Copenhagen revisited

We travelled from Bergen to Oslo for 7 hours. It was a truly picturesque journey with lots of fjords and snow covered mountains coming right down to the railway line. We were travelling on our Eurail but lots of people do it as part of a tourist trip Norway in a nutshell . We of course didn't have to do that because we have our own nutshell trip to contend with. 

Our Accommodation in Oslo was upgraded but not much time to take advantage of it. Tour leader H had us up at the crack of dawn so we could have the full buffet breakfast ( and sneak in a bit of food for lunch) and still catch the train by 7:01 am. The journey was uneventful ( ie snoozing and view watching ) until Harley decided to engage in conversation with the other Aussies onboard ( no not me) and was growled at for talking in the quiet carriage ( how on earth did we get in there) 

We had to pick up Doms back pack at the Copenhagen railway station .This experience probably deserves   a blog entry of its own. Let us just say that the gentleman helping us was a little slow off the mark to understand what we wanted and sent us on a merry little round about with money , ATMs, coins, tokens and how much we could put through the locker machine before you can open your locker , when suddenly and miraculously he produced Doms bag from behind the counter ... ( not the locker where we it had left it 3 weeks before) 

Our posh hotel turned out to be pretty basic but clean and close to everything including a few of the down and outs who love to hang out near transport hubs. ( no I don't mean us )

We took our traditional bike tour lead by Bike Mike and 30 of his followers 

bikecopenhagenwithmike.dk/

- yes it was rather a large group and at the end when a few people got lost and hence were late back Bike Mike said don't worry  he wouldn't charge extra for the time on the bikes. Inspite his tendency to overload his tour and see it as amusing, Bike Mike did have some great ideas and stats about the way Danes live - lots of stuff about women leading the way in everything from government to school performance  and the plan to have Denmark totally fossil fuel free and energy self sufficient by 2050. He rode us passed the statues of the Danish philosopher    Soren Kierkegaard the father of exitensalism;

And  Danish Lutheran minister ... N. F. S. Grundtvig  a philosopher and educator who influenced a popular education movement using poetry , song and creativity as the basic tenants of education and started the " folk " high school movement. They are both revered as key influences in shaping "the modern Dane ". 

We checked out where the Royal family  live including the spot where you can see " our Mary" riding two of her kids home in school each day in a bike with trolley arrangement . He suggested the Royals are Denmark's number one tour attraction and great for business. The government is made up compromise parties ( only minority parties and coalitions can gain power ). He also gave  some great recommendations for lunch (fresh food markets and the open Danish sandwich , strawberries and white asparagus . ) 

We had lunch with another couple from the bike tour who had been visiting their son in Israel and were on their way back to California . They put us to shame immediately because they had their  three things for the day  welland truly sorted.  Tour leader H and I had been slacking off on that front so after lunch it was straight to the shops. ( It counts as a tourist activity in Copenhagen because Stroget street is the biggest strip shopping centre in Europe ( and no not because they take all your money ) 

We did find another Marimekko shop. 

" Haven't we been in one if these in another country?" tour  leader H says . Ahh but this one is having  a sale although the only thing I really wanted to buy wasn't on sale - of course! It was here that I also discovered my wallet was missing. ( after some frantic searching  ) Ho hum Harley will have to pay .

Unfortunately it didn't turn up so I had to cancel the cards - initially thought it could be a good savings measure until I realised that I still had a spare one back at the hotel  - good travel tip don't carry all your cards and money in the one spot. 

We spent the evening wandering the city - peaceful without so many bikes or cars around however there were a lot of teenage kids wearing white sailor hats ( obviously celebrating ) . Bike Mike had informed us this is kind of a  Danish version of schoolies except maybe a bit more civilised ( kids wearing the white hats had got a place a university ) 

Day 2 

Bike ride to Louisiana modern art gallery about  a 40 k ride . Beautiful except it started to rain half way so we got soaked but worth it when we finally got to the gallery. We stopped for a hot dog ( national food) at a georgeous  harbour town where  the nice tourist information lady next door to the hotdog stand told us we were on the right track. . We only had to stop 3 times for directions. Tour leader H had forgotten his map so we followed the sea from the famous Little mermaid statue and it seemed to work.

The art gallery was spectacular and dry in side. . You could view the beautiful landscaped gardens and sculptures from the glassed in walk ways. 

The two special artist exhibition on at this time were Phillip Guston ( American painter )  and Hilma AF  Klint theosophy art ( preoccupation with spirituality and the occult transferred into her art - weird philosophies but produced amazing psychedelic art works ) 

We Train ride home with bike in tow . We felt very Danish until I had to drag a heavy commuter bike up steep railway stairs than I was back to being a flabby flat land Ozzie wondering how people do this every day often with a bike trailer as well. Good grief ???

That evening we Climbed to the top of tower in parliament buildings. ( A good city view recommended by Bike Mike and we also thought it would be good to see where Borgen hangs out ) 

We Kept out bikes because Copenhagan is a  beautiful place to ride around after hours when there is no other traffic  ( and of course it is day light until 11 pm. ) 

Our final Dinner ( before air plane food ie ) was at a very hip joint in the meat packers district - why not ? we are very cool dudes . Yummy  ! We spent the evening reviewing  all the great food we have had over the last five weeks. The most expensive and one of the nicest was tonight but we both loved the food we bought from the Riga markets as a highlight and of course we absolutely loved trying the Malmo eateriesCarrot cakes and kafe bars recommended by Dom. We thought it would be interesting to see what we have averaged on food costs over the five weeks -but currencies were all so confusing in the end we divided by five and went with our taste buds ( and it has also of course been recorded on our waste lines) 

Got to Copenhagen airport in time to join a very long queue . No online checkin here . After a spot of last minute shopping - well what else can you do in two short hour we finally boarded the plane for home . 

We stopped at Dubai where it was 40 degrees on the tarmac but we did manage to get some sleep in our very well air conditioned hotel room . 

We discovered the inflight Free snacks and drink bar about half way through the second leg of the quantas flight and that managed to keep us amused  ( well me any way ) along with a few movie catchups until we landed ( half hour late) ; 

Back to a beautiful Melbounne winters day ( yes cold , windy and damp) oh it's good to be home!!!

Notes on a tourist town

The touring ideal according to tour  leader H is three " activities " a day ( although some members of the group insist  that one of those things should be an afternoon nap ) 

Organising Three things a day is easy for tour leader H when  you are staying in the middle of tour leader heaven aka Bergen . The tourist information centre is almost on our door step as are most of the  "in town " tourist highlights. 

( The down side  of our great central location is that most of people who are ekeing out an existence from tourist begging seem to be hanging on our door step but like all good tourists we pretend not to notice and hope they won't chase us up the street demanding to share some of the expensive tourist tucker we have just picked up from local bakery)

That said the three things that tour  leader  " H " managed to fit in the itinerary on the first day was 

1. The Museum walking tour that gave us a brief  overview of the last 700 years of Bergen history by checkin out the local historic buildings. It was lead by a very cute young tour guide dressed in local costume. ( very easy to keep track of her in the crowd) 

2. After lunch  ( a la Coop) we set out for the Ulriken cable car that takes you to the top of the mountain in the middle of the city. A great place  to start numerous walks and get lost in the wilderness ( although if you were local  they seemed to be using it like  some sort of extreme jogging track  - well extreme to us flabbies from the flat land anyway )  . We  as per usual don 't seem to have to worry about getting lost on the actual  walk because once again we had a bit of trouble finding the entrance to the cable car . Wandering the highways looking for deviously hidden street signs is  always good way to check out the " burbs".

Number 3 was attending a Grieg music concert in the church just behind where we are staying  . ( shock ! horror  ! classical music you say - well I say we are just as cultured as the other 30 people in the crowd ( just like a SW music concert)  . We did wonder if half the people there were actually family of the performers as one of them was called Erik from and he was from Bergen. The name Erik is a clincher for a home crowd. 

We were  very pleased with our own personal performances as we both managed to stay awake through the whole thing with only a few sneaky  lollies chewed to keep the sugar up . Erik's offsider was a singer and he gave some great background  ( in English ) about the music . ( Grieg was a Norwegian  with nationalist tendencies ). 

Of course it's hard to pass a music venue  ( particularly when it is practically next door  ) that has a musician called Erik performing . This is probably not that uncommon in Scandanavia  as this is definitely the home of the Erik . Every second street name or suburb or rail way station seems to have Erik in the  title. It is also fitting  that our last airbnb  flat here  in Bergen is owned by an Erik  ( who is also a musician or lives with a musician if the ukes on the wall are anything to go by  ( yes people who play  ukes do count as musicians. ) 

We ended the evening  ( yes a big day we actually did 4 things. ) by Hanging out at the local bar drinking mocktales  ( for me anyway ).  If you can't  beat them join them as the sounds from this local busy watering hole waffled loudly into our bedroom window for most of the night. 

Day 2 trip to the fjord 

Yes you can't come to Bergen without visiting a fjord. ( and a bar judging from the number of people doing so outside our window  until the early hours. ) We booked tickets on a fjord cruise that was only going to take 7 hours instead of the usual 12.  Tour leader H was a bit  worried our chosen fjord may not be deep enough but who cares  I say  atleast we dont have to spend all day on a boat. ( mmmm Tour leader H is starting to question my attitude to " touring"  as such ??? ) Of course when we get on board we realise its not really a cruise but a regular ferry run to pretty little town called Rosendal. We weren't worried as it  looked to be a nice spot to fill  in the  3 hours before we had to get on the return boat .  

We walked to a water fall through a gentle undulating landscape  ( yes even my calf muscles could cope) along tree lined roads  , babbling waterways and green paddocks with grazing sheep  ' ( or maybe they were goats - difficult to tell with all that hair ) . It was beautifully quiet after the hustle of Bergen . There were hardly any tourists. (  they had all gone on the 12 hour cruises ) . There were possibilities of some longer walks Inluding a big hike to a glacier but again  we only had a three hour ferry turn around time (  phew - I managed to hide the late leaving ferry timetable from tour  leader H ) 

We had our lunch overlooking the waterfall  only disturbed by the occasional sound of gunshots (yes  it did make digestion a little difficult and I made a note to look up the Norwegian gun laws when I got back  or should I say if we got back - Scandinavian crime thrillers are not always the best background reading ) . 

We had a lovely  quiet stroll back ( ie no more gunshots ) . We dropped into the local manor / castle tourist attraction with  it's beautiful historic gardens   ( very cheap because we accidently got in through a back gate) 

We also strolled through the stone garden which featured geological examples from the local area . Many of them had been polished to show the glorious colours and textures  of the different minerals of the region  ( and also great kitchen renovation possibilities ) 

The ride home was a good time for a snooze catch up because as an experienced tour groupy you know that having seen one scenic scandanavian boat  cruise you have seen  ' em all.

Tour leader H had decided on dinner at a lonely planet recommended restaurant - Pingvinen . We had  Fish stew ( like tuna mornay except local fish - I presume) and fish pie , a large fish patty - very nice.)  It was a very popular place so we shared  our table with some other travellers    -  a couple who had lived in Lakes district in England for the last 35 years  who were very entertaining and interested in our Australian lives and also six young Americans who had just finished grad school and were travelling before they started work. They were also  wanting to engage in some lively discussion comparing holiday notes . Great fun 

This morning we had to move out of Hanne  and Eriks flat making sure we complied with the numerous instructive notes left for the " guests"   ( I also had to check that Harley didn't write any silly new ones. ) Jobs done  - That gave me one hours shopping time before  we had to catch our train to Oslo. Tour leader H times it perfectly again as most of the shops I wanted to see did not open until after we left town  - foiled again by tour leaders time table  - oh well there is still the 3 days in Copenhagen coming up and Amy tells me they have the longest continual shopping strip in Europe. Now that is something to look forward to...

 

 

 

  

Planes , boats and automobiles

Or the long road south . I left you wondering about how we were going to get to the next part of out trip. Well we started the day with an early 5:50 am morning taxi pick up at our hostel so we could catch the boat to Bodo.  Now that was one downside of staying a bit away from the main town , I lay awake most of the night worrying whether the taxi would come even though I was assured it would by the young bloke on reception ( I did start to doubt his credibility when he told me he didn't know how much it would cost because he had never caught a taxi). 

Thankfully it turned up on time and we caught our second mode of conveyance today the express boat to Bodo .  ( we were pleased when we turned up and confirmed it wasn't a speed boat as suggested by young tourist officer we spoke to in Solvare  however we were alarmed at the safety cards which suggested we needed to climb into one piece thermal suits if the boat started to sink ( yikes that water must be icy ) . When we arrived in Bodo ( without getting wet  ) we hoped to  catch the the first of many  flights that would eventually take us to Bergen but again there was some doubts hanging over us as the cheap flight booking company we chose ( out of the hundreds on offer  ) refused to accept our booking no matter how many times we tried.   ( Harley 's credit card was not turning out to be the miracle worker I had hoped) . We eventually made a booking with another company ( the cost was going up by the minute) which meant we got to fly all across Norway sampling the delights of various tourist town airports that we had missed as official holiday Itinarary destinations .  

The lack of sleep last night also proved beneficial as we could sleep through most of our unofficial tour of Norway. 

We have arrived in Bergen and are staying in another cute airbnb apartment  . This one has ukeleles decorating the walls , a very steep circular staircase ( I'm sure I will think that's a positive when my calf muscles recover from the climb up) and a lovely continual view of the surrounding rooftops. ( ie no curtains on the sky light windows) .  What more could you want  - well possibly a bit of darkness could be good and Harley informs me that we will actually have  a couple of hours of moon time tonight so I'm off to use it !  Nighty night!!

Lost in the Lofoton Islands

The circles continue...

It's hard to be actually lost when you are surrounded by town and hills and lakes but finding the starting point for a 90 min walk took us about 3 hours using a very simple ( according to guy at tourist information ) map that was so simple it had almost know directions or streets marked on it .  ( although if we had gone to the esso service station first - yes a very unglamorous starting point but at least we can read the sign ) . 

A kind local eventually took pity on us and gave directions as well as reassurances that it is well worth it when you get to the top. I kept telling my self this as we clamoured up a steep slippery slope in what my tour leader  H assures me is mushroom rain . It is of course breath taking views at the top but my phone is totally dead so I have no photographic evidence. ( except this photo of a postcard)? 

That night we decide to shout ourselves dinner out. As much as I have loved shopping at all the local Coops and  ICA ( reminds me of home) an occasional night out even if the fish soup costs  $30.00 is worth it. 

We head to the local pub  latish because Harley has to finish watching the Netherlands closely beat Australia in World Cup ( and I had to try and finish the English language novel I grabbed joyously in the hostel common room ) . H later tells me his cheering was very quiet as he didn't want to stir up the visiting Netherlands tourists. "They take their soccer seriously here " according to tour leader "H"  surprise surprise just like home  ) .

 After eating the delicious fish soup at a table over looking a beautiful local harbour  the room started to fill. Not here for the fish soup  apparently but the big screen telly and the World Cup  match Chillie versus Spain. Tour leader H manages to drag his eyes away from the screen to engage in scintillating small talk with his tour group  but I think he really wanted to join the Spanish rock climbers and start barracking for someone anyone would do ??

The second day we decide we deserve a rest ( atleast no more mountain climbing on what Norwegians call gentle slopes.) After another all you can eat breakfast ( included in the cost so we had to eat enough for lunch as well ) we catch the bus down to  Henningsvaer . It turns out to be very attractive with lots of cute little shops ( kind of like Bright with boats )  . Harley groans at the shops  ( and the comparison to oz) but conceded that he has made a good itinerary choice for the day.  

As we head out of town we note there are lots of gorgeous young things clambering over the giant rocks / hills/ moutains and realise this is probably where our Spanish soccer supporting rock climbers are hanging out by day . We preferred their favourite coffee shop in the village but you had to admire anyone one who wants to hang from those slippery rocks between bouts of mushroom rain.

We head off to the main town of Solver for  a little more  "lost " walking - again we seem to miss the start of our walk - but what the heck everything is gorgeous  anyway . We jump back on the bus for " home" and to catch the opening hours of the very beautiful wooden cathedral that is the landmark for our local bus stop. The  teenage girl taking the money is reading " The fault in our stars  " by John Green in Norwegian I presume ( huge best seller in Australia and U.S with movie coming out soon) - the world is the same all over again ( this is my holiday thesis without the essay at the end I hope) 

A bit of a stressful time in the evening as  we try to work out the best way to head out of town . It is turning out to be a logistical nightmare but tour leader H is staying calm under duress ( in between soccer breaks ) and has his credit card at the ready to help soothe the nerves and reinforce the old adage of where there's a credit card there's a way!

On the road with tour leader " h "

We Left Amy , Bridie and Dom at the Helsinki train  station and were feeling a bit sad with the depleted  numbers of our tour . 

But we are excited at the prospect of a " restful " day on the train  ( no tussling with endless tourist lines we hope ) and eating our way through the duty free snacks Harley insisted we buy on the st persberg boat because we won't be able to afford to eat in Norway .

The first Train was a great place for blogging, eating, charging your phones and sleeping . H says anywhere is a good place for sleeping for moi and of course if you have been awake half the night because  your body is saying but it looks totally like day - what are you meant to do .We are also finally giving our Eurail passes a full work out ( no plane hopping scenery missing transport for us) . The First train is to Oulu then another to Kemi    ( the town where the very helpful train ticket seller in Helsinki grew up  - yes Harley did spend a fare bit of time with her trying to work out this journey determined not to turn his head and check the agitated queue building up behind him) 

Everything worked beautifully except we ended up in Kemi , Sunday afternoon with no regular bus service. Tour leader "H" was  sure  a bus was due but we met a very helpful hard rock fan (   who had just been to the " zz tops " concert in Oula ) who kindly offered to give us a lift when her ride turned up. ( Yes in some circles it's called hitching but don't tell the kids) . 

The ride turned out to be a very beaten up old Mercedes with lots of stickers holding it together driven by an 18 year old video games fanatic . He drove us the 24 k and we were delighted to arrive in Haparanda( just across the Swedish border)  safely and much earlier than the bus. 

Had some great chats with other travellers at the Haparanda hostel - There was a mother of taking her musician son to a  uni interview and another family with a son who was attending Lund university  ( near Malmo ) organising the exchange student program  ( The world is the same all over ). 

We had to catch ( according to our Helsinki ticket seller) the early morning bus to Leula. Tour leader  H wins again and it turns up exactly when he reckons it should ( there are always some nervous moments while  we wait)  but as it's the local service it does stop in every  " little hovel " on the way -

After many more of the never ending forests of scandanavia ( the musicians mum the night before told us that the Birch is the national tree ( Finland or sweden  ) and it is certainly everywhere . We eventually  get to Leula and are back on the trains ( Eurail pass works again) 

The  forest continue   ( yes we have had 2 days of them now ) and we continue to be soothed   by the rattle of the tracks but eventually when I have walked as far as I can down those train corridors, I have read all my Alice Munro Nobel prize winning short stories  ( yes I bought it at the Nobel museum see previous blog )  I have eaten all the snacks that were meant to last the whole two weeks of Norway , the greenery is starting to send me totally out if my tree  (so to speak ) . Then suddenly the land scape changes and we finally start seeing some of the spectacular gorges and lakes that have been promised  as we head into Narvik . 

We are again its seems exhausted after out green days and endless white nights and collapse gratefully into bed at a local hostel. ( converted train shed again reminded by lonely planet ) 

Last part of our current journey ( ie part 6 squillion of this holiday ) we have to find the bus station  to catch our required bus to the lofoton  Islands. After following some vague arm waving directions  and walking in a few damp circles we locate the bus station and with some help from other waiting passengers ascertain we are in right place . We grab a bus for out lofoton island destination( main town of svolvaer) . As tour leader keeps reminding me it's the journey not the destination. The road had some of the most spectacular scenery to date yet ( yes don't look down ) as we head up past another spectacular gorge with running waterfall and cute little wooden houses everywhere. Tour leader H wins again

St Petersberg and

We hit the Hermitage museum first to get it out of way ( as Amy said) but we were feeling a little weary  so the whole place seemed a bit overwhelming. In fact the whole city of St Petersburg was a little overwhelming. Every where you turn there is another amazing building , huge statue, gigantic mosaic, priceless painting or gold embossed domed church. 

It took us a while to get into our flat  and we were ready to collapse on our beds . However what I thought was a flat totally to ourselves turned out to be a shared apartment with 5 other people. ( yes something got lost in the translation ) . Everyone seems to have  a room or a bed  in our group so we are happy ( although a little intrigued about where some of the other guests were sleeping). It is also a great  central location ( Harley can easily get us out and walk the city streets ( well me anyway ). After a quick evening recovery nap  and a three course Armenian dinner with live music thrown in we head off  to the white nights Cycling tour which started at 10: 30 pm . Yes I know it's way past my bed time but bed time is also another thing that has gone out the window here . We cycle through a night that is mostly eerie twilight in the drizzling rain . 

The highlight  destination ( which we didn't realise at the time  ) was watching one of the bridge openings on the Neva river.  We were wondering what all the fuss was about , but in st petersberg watching the bridges open in the early morning is a great  romantic destination . Hundreds of people seemed to be standing there at 1: 30 am just waiting to watch the engineering phenomenon that happens every night in summer to let the cargo ships go through. 

Having got home at 3 am the crew were not quite as enthusiastic on day 2  in St Petersberg . Today they were happy to blindly follow tour leader "H" ( in sleep walk mode ) wherever he took us ( no break away groups this time) . So after a  slightly later start we climbed St Isaac's church steeple  and walked the posh shopping street. ( yes tour leader " H " knows the way to his tour group 's heart ). We stopped at a Russian cafe that use to be the singer sewing machine HQ.  It also had a great book shop with lots of novels I couldn't read but they all looked delightful if you could only get your head around Russian and the cryllic script.

After another very filling ( and rich) meal we headed off to the gruesomely named church of the Spilt Blood . It was the spot  where Alexander someone or other  was Murdered and they built the church over the spot where he was actually killed ( A very ornate crime scene) as well as an excuse for more amazing mosaics, gold  finishes and dome roof tops . After finding the best pie shop in st Petersberg ( according to our landlady any way) we headed back to the flat to catch up again on sleep we lost night the before ( these kids have no stamina according to tour leader "H")  and  to watch Dominic's washing wave in the breeze on the line , six floors up just outside our window ( don't let them blow away  mum). 

We then head off to another Armenian dinner - yes how can we possibly fit in more food but all this walking the streets and museums and churches works up an appetite. 

H  , Dom and I then went street Promenading another favourite pass time  for most St Petersbergians late into the white night . Also Lots of the local young fellas seemed to like hooning up and down the main drag in their hotted up cars at this time of night. (  ain't the would the same all over) 

Our last day  . We are up early but the tour group is still flagging with colds and the long crazy white nights . Harley , Dom and I head off to the Peter and Paul fort  where all the Russian emperors have been buried and every second tour group in Russia seems to have turned up ready  to fight to the death ( well atleast a few bumps and bruises) for their position in line . I can't say too much about the site as most of the explanation signs  are in Russian  ( and it again was huge) but we got to know where the goods bits were because that was also usually where we had to elbow our way through ( Tour leader "H" sent his troops in for this task ) to try and see what everyone was looking at. 

We headed off on a walk to another gruesome museum ( emperor Peter  loved to collect body parts) but again on a beautiful st petersberg day the queues were a bit long for our starving troops to wait. 

We found ourselves a local cafe ( with no English menu) and took some wild guesses for lunch . Again the food was fantastic ( if a bit of a surprise) and we continued to add to our repetoire of things we want to try and cook when we get home .

We head back to the flat as we have to be on the boat again for Helsinki by evening. ( and the boat's all you can eat smorgasbord awaits ) 

Helsinki and the battle of the guides

Well we may have found the perfect place to shop. Helsinki is a beautiful city with lots of quirky boutiques and designer shops .

We stayed at a great Hostel called Domas academia that only operates in summer. The rest of the time its a student hostel which  means it's also a great place to wash our clothes  go to a swimming pool and sauna ( a very Scandanavian  thing to do ) and we didn't have to worry about messing up anyone elses house ( or stepping over their toiletries ) as you sometimes do with air bnb. After the washing done Harley and I had to hit the city streets hard  because Bridie and Amy had already headed off on their own ( hush hush ) tour . After a little catnap for Jen ( an essential tool for keeping up with tour leader H  ) we managed to do all  4 things recommended for a day in lonely planet in 3 hours ( world record) . The two cathedrals facing each other, the market area on the wharf and design shops . 

When Amy suggested her " Go map for young people " had better eating out ideas than the "lonely planet " tour leader " h"  almost went into toxic shock but   he  ( eventually ) bravely agreed to follow Amy 's map suggestions for dinner and conceded that possibly the char fish salad was the best he had ever had. Helsinki is a city of circles ( I found) we seemed to be travelling round and round in them no matter which map we were using.

When Harley sent me off on my own to find my way back to the hostel ( and check on the washing - very important holiday job ) I found myself in a spot well north  ( or south or east or west  still not sure which ) of my destination. Feeling a little traumatised ( not a quivering mess as some would suggest ) I met a lovely English, swedish, Finnish and German speaking lady who guided me back on the right path. ( Yes the multilingual talents of all locals is putting us to shame ( except for Brides of course)

The girls reported that the modern art museum Kiasma has been the highlight of their day. ( with an exhibition by well known Finnish fashion designer Mariemekko). We headed off there happily the next day. ( yes tour leader H has conceded that maybe the " go map" had some good points) before getting on our boat for St petersberg .

Dom turned up in the middle of the night ( which is actually still daylight so  it doesn't seem quite so bad) so now it the famous five heading off together ....