12 hours on a train would seem boring, and I'm sure some places in the world it would be. But for Chris and I it has been a really enjoyable trip going north. We are traveling to Roveniami in Lapland, Finland. We caught the train at 10am in Helsinki. The trains here in Scandinavia has been brilliant. Really good service and clean and comfortable. We have 2nd class tickets and they have been nicer than anything I have been on in Australia. The first part of ...

Helsinki was fantastic. Chris and I got an early start and headed into the city centre on foot. The plan was to do a bit of shopping and head over to the off shore island fortress. Lonely planet suggests a morning coffee. We had a Starbucks coffee and added to the cup collection. Sitting in a sunny cafe seat on the shopping street of Helsinki. Of course we had Starbucks in a paper cup which goes against the grain in many ways. After coffee we walked down t...

The train, as efficiently as usual, left on time and was a smooth and pleasant trip across the southern coast of Finland from Turku to Helsinki. The European rail cards have worked without a problem, in fact all our bookings with the exception of the Wotif/Expedia booking in Stockholm have worked. The train arrived on time in Helsinki and it was easy to find the tram we needed for the trip to the YHA. Surprisingly, the technology on the phone alone has been good....

Well we have had another adventurous couple of days. Yes we arrived in Finland, the country where I want to be having breakfast and dinner.....as Monty Python would sing. The Viking line ferry arrived on time and we set our watched into a new time zone and changed currencies again. The ferry was great fun and an interesting way to cross to Finland from Sweden. Like a one day mini cruise with bars, restaurants and nightclubs along with all the duty free shops. ...

We arrived at the commendation in Helsinki which looked great, single beds once again. The only down fall with this place was that the kitchen was disgusting and the laundry, well, such a big hostel and so little amount of washing machines. Oh well, let's explore! We went by ferry to Suomelinna Island and saw old buildings. It was great seeing the way people lived a different lifestyle to today. Unbelievable day! Written by Chris