We couldn’t get off the boat until 2 pm, in order to satisfy the 72 visa-free period. Borinnnggggg!

However, by 2:15 I was on a shuttle bus. Sweet. The hostel is a 5 minute walk from the drop off point. Super sweet.

And this hostel is amazing. Great kitchen and free coffee, movies, plenty of hot water, comfy beds.

Had a nice little walk around before dark. The core area is more compact than I imagined. I’ll get away without having to buy metro passes.

Looking forward to the Fabrege egg museum in the morning!

A few minutes more of Wi-Fi, and I’ll just say that I really enjoyed the Nordic countries. I was fortunate and had many sunny days!

It was expensive, yes, but worth it. I think my inherent cheapness served me well here. I still tried the local food and saw lots of culture-y stuff. 

Oslo was my favorite with its mix of regular folks and Viking legends, rain and sun. I’d come back in the winter to see the fjords in snow, and Norway’s beautiful mountains anytime. 

Tomorrow we’ll have crossed the Baltic sea and be looking at Russia!

So…dobryy vecher until then

💙💙💙💙

Took it easy this morning and didn’t do much until 11:00.

The modern art museum is showing only digital art right now. The exhibits weren’t really to my taste. I actually fell asleep watching one video. Lol so edgy. 

I spent the early afternoon just walking around seeing the downtown area and going into shops. So many neat antique stores. It’s cool to see the difference between what different cultures see as valuable. Looks less junky somehow.

Lastly was a trip to the local design museum with new friend Margaret. It was free night so you know I loved that. It wasn’t what I expected so that’s good, right? My favorite part was an exhibit about scissors. Fiskars are from Finland…who knew? Lots of sewing and paper art. Very cool.

Tomorrow afternoon I get on the cruise ship for St. Petersburg the next day. Very excited!

Had a lovely day traipsing about on an island, enjoyed a ferry ride, tried some local fishball things (fishsticks really), found a couple thrift stores, and generally loved the hell out of Helsinki.

There are some reasonably priced things to do here, and the food’s not that horribly priced. What’s really expensive apparently is local housing. Even finding an apartment to rent is hard, much less one you can afford.

Just one more day here before I go off to st. Petersburg in Russia! Yay!

Also, I’m nervous a little. I hope they let me in. It’s not guaranteed.😓