From Land and Sea: The Beauty of Helsinki
From both land and sea, the attractive and eminently walkable city of Helsinki is home to numerous parks, museums, art galleries and design houses. Make it part of your Finland itinerary! I am visiting Helsinki’s south harbour,...
Ferry Ride to Finland: Homesick for Canada
a followsummer travel memory from 2004 The alarm goes early – 5:30. For a change, it wakes me. The coffee is ready-to-go, and although I am not interested in food, I have my cereal with yogurt and a banana. At 6:00, I make sure...
Happy to Be in Helsinki, Finlandia Again!
I am so happy to be in Finland again! I traveled here in 2000 with my mother, and we visited southern Finland before we went on to St. Petersburg. I was impressed with Finland – beautiful, clean, birch and pine-covered land with...
The Beautiful Light of St. Petersburg, Russia
It is our last day in St. Petersburg, and the light is beautiful. Our train is not until 4:30 and we have officially finished with our guide Nico so we pack and organize ourselves, check out of the hotel and grab the number 22...
Crossing Finnish Borders
Helsinki is draped in low-lying, grey clouds this morning and a cool, continuous rain is falling as we head downstairs for breakfast at 9:00. There is chaos (in a Finnish way!) in the breakfast room as clearly every hotel guest,...
We Can’t Afford the Beer in Helsinki!
Wednesday, July 7th, 2004: Helsinki, Finland Kouvola to Helsinki: 137 kilometres The drive from Kouvola to Helsinki is an easy one – the only stop we make is to take photos of one of the brilliant yellow mustard fields. We arrive...
Change of Plans: ‘Turn West at Umea’
Saturday, July 10th, 2004: Dorotea, Sweden N 64 E 016 Kemi to Dorotea: 631 kilometres The weather is at least with us today as we spend another big day of driving. The sun is out and is a steady beacon as we head south and west....