Whew - out from behind the Iron Curtain!
We bid our protector, Dalija, a fond farewell today, and immediately realized how much we depended on her. Six Yanks on their own in Russia. Odysseys had arranged for a van to take us to the train station for the trip to Helsinki. The driver dropped us at the wrong entrance, however, so there was a bit of scrambling with the help of the local transit cops who seemed to have seen this before. The very comfortable high speed (200 kph) train left promptly at 11:25 heading west. Customs and border formalities are handled on the train as we approached the frontier. They even had a fellow come thru doing currency exchange. (We had exchanged our remaining roubles for chocolate bars in the station before we left.)
Reached Helsinki at 2pm. The hotel that Odysseys had booked as part of our extension is right across from the train station. After checking in, Priscilla and I headed off (in the wrong direction) for the famous Rock Church. It has literally been carved out of the rock. (See blog photo.) Our delayed arrival was fortuitous, as a trumpet recital started soon after we got there. The young fellow did a nice job, and appeared to have satisfied his teacher, who was in the audience scribbling notes.
Back to the hotel for a nap (Priscilla) and sauna (me). Met our companions at 6:00 to walk to the harbor for an incredible (and pricey) meal at The Fishmarket. Even Priscilla's beef was outstanding.
I'm going to be up a bit longer tonight, as it is 9:50 and still quite light out. Tomorrow we will be on our own visiting Soumenlinna Fortress in the morning and whatever strikes our fancy in the afternoon.