Scandinavia! Helsinki Finland last entry

Enjoy some parting shots of this fascinating city. Thank you for traveling with us. Cheers

Scandinavia! Helsinki Finland Day 11 c

Suomenlinna Fortress. Vesikko submarine. Built in the 1930's, served in WWII. Decommissioned after this war. Wow, talk about tight quarters.

Scandinavia! Helsinki Finland Day b

Scenes at the fortress, Suomenlinna. Enjoy!

Scandinavia! Helsinki Finland Day 11 a

A day in Helsinki, what to do? Our choice is to ferry out to Suomenlinna, sea fortress. The Swedish crown commenced construction in 1748 as protection against the Russians. It has seen many conflicts through the last 300 years including WWII. It was decommissioned in 1973. Fortress is spread over 8 islands, has about 400 permanent residents and is an UNESCO world heritage sight. We wandered the islands for a couple of hours,...could have easily spent days. More photos of the fort are in next blog entry. The photos in this entry are of our journey out through the islands and one of a WWII anti aircraft gun from one of the islands. The photo of the entry into the harbor is our ship, on the left, that brought us to Helsinki. Check out the next entry.

Scandinavia! Helsinki Day 10 b

A few more photos of this capital city, Helsinki. Church of the Rock (we wandered in just in time to hear an organ concert), train station and parliament.

Scandinavia! Helsinki Day 10 a

Helsinki! The capital of Finland and its most populous city. Located on shore of the gulf of Finland. History of this country goes back centuries to the Iron Age and the Tavastians. There is some evidence of inhabitants in the following centuries but not much has been found. Swedes colonized the coastline in the late 13th century after the successful Second Crusade to Finland defeating the Tavastians. Sweden controlled this area until the tsar of Russia came in to rule for 8 years 1713-1721 then Sweden regained control. It went back and forth between these 2 until after WWI, 1917 Finland declared its independence. Helsinki has a very urban and progressive feel to it. We had fun riding the hop on and off bus to learn and see this city. Although have to admit a few of us had a hard time staying awake... 😊. Photos are of the harbor square, Helsinki cathedral, market square and library. One more day to explore tomorrow then begin journey home. Keep reading.

Scandinavia- Finland Day 10

Hello Helsinki! A few photos as our ship threaded its way around rock islands into the Helsinki harbor.

Scandinavia- sailing through Baltic Sea Day 9

On the move again! Boarded a part cruise ship part ferry and set out into the Baltic Sea on our way to the Bay of Finland and Helsinki. We had so much fun, drinking in the pub in the aft as we sailed through the archipelago, dinner buffet, and karaoke! Totally a first cause every song seemed to be in a different language. Not sure what anyone was singing, except us 🎶😊. Tomorrow, our last country on this adventure, Finland!

Scandinavia Day 9

Goodbye to Sweden today and board ship bound for Finland. But first, how to while away the hours before boarding. Let's go to a museum! One cannot go to Stockholm and not visit the Vasa Museum. Vasa was built in 1626, launched March 1627, sank 1300 meters into her maiden voyage. It was the most ornate, opulent, heavily armed ship in its time. The 2 decks of 64 cannons on a keel 1 meter too narrow. Richly decorated as a symbol of the king's ambitions for Sweden and himself, upon its completion it was one of the most powerful armed vessels in the world. Too much weight in the upper structure and too narrow of a keel doomed its existence within 20 minutes sailing by a slight breeze. Of course, there were crowds to witness the embarrassment to the king. Fortunately out of the 450 people on board, only 15 were not able to escape. The Vasa was located and raised in 1961. 17 years of restoration work and now stands proudly in its own museum. It was truly impressive.

Scandinavia! Stockholm Sweden Day 8

A day totally unstructured, no tour guide, no bikes, no meeting times....seems odd after more than 4 weeks of planned days. Of course, now we are done biking, the sun comes out and the winds die down. Isn't that the way it always goes....oh well. We were able to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. The four of us set out to boost the Swedish economy by leaving lots of USD, ... we went shopping. But first, a stop at the ABBA museum. Who knew there would be a museum?!? It was pretty cool. Learned lots about the group, the 4 individuals and the movies. Lots of artifacts and costumes. Very fun! Then off to shop for bike jerseys. Swear they size them for Lilliputians. Mark is snug in a men's 2x. Nice shop. Then we ventured into the metro subway system in search of the Hard Rock. Found it! Lunch and our obligatory T-shirt & pin. Back into the metro to the Old Town Gamla Stan. Shining objects in a store window caught out attention and a few USDs. Then we kinda took the scenic route to find the ferry stop to get back to our hotel. Made it! Last happy hour with the whole group and 8 of us set out for dinner. Found a burger joint. Here we are from the USA and eating burgers and fries... sure was tasty. Tomorrow we set sail on a ferry to Helsinki Finland. Goodbye Sweden.

Scandinavia! Stockholm Day 7 b

A few more scenes from around this beautiful city, the most populous urban area in the Nordic countries. Farewell dinner tonight to thank our guides, they leave tomorrow. Now we are on our own without a guide or time requirements pretty much for the remainder of this travel adventure. Except, for our ferry crossing day after tomorrow. Day 8 is entirely on our own in Stockholm. Sure to be adventurous....

Scandinavia! Stockholm Day 7 part a

Stockholm! Capital city of Sweden, encompasses 14 islands and more than 50 bridges on an extensive Baltic Sea archipelago. We set out today to ride a few of the bike trails around this city. Seeing places that few tourists experience. Of course, it was blustery wind and temps in the mid 50's, but that did not deter us. Be sure to watch the video in the blog entry before this one. Here and the next entry will include photos not in the video. One of our learning and discovery stops was a prison now repurposed into a hotel/hostel. Gives new meaning to be retiring to your cell...😊. Next to the prison is a neighborhood of gardens. This evolved as a result of the shortage of food caused by the world wars. The land is owned by the country, the gardeners rent the land and live in the little structures. There is electricity but not running water. There is a shared facility for bodily function activity. The silhouette statue is on one of the many channels of water next to the City Hall. This is the location where the Pulitzer Prize winners selections are announced. The swans.... self explanatory. Just thought they were pretty and fun to shoot, with a camera. ☺️

Scandinavia -Sweden. Day 7 , ride last day 6 and last video for the tour

Enjoy this ride around Stockholm. It is a beautiful city. We got to places that very few tourists venture. The photo is our two guides, Milan and Eddie. They were great. 

Dear all,

thank you for this wonderful week!

Here is the last video for the trip: https://youtu.be/19nECQ847Ow

Have a great end of your trip.

Hope to see you all on another VBT- trip.

/Eddie & Milan

Scandinavia! Sweden Day 6 Ride Day 5

We shuttled over to Drottningholm Castle, permanent home to the Swedes' royal family since 1981. The first photo is of our hotel in a converted mill building. It is pretty nice! What was not so nice today was the mistral like winds. Holy cats, thought two days ago was tough, it was stronger today pretty much sustaining 25+ mph. A first happened to Mark, Alice and I, we were blown to a dead stop on a short incline, about 12" of shoulder on a busy road. It was stop or fall over. Today was practice on how slow you can ride a bike and stay upright. Wow. Lunch was at Faringso Hembygdsgard, an open air museum comprised of 10 wood structures dating back to the 1780's. We were served a smorgasbord like cake made with meat or fish and a couple gallons of mayonnaise. Interesting.... we gobbled it down and braced ourselves for the ride back down the island. That is, those who could not fit in the van.... Upon our return to our hotel, we immediately retired to the bar to console ourselves with a bit of lager. For dinner, we set out into the neighborhood. Found a fabulous restaurant, our server was a ton of fun. She grew up in New York City, originally born in Sweden where her parents met. A single parent and has chosen to live in Sweden. It is much easier for her, only has to work 2 jobs instead of 4. All health care and education is funded entirely by the government. That is significant. A walk home in the dark, sound asleep by 9. Tomorrow, last day to ride. We will ride into Old Town. Read on!