Baltic Cruise - Helsinki

Hi, We visited Porvoo, in Finland, before returning to Helsinki for a short tour.  The town is one of the oldest in Finland, having been established in the 14th century. It is about 30 miles from Helsinki.  We were taken for a short walking tour and then had some time on our own.

The town is on a river and has some very picturesque buildings.

There is a main shopping street.

On our walk up to a church we encountered this statue of Finnish composer Gabriel Linsen.

The homes were well kept.  This is typical.

The belfry of the church was in a separate building.

I don't know the reason for this ship model in the church.

More scenes around Porvoo.

After looking around town we took about 1/2 hour boat ride to the location where we would have lunch.  On the boat ride we encountered this old ship which makes a daily run from Helsinki to Porvoo.

Fishing from a Kayak on the river.

Homes along the river are very popular.

After we disembarked our boat returned to Porvoo and

we walked up hill to the restaurant in this building.  The grounds were beautiful.

On our return to Helsinki we visited the Rock Church.  A pit was carved out of solid rock and then rock was used to build up the walls.  Finally glass and a roof were built.

Our final stop was at the White Church. 

It had a tram line out front.

We walked down to a market instead of visiting the church and encountered an older model tram.

All kinds of food was sold in the market

including salmon steaks.

This church was on a hill near the market.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.  The next post will cover part or all of our visit to St. Petersburg in Russia.

Baltic Cruise - Stockholm

Hi, After another day at sea we arrived at Stockholm.  Our tour on this day included the City Hall, a walk through old town, the changing of the guard at the palace, a church, and the Swedish Man of War Vasa.

The City Hall is the location for the annual Nobel Prize Award banquet and ceremony.  It is a huge building with a large courtyard.

There is a grand staircase and a balcony

overlooking the main floor where the banquet is held.

Sweden has some old ships that ply its rivers.

I don't know anything about this ship but thought it was really interesting.

From City Hall we took a short walk through the older part of the city

winding up in a small square where some street musicians were playing steel drums.

From here most of the people on the tour went to see the changing of the guard at the palace.  It was a long ceremony and I did not have a good position to view the ceremony, only the band

and new guard arriving

and the old guard and

band departing.

Our next stop was the Coronation Cathedral. 

While driving to our last stop, to see the Swedish Man of War Vasa I was able to take some photos out of the window of the bus.

The Vasa was completed in 1628 and sank within 20 minutes of launch.  Apparently the ship was top heavy and started to roll badly in the swells.  The rocks used for ballast in the bottom of the ship were round and smooth.  Hence, they shifted easily when the ship rolled and made the list impossible to recover from.

The ship was located in the 1950s and salvaged in 1961.  She was housed in a temporary museum.  In November 1987 a permanent museum was begun over and around an old dry dock and the Vasa was floated into the dry dock in December 1988.

Shown below is a model of the ship as she is thought to of appeared.

Here are numerous views of the actual ship.

Thanks for looking.