We headed to Helsinki, Finland this morning, which is the fourth and final country on our agenda.  This trip necessitated taking a ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki, roughly a 2 – 1/2 ferry ride.

When we say ferry, it wasn’t the type of ferry you might cross the mighty Mississippi on.  It’s the size of a small cruise ship and has amenities onboard such as duty-free shopping, Burger King, gambling machines, a bar, a restaurant, along with many lounges to ensure the ride is a comfortable one.

We actually drove UP a ramp, and entered the boat through an upper deck, a good 30 plus feet from the pavement.

After wandering around, shopping, and snacking, we settled in one of the lounges in order to take advantage of our last bit of time with Tomas.  Tim whipped out “Take 5”, which is a card game that originated in Germany (6 Nimmt!), and he loves to play.  Not only was Tomas a quick study, he gave us a run for our money!

We learned an interesting fact while on the ferry.  Items are more expensive in Scandinavian countries, including Finland.  So expensive that people take the ferry to Tallinn to purchase alcohol, filling up their van with cases of booze, and then returning to Finland to sell at a much greater profit. 

A little over two hours later, we reached the shore and exited the ferry.  It is amazing how quickly a large ferry can be loaded and unloaded!

Tomas drove us to the hotel, where we bid him a fond farewell.  (He had a return ferry ticket for a little later in the afternoon, so was unable to hang around and tour the City with us.) We can hardly put into words how much we enjoyed having him as part of the family for this trip. 

As driving through some US National Parks are on his vacation bucket list, we asked him to let us know if he plans a trip to the US.  The offer was to give him advice on where to go and what to see, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if at least a couple of us tried to meet up with him somewhere.  Yep, we truly became that fond of him in our short time!!

As we had a short time for lunch before our next excursion, we found a brunch joint around the corner from our hotel.

After lunch, we met our local guide for a walking tour of Helsinki.  “Walking tour” is an understatement as Helsinki isn’t as compact as the other capital cities.  Fairly certain we walked over 4 miles on the tour.

We had been to Helsinki but this was a first for the others.  Most stops on the tour were places we hadn’t visited in 2014.

Stop number one was Temppeliaukio Church.  This is an active Lutheran church and is open to the public for a fee.  The church was carved into solid granite thus the nickname of The Church of the Rock. 

When planning to ‘build’ the church, the initial thought was that the design was radical – no traditional building, natural granite walls, maybe not ‘Christian enough’, and possibly resembled a bunker.  They followed through on construction and ended up with a unique architectural delight, which attracts thousands of visitors each year.

The raw granite walls provides natural acoustics.  We didn’t get to hear the organ, made of 3001 pipes, but had a very unexpected treat while there. 

A Hungarian group was in the church, doing a sound check for an evening performance and we were able to enjoy a free show.  They perform original Hungarian music/folk music and their soundcheck was so enjoyable.

We also walked past the Helsinki Parliament building, which was an impressive building as well.

Nearby, the next building we toured was the public library.  Ummm…a new/modern library was worth touring?  HECK YES!  This was truly built for the city.  One floor is a working library as one would see in the US, complete with a robot cart that takes books from the first floor depository to the library level, with the ability to call the elevator for itself. 

The other levels were so unique.  There were collaboration spaces of varying sizes, 3D and large plot printers than can be used for a fee, and game rooms for several gaming systems.  One of the open spaces has sewing machines and a serger open for use.  A few ladies were there sewing or tracing patterns.  Another very unique feature is the kitchen that can be reserved.  The kitchen can be reserved for dinner with friends (kitchens are small in many homes/flats) or can be used for cooking classes.

Helsinki truly has a gem in their public library!! 

Their version of Central Station is also pretty spectacular.

There were some additional memorable buildings in the area as well.

The final stop was the breathtaking Helsinki Cathedral.  This is a location we visited in 2014, but we only had about 15 minutes to wander around the square and take pictures then.  We didn’t walk up the steep stairs therefore did not visit the cathedral in 2014.

While we walked up the steep stairs this time (big thanks for Blake for playing ‘Eye of the Tiger’ to provide Rocky-esque motiviation), we unfortunately did not visit the cathedral.  Our guide thought the church was open until 6, but they closed at 5.  And we got to the door at 4:59 and a few seconds.  We caught a quick glimpse inside as someone came out to close the outer doors and, despite our guide asking if we could look inside for one minute, the answer was no. 

What we saw inside was surely spectacular though.  There was a HUGE illuminated globe hanging from the ceiling, slowly rotating. 

The tour ended at the harbor area where we stopped for a drink.  That’s when we realized we had walk so danged far at that point.  And that the walk back to the hotel was over a mile.  Man – that’s a lot for a final day!

Knowing we had to pack for our flight home, had to leave the hotel at 3:30 am, and needed at least a little sleep, we settled on a final dinner of pizza & burgers at a small pizza joint near the hotel.  After packing and weighing of bags, we were ready to call it a night.  Our last night in Europe, and the last night of our Cousin’s Trip.

There are NO WORDS to describe how incredibly fortunate and thankful we are that Blake, Sondra, and Marla were willing and able to take this journey with us.  Our family dynamic is unusual because we are a large family and are very close, but taking an international journey takes that to a new level.  We recognize how incredibly blessed we are to have spent 12 days with three family members we absolutely love and adore.