Helsinki arrival

This is terrible! It's now 29th July 2013 and it's only now that I've got round to back-blipping these last few days of our grand Northern Europe holiday celebrating Carl's big birthday.

We'd organised our high-speed train tickets yesterday, managing to find our way to the main railway station in St Petersburg by Metro and then finally managing to figure out the ticket office for international travel involves going back out of the station and round the corner and back in again to a separate place. It was all hassle-free, really, and we were reassured to know that we'd appear like seasoned travellers this morning when we went to get the Allegro train.

We checked out of our not-so-great hotel quite early and got a taxi to the station. Traffic was desperately heavy, so it took rather a long while to get there. Since we'd left ourselves plenty of time for any unexpected eventualities, there was no panic, and we actually managed to have a last Russian beer in the station café before heading for the platform. The train journey was terrific, and the cross-border formalities were managed with impressive efficiency (customs officers from both Russia and Finland came on board and worked their way along carriage by carriage. As each carriage was cleared, passengers were free to move around again, so naturally we made our way to the restaurant car. There was a bit of rain as we approached Helsinki, but this proved to be a false alarm and it was fine when we arrived in the city's Central Station, safe and sound and delighted with our railway experience. Thanks to Carl for commemorating the moment of arrival in such fine style.

We found our way to our hotel without too much bother and got there in time for a pleasant lunch in the restaurant there. During our meal we got a call from a friend back home to tell us that mutual friends who are living in Helsinki were keen for us to get in touch and arrange to meet them. We phoned, and were invited in their place for a meal on Sunday night. After lunch and a bit of a siesta we ventured out into the city, renewing memories of our last stay in Helsinki ten years ago. The whole point of finishing this holiday here was to be around for the Midsummer celebration which were such fun last time. Unfortunately, things have changed drastically in the mean time, to the extent that it looks as if the city and the country now closes down for the few days before and after the celebration. We quickly felt that we might be better off spending some time outside Helsinki, and decided to ask our local contacts for advice.