8th December 2025

Tallinn to Helsinki

Usual sleep pattern l, only made bearable by fact that midnight dashes to bathroom were across a tile with underfloor tiling.

A Supermaket bought breakfast, quick repack and we were soon in our Uber headed for Terminsl D to start our sojourn to Helsinki and say goodbye to another magical city.

A very modern terminal not that different to an airline terminal greeted us and we went through checkin quickly and were soon sipping coffee in the waiting lounge.

Struck a group of Aussies who just arrived back from Northetn Lights cruise where they saw the lights. Hope the luck rubs off.

They made us shiver just hearing stories of minus 30 degrees on some days at places we visit over the next 10 days.

Soon onboard in a well appointed lounge in a ship which turned out to be a floating Duty Free shopping centre. One area about 150 square metres was about fashion and personal items whilst the deck below had a similar area allocated silly to alcohol. Surprisingly there was a pokies salon on board.

A smooth trip of just 2 hours had us passing a craggy group of little island before disembarking in the huge harbour area.

Next was a 2 km walk to town with suitcases in hand, passing a weird welcoming statue.

Thankfully walk was on paths with a little bit of grit rather than cobblestones.

Arrived at Art Nouveau hotel, which was previously a dormitory for male technology students, to be warmly greeted by the staff and given early access into our room.

Dropped the bags and headed down to the former market on the harbourside which had been converted into a cafe/restaurant precinct with a real multicultural offering.

Grabbed a sandwich and beer at an eye watering cost which set the scene for rest of day and likely the next two weeks in Scandinavia.

No rest for the wicked and we headed into Central Helsinki, which is a vibrant, modern and seemingly sophisticated place.

A bit of shopping in an upmarket DJ’s, search for a pharmacy, where drug prices matched the lunch, then down to the market passing some very clever Xmas decorations on the way.

The market was in a square overlooked by some very impressive buildings. It was a little different to the others in Tallinn and Riga with more emphasis on goods. That said there was plenty of stalls selling food and various warming alcohol infused drinks.

surprisingly the centrepiece was not a tree but a huge statue.

The biggest queue was at the hut selling the Korean equivalent  of a Pluto Pup / Dagwood Dog  or a Dippy Dog if you hailed from Adelaide. Only difference it was reindeer not a Frankfurt dipped and fried. 

Gave it a miss and continued to deplete the stock of reindeer by having a toastie with a dash of Prancer, Brie and cherry jelly on a sourdough piece of bread bigger than an open hand. Supplemented it with a mulled wine and sat in a wooden cabana with a few young Finns.

The day was flying by and at 600 we began a crooked walk back to our hotel.

Managed the amazing feat of staying awake until 900pm. 

Tomorrow will be a bit of sightseeing then meeting the tour group.