A trip of firsts : EMD-BNE-SIN-HEL-TXL return

[craven morehead]

For mains I went with the : Roasted wild duck with oven baked pumpkin and forest mushrooms. Again an outstanding meal washed down with a few glasses of French Red. I was so relaxed I forgot to take a picture or note the wine. I thought it was very reasonable at €8 per glass.





Now that was a real treat for lunch !! I was more than happy to hand over the €72 especially as it included 3 glasses of wine.True to my word I had a budget dinner back at the Holiday Inn. All in all, great food with good service and a lovely place to spend an hour.

 

[craven morehead]

Time to start wandering back to the Holiday Inn for my afternoon sauna. So I head from the restaurant up towards the Allas Sea Pool and sauna on my way to Market Square.






Made a contribution the the economy and purchased some Finnish themed stuffed toys for the young daughter of my good friends I will visit in Singapore on the way home.

 

[craven morehead]

Now to head up from Market Square through Esplanade Park on the way home. Another stunning lush green space in the Capital city.


Little beer and coffee kiosks spread out through the park.

 

[OZDUCK]

Nice photos and a good looking meal as well. I recognise some of the places but not all. If we go through Helsink again we will spend more time there. I think we shortchanged it a bit on our stopover - but if we do visit it will be during the warmer months or month.

 

[craven morehead]

Some more photos of Esplanade Park on the walk back to hotel ;

 

[craven morehead]

Random find just before lunch : Had a quick scan on Google and it looks to possibly be a 1963 Valiant Plymouth in good condition.

 

[craven morehead]

Sauna done and dusted. Time to head downstairs to continue with the relaxation theme.



Oh look !! Happy hour



Time for a few beers while watching the Euro basketball with Hugo the bartender who really does a fantastic job. Winding down just nicely.

 

[OZDUCK]

Good find - looks very much an Australian AP5 Valiant but with vertical tail lights instead of horizontal. It would appear to be a 1965 Plymouth Valiant.which was apparently sold in much of Western Europe.

Many more flowers in the Esplanade Park than we saw.

 

[craven morehead]

The next day I considered booking a day trip over to Tallinn. However I thought the return ferry trip was going to leave me a bit pushed for time for my flight later in the night and I don't like having to rush. So I ended up booking a bus tour to the medieval Old Porvoo Town which is about 50kms out of Central Helsinki. This tour leaves Esplanade Park at 1.00pm and has you back in town by around 5.00pm. This was a good way to fill in the afternoon. So I had myself down at the Park an hour early and took the opportunity to have lunch and sit back and just enjoy the surroundings and watch the world go by.





The blue cheese bagel was just delicious.


The latte coffee was the best I've ever had anywhere in my travels !!

 

[craven morehead]

Good find - looks very much an Australian AP5 Valiant but with vertical tail lights instead of horizontal. It would appear to be a 1965 Plymouth Valiant.which was apparently sold in much of Western Europe.

Many more flowers in the Esplanade Park than we saw.

Well done OZDUCK I'm not too cluey with the cars

 

[craven morehead]

Nice photos and a good looking meal as well. I recognise some of the places but not all. If we go through Helsink again we will spend more time there. I think we shortchanged it a bit on our stopover - but if we do visit it will be during the warmer months or month.

Pretty much all the meals I've had here have been top notch. In hindsight I would have loved more time here but I had tacked it onto the end of a "work" trip. As it turned out I only had about 60 hours actually in Country. I imagine the place would be glorious in Summer. I would like to think I can get back at some stage.

 

[craven morehead]

On the bus and off to the quaint and very picturesque Old Porvoo Town. Apparently the second oldest town in Finland founded 800 years ago. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. So some old warehouses (called red shore houses) by the river to start with. Apparently painted red originally to honour the arrival of Gustav III the King of Sweden.

 

[craven morehead]

There are only about 6 streets in the Old Town so off I go exploring :

 

[craven morehead]

Possibly Finnish for Brokeback Mountain ?

 

[craven morehead]

The town really is a mosaic as nothing is uniform whatsoever.

 

[craven morehead]

Old Porvoo town is like one huge museum. It has retained its traditional shape right down to the cobblestone streets. The town is also home to about 700 permanent residents. There are many lovely restaurants, cafés, shops and museums. Souvenirs and curios for sale everywhere.



"Meat District" apparently is an award winning restaurant and was actually recommended to me at lunch the previous day by the waitress at Nokka. However today it was closed. I would have been pushed for time anyway.

 

[craven morehead]

Walking around for the best part of 2 hours was thirsty work.Well, they're open so it would be rude not to go in and boost the local economy



This barge was permanently moored outside the pub.

 

[craven morehead]

Visiting Old Porvoo Town was a great way to spend a few hours. Time to get back on the bus and head back to Helsinki.

 

[craven morehead]

Some random shots from the bus trip :





Back in town

 

[craven morehead]

Safely back in Helsinki proper. The coach was very comfortable (free wi-fi) and the roads we travelled on were very good.






And finally back to Esplanade Park.