What a fun short visit to Helsinki. Since we were in Tallinn, we figured we ought to make the trip, but I must admit that I wasn’t so excited about the Finnish capital. The ferries wanted too much extra money for the bicycles so we decided to leave them in Tallinn. That was fine. It’s easy to get around central Helsinki on foot. Also we used the tram twice and took a ferry to visit Suomenlinna.
Finland’s history seems similar to Estonia’s. The Swedes were ruling until they lost the Northern War to Russia (Peter the Great), and then Finland became part of the Russian Empire. Finland became independent in 1918, but unlike Estonia did not become part of the Soviet Union. Suomenlinna (UNESCO-listed) is a fortress built on four islands by the Swedes. It protected a city larger than Helsinki (at the time) but wasn’t strong enough to keep the Russians from taking it. It’s a pleasant area to walk around.