Postcard from Helsinki




Greetings from Helsinki, Finland - the land of the midnight sun. And I have to say, the sun has been out well past midnight on most days.

I should ideally be in bed since I've been suffering from a bad cold, fever and delhi belly. But all of that has not stopped my penchant for rambling.

I've sailed along the wonderful Helsinki Archipalgo several times now and I have to say the views are specatular. Helsinki is made up of about 314 little islands. The Helsinki zoo is on one of them and has Europe's only snowleopards(or so they claim). The market square is colourful with people selling fresh fruits, vegetables, ready cooked food like reindeer and fish, plenty of fresh fish here, some of it being sold on boats. My dad would love this place

There are also vendors selling handpainted artifacts and handicrafts. Even reindeer skins and furs are a plenty here. The Suomenlina fortress is amazing and well worth the trip. I went into a World War II submarine and I felt so sorry for the poor sailors who had to endure living in them. It is hot in there. I've also been on a dinner cruise along the Archipelago which lasted over 2.5 hours . I've got to come back in the winter because i was told that the lakes and seas freeze and the ice is over 3 metres deep and so they actually drive cars over the ice to go from one island to the next. Saunas are popular here and in the winter they cut a hole in the ice, jump in and jump out and rush back to the saunas. I've simply got to see this for myself.

I've done a lot in these last few days and like any other holiday, I really don't want this this to end. But time has a funny way of moving along rapidly when one is having fun. And before I know it, I'll be back in London stuck behind a desk at my bank, covered in paperwork.

So for the moment, I'll sit back, relax and pretend like this holiday will last forever........can you seriously blame me?

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