Once travelers enter the European Union, airline passengers flying from country to country are not required to go through customs unless there is something to declare. Although this certainly simplifies arrival at a new location it is somewhat disappointing that we are not collecting the cool stamps in our passports from each country we visit. We have not had to show a passport since Amsterdam.

We arrived at Helsinki at 16:40 and were directed to exit B2 to collect our luggage. We checked the monitor to confirm. One of the most important reasons for doing the type of travel we like at this point in our lives is 1) we have the time and resources and 2) because we are still fit and able. We often walk long, long ways, pulling our luggage, and elevators are hard to find especially at train stations. We carry bags two at a time up and down stairs nearly every time we move from city to city. Many train stations have escalators but wrestling two bags each plus Stan's backpack and my big shoulder bag (our personal items) on and off the escalators is sometimes tricky. We are just thankful we can still do it. Back to exit B2, we walked a long way, very long way, past A1, A2 and then B1 carrying our personal-item bags and pulling our carry-on's. B-2 was the last in Terminal 2. No one was there; no bags were there. The SAS representative we found said, oh no, we are sorry; your luggage is in Terminal T1. Ooops! Well, after our walk from the Copenhagen apartment to the train station, and then our walks through the entire Helsinki Airport, we got our cardio in again today.

Our apartment here in Helsinki is the cutest thing I have ever seen. I'm not sure it actually qualifies as a "tiny house," but it is tiny. It is decorated very creatively and beautifully, yet it is compact and superbly efficient. It even has a sauna. Since we have returned to colder weather, we may very well spend a little while in there. Our tiny house has windows all around, so it is sunny and cheerful. Except for the stairs leading to the upstairs sleeping loft that could give a problem in a few years, Stan and I think we could easily downsize to something like this.

Our host, Mira, had left fresh fruit, tulips and breakfast items to greet us. How very nice!

April 6, 2017

We were a little slow moving today. I finally caught it. I must have touched my eye or put my hand to my mouth . . . I have caught my usual traveler's cold. I took a single Alka-Seltzer nighttime gel-cap last night and thankfully slept like I haven't in weeks. I could hardly wake-up this morning. When I finally got out of bed, around 8 am, we spent most of the morning getting caught up on mail, etc. We made it into the city via train around noon today and plotted how to best spend the afternoon and tomorrow.

I have to stop right here and say how envious I am of the local trains, regional trains, high-speed trains, metro lines and buses that are available here. It's absolutely wonderful! Why, oh, why can't we have transportation systems like these at home? Why, I say??? We are obviously smart enough and we, as a nation, surely have the financial resources to make it happen. Why not??? In Europe, you can go virtually anywhere with a train, a metro/tram or a bus . . . and these forms of transportation are not for the poor. Everyone uses them. They are clean, first class and they arrive and depart on time. Do you hear, on time! Waaaaah! I'm throwing a fit and I am pouting!

We took the ferry to the Fortress, official name: Sea Fortress, Suomenlinna. Founded in 1748 by The Kingdom of Sweden on a small collection of islands off the coast of Helsinki, tis fortress has served as important military installation throughout history including World War II when it served as a coastal artillery anti-aircraft and submarine base. In 1991, Suomenlinna was added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites as a unique monument to military architecture.

Eight hundred people live on the fortress and are responsible for the it's restoration, development and maintenance as well as managing it as a visitor attraction.

We had about an hour before our ferry back to Helsinki so we stopped in an attractive, rustic café and shared the most delicious lunch dish we could ever imagine. . Asparagus was featured on the menu because it is at its best at this time of year. It came as both green and white asparagus with fried whitefish (no batter), the most delicious mushroom sauce imaginable and fingerling potatoes. Magnificent!

Once back on the mainland, we visited the Upenski Cathedral today. Completed in 1868, this big red brick church sits on a steep hill and is the largest Orthodox Church in Western Europe.

As we are finding, most churches here do not openly display their baptismal font. We asked an attendant if he could take a photo of the one in this church (he called it a bath). He looked perplexed and asked, "Why do you want a photo? "We told him our pastor in Atlanta has a thing for baptismal fonts. Again he asked why??? Then he took my phone and got two rally good snaps . . . just for our Pastor Stephen.

We did a bit of shopping - adding maybe number 55 of Stan's collection of Hard Rock Café pins; we bought a unique fridge magnet from Helsinki for me and a couple of must-have items for Cody from her favorite Scandinavian store, Indiska.

Oh yes - before I forget, when we popped in City Hall to use the nice, no-cost restrooms, we happened upon an amazing art exhibit featuring a photo documentary of wasted food. Shame, shame on us people all over the world! We all throw away so much edible food. So many could thrive on it

Speaking of food, we stopped by a tent-bistro on the plaza outside City Hall and had a fresh-made Belgium waffle with strawberry preserves. Oh my!!!!!!

When we returned to our tiny-house, we poured a glass a wine and took it with us as we did a sunset neighborhood stroll to take in the neat, compact traditional Finnish homes.