St. Petersburg and Finland

Yes, I did do that on vacation. Did what exactly? Well, almost everything I could think to do. Stayed on a haunted island in Finland? Check. Ate elk soup in an building constructed in 1404? Check. Waterfront accommodations in Gamla Stan (Old Town) Stockholm? Check. Free Indian food is Oslo? Check. A meal of smørebrød followed by a tour of a Shakespearean castle? Check. 2 flights, 5 nights on a boat, and a couple train rides later, I am here to tell the tale.

St. Pete's Round 2:
An overnight train brought us to the ever freezing city of St. Petersburg. Since we have previously visited St. Pete's (link to blog post here), we did not have much left to cover. Bailey, Alexa, and I decided to hit up Peter & Paul's Fortress. We may or may not have stopped at Starbucks both on the way there, and on the way back...

They call me Паша. (Pasha)

Our first "ferry" ride was from St. Pete's to Helsinki, Finland. As you can see, it was rather uneventful...

Helsinki, Finland:

We spent roughly two days in Finland. We landed in Helsinki in the morning and explored until the early afternoon. First stop, the Kamppi Chapel of Silence.

Yes, that's a church.

It's so quiet I couldn't even pop my knuckles. 

After Kamppi, the group split up to sight see at different places. Jenn, Jess and I went to the National Musem.

It says "the bullet holes are from a civil war in 1918."

Their current exhibit.

#represent

I got to "drive" a 1966 VW Beetle!

Lutheran Church at Senaatintori

Senaatintori aka Senate Square

So our group met up at Senaatintori to go to our hostel. Initially, all we knew was that the hostel was on an island fortress. COOL, RIGHT?! They failed to mention 3 things...
1. The island, called Suomenlinna, is practically deserted. To the point where the hostel staff leaves at noon (??) and there were only two or three other people staying in the hostel with us.
2. Suomenlinna is covered in think mists.
3. It gets dark around 3:30pm. So when we arrived, the island was already dark.

Oh, and there was a sign for a prison. Current or past? We will never know...

Once a schoolhouse, the staff told us in the morning
that the building and island are haunted.

MY FAVORITE CANDY BAR.
Alas, I did not stock up and they are not in Russia.
It was my sanctuary during our stay on the island.

Tried taking pictures on the island...
This is how they turned out....

The next morning.

Goodbye, Suomenlinna.
I'm not quite sure if I'll miss you.

 We spent the following morning in Helsinki seeing the last few sights.

I did not intend for this to turn out so creepy.
(I'm on the balcony)

My favorite thing in Helsinki was the Rock Church. Rock as in, granite. Built into a hill. Solid stone. You get the idea.

ROCK CHURCH. 

Our next ship took us to Tallinn, Estonia!

More to come!

-Paul