Day-Tripping to Tallinn, Estonia
The residual hangover from the night before gives us a natural impulse to start our morning late today. We plan to take the hour and a half ferry ride to the medieval town of Tallinn in Estonia this afternoon but we don’t...
From Land and Sea: The Beauty of Helsinki
I am visiting Helsinki’s south harbour, where the steel-gray waters of the Gulf of Finland lap the rocky shore, setting sail on a tour of the offshore archipelago, studded with over 300 Scots pine, Norway spruce and...
The Followsummer Journey Begins: Two Suitcases, a Camera Bag and a Laptop
A day of travel and time for contemplation. The beginning of a year of living in the moment, following an intense period of planning, when it often seemed that we spent all our time living in the future as we laid the groundwork...
A Ferry Ride to Finland: Homesick for the Canadian North
Monday, June 28th, 2004: Turku, Finland N 60° E 022° The alarm goes early – 5:30. For a change, it wakes me. The coffee is ready-to-go, and although I am not interested in food, I have my cereal with yogurt and a...
Happy to Be in Finland Again!
I am so happy to be in Finland again! I traveled here 4 years ago with my mother, and we visited southern Finland before we went on to St. Petersburg. I was impressed with Finland – beautiful, clean, birch and pine-covered...
Crossing the Finnish Border into Russia
Helsinki is draped in low-lying, grey clouds this morning and a cool, continuous rain is falling as we head downstairs for breakfast at 9:00. There is chaos (in a Finnish way!) in the breakfast room as clearly every hotel...
The Beautiful Glowing Light of Night and Day in St. Petersburg, Russia
It is our last day in St. Petersburg, and it is beautiful. Our train is not until 4:30 and we have officially finished with our guide Nico so we pack and organize ourselves, check out of the hotel and grab the number 22 bus to...
We Can’t Afford the Beer in Helsinki!
Wednesday, July 7th, 2004: Helsinki, Finland Kouvola to Helsinki: 137 kilometres The drive from Kouvola to Helsinki is an easy one – the only stop we make is to take photos of one of the brilliant yellow mustard...
The Land of the Midnight Sun
Friday, July 9th, 2004: Kemi, Finland N 65 E 024 Helsinki to Kemi: 713 kilometres Logistics and ferry schedules have forced us to do the long drive north through Finland, over the Gulf of Bothnia, down through Sweden and...
Change of Plans: ‘Turn West at Umea’
Saturday, July 10th, 2004: Dorotea, Sweden N 64 E 016 Kemi to Dorotea: 631 kilometres The weather is at least with us today as we spend another big day of driving. The sun is out and is a steady beacon as we head south and...