Finally a clock that tells the true time

Post for 1 September

After a late night we had arranged with Riikka to meet us for breakfast at 9 am at the Albert Hotel.  In the end, we sent her a message this morning and put everything back 30 minutes.  We don't need to check out until noon, so it makes it easy.

Both of the major churches that we want to see have services this morning and are not open to visitors until after 12 anyway.
It was certainly worth the measly €8 for the convenience of having the car on-site. We have got the packing down pat now and having sent some of our clothing, shoes and books etc back by post, we now have more balanced and lighter suitcases.  So right at noon we pack the bags into the car and wriggle out of the very tight car space.

Or first stop is at Uspenski Cathedral.  We park right in front in a private car park. Either not too many people know about this hidden gem, or are not prepared to pay €5 for an hour's visit. I don't care and really are appreciative of the fact that I don't need to walk too far!  And finally, a Church clock that has the correct time!!

This is an Eastern Orthodox cathedral in Helsinki, and the main cathedral of the Orthodox Church of Finland, dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos (the Virgin Mary). Its name comes from the Old Church Slavonic word uspenie. It is built in the Russian Orthodox style with gold plated orbs atop the turrets and church high points. Riikka has explained that if you want to be officially recorded in a religion, and have the option of choosing religious education for your children, then you need to pay a religious tax in Finland. The joke is that most of the tax goes to replace or add to the gold leaf atop this Cathedral on a regular basis.  

There are signs at the entrances saying 'No Tourists' but after countless others push past us to walk in, and some soul-searching on our part, we decided to also take a quick peek.

Inside the air is thick with the remnants of the incense used in the services this morning and it creates and it creates whorls as the sunlight streams through from the windows.  It is ornate with gilt and iconographic pieces.  As we are here, a small wedding party has arrived in a late model Porsche and is directed to the Krypt - presumably for their service.

While not particularly old, the Cathedral is striking from near and far with that gleaming gold against the green capped rooflines.

The next church we visit is in the other quarter of the waterside centre.  This is the Helsinki Lutheran Cathedral (Tuomiokirkko). This is a very large imposing white building with a green domed roof.  It towers over the large and impressive Senate Square. 

Getting a car park in the street below the Cathedral, we entered through the Krypt that was currently home to an interesting art exhibition by Makela Pirkko. 

Inside, this building is humble and understated and is in direct contrast to the ornate orthodox church we have just seen.  The Lutheran religion does not put the emphasis on the altar, but rather, on the pulpit where the priest preaches the word of God.  

The young, female priest, dressed in a brightly coloured striped dress leaves as we take a seat in the pew.  She was not more than 35.

We wandered out to the top of the steps of the Senate Square, observing the very geometric layout of the architecture around this impressive square.  Down around the fountain, there is a flurry of activity which appears to be the packup after last night's Midnight Run through Helsinki - celebrating the last day of Summer here!

After this, Riikka gave us an hour tour through the streets of Helsinki and out along the waterside residential areas.  I particularly loved the new Helsinki Wave Library set is wide, open lawned areas.

We finally dropped her off outside Taro's home with lots of hugs and kisses and genuine love.  It has been so lovely to spend special time with her and to have time with the family generally.  We are already planning to catch up again when Riikka and Runo come out to Australia looking at job opportunities next March or April. 

Flying to Stockholm tonight, we say goodbye to Finland and watch some of their thousand of islands and islets dwarf as we move away, and the fingers of water that move into the countryside slip away.  As we near Sweden, the clouds start to appear.  Once we are over this coastline, it is evident that although there are some islands off the coast and rivers extending away from the coast, there is not as many as Finland.  And the forests here are denser, more tightly sown and yet another different green.  So close, and yet already we see the differences.











The clouds thickened, the cotton wool became denser, the plane shuddered a few times, buffeted by the storm and just under the hour later, we landed at Stockholm (Arlanda) airport.  I pulled my irksome ankle as we walked the half kilometre from the gate to the baggage claim area. So now I am really hobbling.

We caught a cab to the Raddison Blu Arlandia hotel and have already decided that we will book another night and have a rest day tomorrow to try to soothe it.  The cabbie told us it had been raining on and off today and we promised him clear skies tomorrow.  He laughed it off and we had to convince him that we have taken the sunshine everywhere we have been!


Dinner tonight was ordered in - Donna had a HUGE Caesar Salad with Chicken and I had the Swedish Meatballs with Lingonberries and mashed potato.  Nice to just veg.

Up, up and away . . . away . . . vroom vroom

It was a day of travel.
We left Kirkenes this morning just as it began to rain.
The Taxi Cab office was in the same building as the hotel and we had been told to just knock on the door when we needed to go to the Airport. There were about 6 drivers all in out of the weather in a smoke filled room. They decided that the youngest driver was the one to take us and told him so.
So we loaded our bags into a fairly new Mercedes station-wagon - we only travel in style. The driver made small talk, found an English music station on the radio (Tina Tina a la 70s) and was rewarded when we left the balance of our NOK with him. He had quoted us 350 NOK, the meter said 305 NOK and he said just to pay 300 NOK. Smile on the dial when he

realised that we gave him 550 NOK and told him that we were leaving Norway. Sometimes it pays to be at the bottom of the ladder!

We arrived at the airport about 9 am so we could be well ahead of the Hurtigruten bus of people.
Doesn't really matter as we have allocated seats. Plane was full and we got on near to last so that people did n't need to be pushing past. Getting out to the plane was interesting in the rain. Like at Hervey Bay, you need to walk out to the plane and climb the stairs. People bunched up and hurried in small groups so that you did not have to wait to long in the (light) rain. It was however quite cool at about 8 degrees. We left a few minutes late and landed at Oslo late. Oslo is a balmy 26 degrees.

At Oslo we thankfully disembarked via the flybridge, and with about 30 minutes only to our next flight, had to hurry from one terminal to the other at the far end - as always!
Our flight from Oslo to Helsinki is leaving from one of the outer parks on the tarmac. We are cram into a bus and are taken to the planeside. Smaller plane, and they are not allowing bigger hand luggage to be carried on - instead, they are stowed under the plane - a few disgruntled people, but honestly, some of them take 'hand luggage' to the extreme. They do not police it half as rigorously as they do at home.

The steps up into this plane are very steep and we wait until the last to get on so that Donna can give me a 'bottom' nudge to help!
This plane is a 2+2 combination so we can sit together without feeling pressured to let others off in a hurry. There are a number of people hanging back to get off so I take the opportunity to go. Trouble was, those stairs were worse going down with the rails not starting until the very edge of the first step.

Helsinki airport is spread out. Again, it is warm when we land 24 degrees (at 5 pm). It takes a bit to find the hire car desks, but when we do Giulia is very helpful and efficient and we are on our way over to find our car about 15 minutes later.
We are driving an Opel Astra stationwagon with 3842 kms only on the clock. Nice to drive and very roomy.

And so we head northeast for Turku. It is 168.3 km and the speed varies from 50 kph in the city to 120 kph on the open motorway. We drove in to the street where our accommodation is right on 8 pm. Can't find the apartment anywhere and although we have phoned the owner who is meeting us with the key, we need to phone again and talk through instructions on where the unit is. Turns out that the street number relates to the block, not the building. Funny how a Lidl supermarket can be a placemarker :)

The apartment is a 3 bedroom, with tiny lounge and reasonable kitchenette (not that we intend using it!) and not one but two bathrooms. It also has a washing machine so we make use of that. There is no parking at the apartment, but street parking is free between 6 pm and 9 am and we found a spot about 100 metres away.

We are going through the bags in the morning and deciding what to donate via Riikka, and what to send home via post - we seriously need to shed some weight and get rid of all the useless winter clothes - hardly needed anything really.

Went for a quick drive to find somewhere to have dinner after a foot reconnaissance didn't come up with anything in the immediate area. End up at the Pinella Bar and Restaurant on the River Aura. Set menu of three courses:
Entree - Gravlax Tartar (1960) with whole grain mustard and dill oil
Main - Parilla Grilled Beef Steak (1940) beef fillet, Cafe de Paris butter and garlic potatoes
Dessert - Ice Cream Cake (1950) sponge cake, Frozen berry

coulis, chocolate icecream topped with torched marshmallow and minute flowers.

The city is filled with new University students tonight, out celebrating 'O' week.  Noisy, boisterous and all having fun.  Lots of groups ranging from 10 - 20 people. And we watch some people trying to manoeuvre a speedboat into a berth on the river without any lights. 

Back at the apartment now tired as! Time for bed.