Finland and Estonia

I found out a few friends of mine who I met in Ottawa were planning a little reunion.  Since I still had a couple of weeks before work started I booked a flight to Helsinki and headed out the next day.  I was getting a little crazy from sitting in the apartment waiting for my residence card. 

Since I was in a few days before the folks I knew from Ottawa I had a chance to do some exploring, I got in touch with a buddy of mine from Australia and he came up to hang out.  We wandered around Helsinki.  After a bit of exploring we decided to go over to Estonia.  For those who don't know you can take a ferry for about 2 hours from Helsinki and get to Tallinn, which is in Estonia.  The ferry is quite cheap (around 40 euro's return).  If you've been in Helsinki for a few days I think that you can't afford not to go to Estonia.  Tallinn is a world of different from Helsinki, the old town is very beautiful and has some nice walls surrounding it.  There's plenty of cheap beer, and of course a few old churches.  If you're in Estonia I recommend not drinking the honey beer.  Sadly its comprised of Honey and beer... instead of being created with honey in the brewing process.  The result is horrible.   And it sticks to your face a lot.

After our Estonian adventures we parted ways and I went to go and meet up with the Ottawa group.  We spent a few days more exploring in Helsinki and playing far too many games of kings cup. 

If you're in Helsinki Don't forget to see Suomenlinna Sveaborg the fortress island.  (http://www.suomenlinna.fi/en)  It's an amazing set of islands that were fortified for various reasons.  There are really cool passages through all the walls that you can explore (A light may come in handy).  If you're looking for a place to stay I stayed in a great hostel.  The hostel had plugs, and lights in each bunk.  The dorms are a little big but pretty nice, and the common area is great to meet traveling buddies.  The place is called Cheap Sleep (http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/CheapSleep-Helsinki/Helsinki/59673?load=top)

Pictures of Helsinki: 
 

The Cathedral

Me in front of the Cathedral (On a different Cloudier day)

Another church.  Apparently a couple of years ago someone stole one of the "Onions" because they're made of real gold.  Or at least that's what I was told.

There are even some bubble blowing hippies!

Reindeer Balls! ... Quite tasty... and to be specific they're balls made of reindeer.

Some crazy baby statues were everywhere!

The Fortress Island (I think the bunkers look like Hobbit houses!)

More pictures of Hobbit Houses/Bunkers

Fortress Walls and one of the many Tall ships I saw.

Example of the inside of the castle walls.  Some of these passages are very long and don't have lights at the end.

The rocks and seafront in Helsinki at sunset.

 Estonia Pictures: 

The Gate we entered the old town through.

One of the neat old churches in Tallinn

The Russian Orthodox style church.

View from the Lookout Point over Old Town

 

A good example of the thin small houses, with another church in the background.

Really cool looking modern building (to offset all the old ones I guess)