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.