned.
We caught the train in to the city first, and bought 48 hour Helsinki cards. With our Tallinn cards we got a €5 discount each which was great! We then caught the ferry over to Suomenlinna – the Finnish castle. Which is really a fort, consisting of 6 islands. We walked around a bit and then did a 1.00 guided tour of a part of one of the islands. It was a very windy day, and it was a cold wind.
We wandered round a bit more before catching a ferry back to the main land. We then walked to Amos Rex – a museum of modern art. Pipsa had told us about it and asit was included in our Helsinki pass, why not?Well it was a different exhibition than when Pipsa went and we were quite disappointed. The only consolation was that we hadn’t paid the €15 to get in.
We went outside and had a beer in a sheltered area so it wasn’t too cold, and looked at the discounts available to us with our pass. After the drink we went up to the state museum as it was only a 7 minute walkaway. I think this was my favorite museum of the trip. It had the most detail of the stone ages, and non war related historical events. Of course there were floors on the atrocities of people in the past as no museum would be compete without it.
After the museum we caught a tram back to the centre and walked to the docks. We grabbed some food from one of the few stalls still open at the market and then got on a 6.30 boat cruise around the bay (€30 worth, but included! ). Because it was so windy and cool, we went downstairs and hada drink, and stayed down there for the duration.
Once we were back at Port we got off and looked at a couple of restaurants on our way to the station, as we needed a “proper” meal instead of the junk we had been eating. But because of the food we had eaten as the cruise started, and it was already after 8, our plan was to get a pizza when we got home. On the way i got a message from Tommi inviting us to join him for a drink so we went with that option.
It was a different bar to where Kaoru and i had been last night – Tommi and Ville were on the roof top enjoying a cool beer. We wentto the supermarket before it closed and bought a few bottles, and then joined them for a couple of drinks.
Ville was going to make pea soup and invited us to join them so we thought why not? So we went back to their room and had a chat. Pipsa was in bed, so we didn’t see her. But had a couple of drinks and some good soup with a special Finnish mustard for flavoring. We then went back to our room and called it a night. It was almost even dark!