Jun 6 Helsinki, Finland

 Jun 6   Helsinki, Finland

Our only Finnish port, Helsinki, is the capitol city.

Another beautiful sunny day!  16-18°

Our guide for today, Tuula, gave us lots of information about Finland and Helsinki - too much information for me to recall and relate!  I have included many links for anyone interested in reading more about any of the topics.

It seems there were always wars going on in the Nordic countries.  Sweden vs Denmark, Sweden vs Russia etc.  After the 1917 Russian Revolution Finland became independent.  The current President of the Republic is young, active and popular with the people.  It is part of the European Union and just recently was accepted as a member of NATO.  Helsinkl was founded in 1516 by Swedes

Surrounded by water on three sides - west, south and east.  We drove by many buildings devoted to culture and the arts - library, concert hall ( almost half the space is underground! ) art galleries, museums and an opera house built in 1992. 

We drove by the Olympic stadium where Tuula told us about a famous Olympic athlete they called  Flying Finn!  He had a phenomenal record in track that stood for many years.

We stopped at a park to see a monument to Jean Sibelius, the famous Finnish Composer, renowned for his seven symphonies among other works.  In his honour Helsinki hosts the Sibelius Violin Competition every 5 years.

From the Senate Square we walked to Market Square on the harbour to board  ‘Emma’, our sightseeing boat for a cruise around the  Helsinki Archipelago.  It was a glorious day to be out on the water exploring some of the islands.

We passed  the famous Suomenlinna Fortress, the Helsinki Zoo and the Icebreaker Pier, where Finland's icebreaker fleet rests at its summer mooring.

After our enjoyable cruise we returned to the ship. 

Helsinki was a bit of a surprise!  I don’t know what I expected but it is a beautiful city - clean, interesting architecture, so many green spaces including the islands of the archipelago! This was a very enjoyable port!

Here are some random photos from our drive through the city.

 

Dinner was great as usual!  I had the best starter yet!  Potted Shrimp!  It was a small ramekin with teeny tiny shrimp floating in garlic butter with pumpernickel garlic bread for dipping!!!  Oh my!!🤤  Our main course was pot roast and for dessert Mary had Black Forest Cake and Dorothy had Cocoanut Crème Brûlée! 

Then on to the show!  Tonight our Cruise Director, Dan Looney, was the entertainer!  It was a very moving show as he told his life story through the music of his life from childhood through his teen years, through  battling depression, to his present position as Cruise Director. 

This was a write up on Cruise Critic about his show from March.

The current Cruise Director, Dan Looney, who is a vocalist and a producer of a number of West End shows, delivered a poignant and buoyant show, depicting different parts of his life including when he hit rock bottom back in 2023 after a falling out with his partners. Dan shared with us that he almost did not make it and at that moment, I felt the whole audience frozen in shock and sympathy. 

 

Dan's "finale" was "My Way" written by Paul Anka but made famous by Frank Sinatra. While he was singing, photos were shown on the screens capturing his life from childhood through his professional career including painful raw emotions during his downward spiral. Eventually, he conquers his demons with much love and support.

 

"Finale" is in quotes because Dan hinted that his finale was not really the finale because he had an encore prepared, so we should all clap and yell for more after the "finale." The audience willingly obliged and he thanked the audience for indulging his ego. His encore was "This is the Moment" from the Jekyll & Hyde musical. The lyrics perfectly capture his current triumphant state of being.

 

This has been a great day!!!

The Two Happy Travellers

😀😃