Our first full day in Helsinki was cold and overcast and windy. We lingered in the hostel hoping the clouds would clear but by lunchtime we accepted that it was going to be a cloudy day, bundled up and headed out. We walked along a well kept park next to a lake and headed toward city center. Our first stop was Rock Church, a church built into a rock outcropping. The inside of the church was all rock wall covered by a copper ceiling. Once we were done admiring and warming up we decided we had enough for the day, skipped city center, and headed back to the hostel for the rest of the day. We did have two more days to explore and hopefully it would be better weather.
Day two was slightly less cloudy and not much more promising than day one but we braved the weather and headed down to city center for real. We got on a ferry to Suolmelinna, an island fortress just 15 minutes from mainland. It rained while we were on the ferry but once we arrived at the island the weather cleared and we had a gorgeous sunny day on the island.
For lunch we headed back to mainland and found a fantastic little veggie burger joint not far from downtown. The owner was from Israel but married a Finnish woman and started his business here. He was friendly and chatty and asked us all about our trip. If you are in Helsinki, find Vegemesta.
On the way to the tram we stopped at a cool looking church on a hill and the Senate plaza. Over dinner we chatted with two German girls and a couple from Austria. It was a pleasant and warm evening in the hostel.
For our last day in Helsinki we checked out the industrial design museum. It was well done and interesting although a bit pricey for what you got. We then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the hostel eating and waiting for the airport shuttle for our 11pm plane (which ended up not taking off until 1am).
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