Monday, July 22, 2002
Location: Brasserie restaurant, Ramada Hotel, Helsinki
Weather: Cloudy & warm

On Sunday morning we got up late and once again hit the breakfast buffet. I felt in no hurry to get out and see Tallinn, but packed up by suitcase and spent some more time on the hotel's comupter and wrapping up my Estonian postcards. As we started to assemble in the lobby, I had a quick game of chess with Lanny. By the time we finished our group was loading the first bus, and I had to scramble to get my suitcase from the Left Luggage and get out. The first bus had already left and there were too many people for the second one. We piled luggage into the seats at back of the bus and left a dozen people behind in a thin drizzle to wait for the first bus to get back. Fortunately the port was only five minutes away, so they weren't waiting long.

The ferry terminal was a zoo. Apparently this is the end of a Finn holiday week, so thousands were streaming home, all apparently taking several cases of Estonian beer back with them. There were long lineups to clear the border exit controls, and it was very hot, but before long we were through and bording the ferry.

The m/s Romantika was huge and very modern. Nine decks included a sun deck, a casino and nightclub, a large duty free grocery store, five or six restaurants, two car decks, a sauna facility, and hundreds of cabins. Our package deal included a buffet lunch, and we started there. The buffet was massive and suitably Scandanavian, with huge platters of smoked salmon and pickled mackerel, prawns and breaded crab. We gorged ourselves on pork chops, salad, nasi goreng, ice cream and a wonderful chocolate mousse, fresh fruit and more.

For most of the rest of the crossing we sat in the breeze on the sun deck. It was overcast, but the air was still warm and despite the wind I felt comfortable in short sleeves. The 3 1/2 hour trip left enough time for a stop in the duty free, where I picked up chocolate and a surprisingly expensive bottle of blackberry infused vodka.

We pulled through the outer islands of Helsinki's harbour. The spires of the old town rose up to the right, while the left was dominated by an immense port with cargo and shipbuilding facilities, massive cranes and row upon row of container storage warehouses. The town seemed quite flat, set on gently rolling hills.

We were picked up by new buses outside the terminal and had a 15 minute drive to the hotel. In the dull light Helsinki was less immediately impressive than St. Petersburg and Tallinn. Our hotel, right downtown next door to the railway station, was not new but was nonetheless comfortable. Unfortunately Lanny and I were assigned a smoking room that reeks heavily.

After a brief pause to unpack, our little subgroup -- Lanny, Brian, Ngaio, Mary Jo and her father Carl, and me -- got together in the lobby, got a couple of maps from the front desk, and headed out to find a bar or cafe for dinner. I'd surrepticiously packed a sandwich at the breakfast and lunch buffets, so I didn't really need anything else to eat, but after the journey we all needed a drink.

The area around the rather impressive railway station turned out to be pretty ugly and most of the stores and restaurants were closed. We finally found a small Tex-Mex bar and had beer, cider and nachos. Back at the hotel we broke open the blackberry vodka (which was lovely) and taught Ngaio to play Hearts (which she picked up very quickly). Yet another great day...
posted by Tom at 8:47 AM | link |