"доброе утро. This is Finland. We speak English."

I’m finally back from our weekend excursion to Helsinki and Tallinn. We took a “ferry” to Helsinki -- however, it resembled a cruise ship more than anything else. I was really excited to be on the water, but once we arrived in Finland the real fun began. Our first morning consisted of a bus tour through the center of Helsinki.

Lovely sunset on the ship.

Sibelius monument in the first park that we stopped by. It's an abstract work constructed to commemorate the work of Jean Sibelius, and is supposed to embody the spirit of his compositions.

Senate Square and the Lutheran Cathedral

Uspenski Cathedral -- this is an Orthodox church.

The most interesting thing I saw and experienced, however, was the Suomenlinna sea fortress. It’s a lovely little island that was particularly deserted when we went. My friends and I started off by walking around aimlessly, spotting a submarine; eventually we ended up in a really neat area where you get to climb up on grassy knolls.

There were tons of cannons that we could examine and Hobbiton-like hill bunkers to explore. I wandered by the water and on the hills, going into a bunch of places that said, ‘Danger.’

I managed to climb through some windows to overlook the ocean. The best part, however, were the secret passages and tunnels. The tunnels literally go under and through the hills and some are half-flooded, iced over, or you can only get out through small crevices or windows. At one point, I spotted a really neat tunnel by the docks… my friend Steph and I started walking forward until suddenly she says, “Wait… what is that hole there?” It turns out that we had been walking on super thin ice, and the hole revealed water several feet below. Let’s just say that after that I was more careful… on ice, anyways! It felt wonderful to adventure with true abandon, throwing caution to the winds.

Finland was very fun -- the thing that surprised me the most was how nice everyone was. I’m sure that during the height of tourist season the Finns lose some of their carefree attitude and patience, but for the time that we were there, they were absolutely lovely and helpful. At one point, an entire bus was attempting to help us find our way.

As for Tallinn, it was very beautiful and quaint. Within the old town, there are only cobblestone streets and alleys, and it’s very difficult to get lost. Here are some of the cool places that I went to in Tallinn:

This is just an example of a lot of the architecture in Tallinn.

This building can be seen upon entering the walls of the Old Town, and it is currently owned by the Masons.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

View of Tallinn from a look-out point.

Back in Finland, the second day we went to an open-air museum on the island of Seurasaari. Although I didn't spent much time here, I know I'd like to come back and explore it some day.

Just one of many traditional Finnish buildings relocated to the museum island. It's a complete park with tons of traditional houses, stables, boat houses, and even a Nordic village.