Finnish things are hard to say. The name of this place is no different. At least it's phonetic. I digress... One of the days while in Helsinki, we took a day-trip out to sea for a change. The destination: Suomenlinna, a 18th century fortress built by the Swedes to protect their empire from the Russians. It's huge, insanely intricate and pretty much impenetrable. It was and still is inhabited and I think about 200 people live there year-round.
Taken from http://www.traveltop.net/suomenlinna-fortress-southern-helsinki-southern-finland-finland/
With lots of paths that wind all over the place and very few maps of the place, it's easy to get lost. But that's ok when you realize you're on an island and you can't actually go that far. Still, it was fun to wander and explore the place. Most of it is open to the public with few barriers or signs to say where you can and cannot go. Built into the hillsides were tunnels that were used by infantry during the winter and when the fortress was attacked. They could load up the canons and run into the tunnel before they fired it to protect their hearing. The inside of the barrels of the largest guns might have been 10" across and could launch a shell upwards of a few miles. WWI must have been a scary time.
ka-BOOOOOOOOM
It was pretty peaceful overall. There weren't very many people there, especially on the outskirts of the property (if you can call it that). It sprinkled from time to time, but generally it was sunny or at least overcast.
There was a little museum at the visitors center that Dad wanted to check out, so we indulged him and went in. The funniest part was the video they had explaining the history of the place. It was a simply a movie projected on a big screen and to hear the dialogue, you grabbed a Walkman-style headset and tuned it to your specified language. Mine worked no problem but apparently the one my dad used had a dead battery and he didn't realize it until the end. He thought it was much more interesting when I explained it all to him after the fact.
There was a little museum at the visitors center that Dad wanted to check out, so we indulged him and went in. The funniest part was the video they had explaining the history of the place. It was a simply a movie projected on a big screen and to hear the dialogue, you grabbed a Walkman-style headset and tuned it to your specified language. Mine worked no problem but apparently the one my dad used had a dead battery and he didn't realize it until the end. He thought it was much more interesting when I explained it all to him after the fact.
Doooock foooood.
After our return back to the harbor, we ate dinner among the docks. Dad got a pile of little pan-fried fish. I had some reindeer meatballs and potatoes. Mom stuck to something traditional, a filet of salmon.
We spent the night wandering around town and stopped in another place along the water front for dessert. It was the most beautifully crafted dessert I have ever seen. Our waitress also introduced us to a berry called "sea buckthorn." A native Scandinavian bush, each berry has about as much Vitamin C as ten (TEN!) oranges. They had a little fridge in the dining room filled with sea buckthorn juice and naturally, dad bought a bottle. It was recommended that you dilute the juice 4:1 because it's so bitter. And it was, man. It was the most bitter drink I've ever had the pleasure of tasting. A 20oz. bottle lasted the rest of our trip for sure and we still didn't even finish it. ****** Add pic of dessert place******
We spent the night wandering around town and stopped in another place along the water front for dessert. It was the most beautifully crafted dessert I have ever seen. Our waitress also introduced us to a berry called "sea buckthorn." A native Scandinavian bush, each berry has about as much Vitamin C as ten (TEN!) oranges. They had a little fridge in the dining room filled with sea buckthorn juice and naturally, dad bought a bottle. It was recommended that you dilute the juice 4:1 because it's so bitter. And it was, man. It was the most bitter drink I've ever had the pleasure of tasting. A 20oz. bottle lasted the rest of our trip for sure and we still didn't even finish it. ****** Add pic of dessert place******
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