On this leg of the journey, my friend Andrea came to meet me (and to brave the December temps)! 🥶😉

We stayed in Helsinki and mostly explored the city by foot, bundling and layering in order to fend off the brisk wind and intermittent snow flakes. It got as cold as 7 degrees Fahrenheit but the weather report stated that it ‘felt like -13’. We appreciated the friendly locals, warm cafes and hot Glogg to keep us from freezing.

Cathedral and Christmas market

In Senate Square, in the center of Helsinki, is the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran cathedral, built in 1830. Nearby is the yearly Christmas market with lots of festive stalls containing everything from Finnish souvenirs, warm hats and gloves, hot chocolate and glogg, to tasty dishes like fish and chips and salmon soup. 😋

Sauna and exploring the city

Finns have a culture of visiting saunas in the winter to warm up from the constant cold, so of course we had to try one! We visited a local sauna that sits on the Gulf of Finland and if you get too over heated, you can jump in the water to cool off! I was not brave enough to do this, but you can see that the stairway leads directly into the Gulf.

Walking around the city in the dark (the sun rises late and sets early in winter) we noticed that there were lots of families outside, playing in parks and on swings, running and skipping. Even in the cold and dark conditions, loads of people were out enjoying the day.

Tallinn, Estonia

We took a 2 hour, swanky ferry ride 😂, from Helsinki to Tallinn, Estonia, across the gulf to visit for the afternoon. There was a cute Christmas market, a nice cafe that gave us a reprieve from the snow, and a neat museum that had old bastions previously used to protect the city and as bomb shelters during conflicts of the past.

Soumenlinna

We took a smaller ferry to an inhabited sea fortress about 4km south of the city of Helsinki. Originally built by the Swedish crown in 1748 as protection against Russian expansionism, it is now a UNESCO World Heritage site and a lovely place to walk around and picnic (mainly when it’s warm). On the day we visited, I almost froze, but we did find an inviting cafe on the island that served delicious hot chocolate, and the views from here were lovely.

Pizza!

Props to Andrea for figuring out how to order pizza one night, on a Finnish website, when all of the reasonably priced restaurants near our airbnb were closed and it was super cold outside (it was a long day and the thought of a long walk in the cold was daunting)! Big win for us! 🎉🍕

Next up, Iceland =)