Our next port of call following St Petersburg was Helsinki the capital of Finland. We only had six hours on shore but that was enough to get a feel for the city. Our initial impressions weren't too great. The public bus we caught into the city dropped us in a very nondescript part of town near the main railway station. However as we walked the streetscape, architecture and overall ambience improved markedly. We found ourselves at a huge white cathedral the main worshipping venue for the city. We couldn't really tell but I think the religion is Lutheran like so many other cities and countries in the Baltic region. There was a festival going on so the place was teeming with people and tourists. Beyond the cathedral was the old town; this was quite charming albeit on a less grand scale to other places we'd been to. The weekly market was in full swing with seafood, vegetables, fruit and all sorts of foodstuffs on sale including Moose meat balls and Reindeer stew! No different to us eating venison I guess. Just a bit confronting to think of Rudolph, Dasher and Santa's other reindeer as one chowed down on their cousins. It was a quick visit to Helsinki and quite low key. But a nice respite after the two full on days that'd we just spent in St Petersburg. The cruise was now nearing its end and I don't think we were the only people looking forward to getting back onto terra firma. One more port to go ... Stockholm. Ciao now Keri