Helsinki

Train trip from Saint Petersberg was fine, except for the drag of the border crossing. It's much faster than Mongolia to Russia, but it's still about 90 minutes, half of the Russian side than then again on the Finnish side. The nuisance is that the ventilation doesn't work when the train is stopped and the train heats up considerably, so it's quite uncomfortable.

Our hotel in Helsinki is 50m from the train station and very well located in the city. Helsinki is a compact and attractive city. People sit at open cafes having coffee or a drink, particularly in the evening.

We did a 1 hour city tour, which is a good orientation. We've wandered the streets, been to the marketplace and we took an afternoon trip to Soumenlinna. This is a World Heritage listed area - a group of fortified islands in Helsinki harbour. Built by the Swedes as a defense against the Russians in the 18th century, they later fell to Russia in the early 19th century (as did all of Finland). The fort was actually bombarded by the British & French during the Crimean War (I thought that the Crimean War took place in the Crimea, not the Baltic!). The islands are are popular picnic spot, with various old buildings, paths, parks, beaches and fortifications.

We've had a look at the shops and have just seen the Finnish Art Gallery (the Ateneum) - interesting to see the story of Finnish art. We'll see a little more this afternoon and then we go to Tallinin (Estonia) for the day tomorrow.