Finland: Helsinki and Suomenlinna

After a trip across the Baltics from Estonia to Poland, I decided to return to Estonia via a flight to Finland rather than taking a 20-hour bus across Europe… I stayed on the small island of Suomenlinna, which is beautiful and full of interesting history. Seriously, visit the museum on the island while you’re there!

Helsinki boat port at night

My first boat trip in a decade

A beautiful day

Bridge between islands

People had told me beforehand that Helsinki is small, and from the air it looked quite small. So after leaving the airport, I decided to jog to the boat port instead of using Finland’s very nice public transport. What I thought would be a 30-minute jog took almost three hours; Helsinki airport is not actually in Helsinki but is in Vantaa. Memo to self: Check the damn map next time.

Helsinki at night

Artillery + me being immature

Estonia!

My 4-day trip to Tallinn ended with me falling into the “Tallinn trap”, almost three months later and I’m still in Estonia! When I do leave this country, I’ll be taking a suitcase full of Vana Tallinn cream with me…

Estonian and EU flags outside the presidential palace

Open air museum

Tallinn old town

Linnahall

Old town walls and towers

Tallinn old town

Old and the new: Jeckyl and Hyde of Tallinn skyline

Town hall at night

While I was in a very nice hostel (Tallinn Backpackers), I made a massive chocolate mousse…

20-eggs, half a kilo of dark chocolate, half a bottle of Vana Tallinn. One amazing chocolate mousse!

Vilnius & Trakai, Lithuania

Lithuania is such a nice country that I’ve already been there TWICE in the first third of this year, mostly for the amazing scenery, interesting history, lovely people and very nice chocolate! And I’ll probably be over there again near the end of Summer…