Category Finland

A Few Days In Helsinki – Part Two
Continuing my short break in Helsinki………. Suomenlinna Islands This was the undoubted highlight of the weekend. Suomenlinna (Castle of Finland) is an inhabited sea fortress built on eight islands and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. During the Finnish War of 1808, Sweden surrendered the fortress that they had started building in 1748 to Russia, paving the way […]

A Few Days in Helsinki – Part One
I recently had a work assignment that took me to the Finnish capital for a week, so naturally I tacked the weekend onto my trip with my sister Jackie joining me for a few days. Finnish History When you think of Finland today, you probably get thoughts of a peaceful nation with a fabulous economy […]

Scandinavia Tour 2022 Part One – Finland
After over three years of hoping, we finally had to give up on the idea of taking the trans-Siberian Express across Russia. COVID and the unjust & appalling war put paid to our journey from Baltic to Pacific, from Helsinki to Vladivostok. So what to do with our flight to Helsinki? We decided to head […]
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Monday Morning Blues – The Baltic Sea off Helsinki
To celebrate my planned train trip around Scandinavia, I have gone for a picture from my last visit to the region in September 2019, for this week’s Monday Morning Blues. I had a week working in the Finnish capital and took the opportunity to fly my big sister Jackie over for some sightseeing. This picture […]
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Euro 2020 Match Day 11 – Belgium v Finland
The Belgians take on the Finns in their last group game which is taking place in St Petersburg Finland Composer Sibelius is perhaps Finland’s most famous non-sporting son (unless you know better?) and fittingly he has his own monument. It is sited in a public park (fittingly called Sibelius Park) in the north of Helsinki […]

Euro 2020 Match Day 6 – Finland v Russia
Day six kicks off with a match up between neighbouring countries. The fact that it is in St Petersburg makes it a very short trip indeed for the Finns. With Finland once under Russia’s rule, this is likely to be a fiercely contested match. Finland I last visited Helsinki in 2019. I actually worked there […]

Euro 2020 Match Day 2 – Denmark v Finland
A Nordic derby takes place in Copenhagen this evening. My first visit to the countries was during inter-rail trips two and three – 1989 to Denmark and 1992 to Finland. Denmark So my first entry into Denmark was by train, starting in Amsterdam and onto Hamburg, then into Danish territory by ferry. Excitingly we our […]

Sunday Photos – Bear Park Lake, Helsinki, Finland
I took these shots in September 2019. I was lucky enough to have spent a week working in the Finnish capital, with the weekend tacked on for exploring. Bear Park Lake, Helsinki

2019 Ends, 2020 Beckons
“A postponed journey means a very special future opportunity.” So say I after having to cancel two booked trips last January, which have now been re-scheduled for early 2020. More of those later, what about the trips actually undertaken in 2019? Athens A late February stay in our central Athens apartment so we could visit […]