Simultaneously busy and lazy day. Visited Uppenski Cathedral, the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Finland, which was ruled by the Russians for too long. Irene proudly told us that the icon which covered a wall was called an iconostasis. (She learned this in RE). Then shopping in the outdoor market, where we had a seafood platter with delicious grilled salmon and battered squid. I bought a Lapland sweater, with reindeers. There were many stalls with native furs. I may or may not have bought a fox fur stole. Took a boat to an offshore island Suomenlinna, and had a seal-like afternoon basking facing the bay, and had a dinner picnic there. I like Finland. Its a very relaxed place, and the Finns are the warmest of the Scandinavians (followed by the Swedes). (Weve visited Norway, Sweden and Denmark in previous summers, as I love to take 2 weeks off and travel, and Roy cant cope with heat!) The Finns speak English with near-native fluency. The accents often sound American, until by the second or third sentence you hear tell-tale Scandinavian vowels. They shop in perfect silence. We stand out not only by our colour, of skin and clothes, but by the fact that we, horrors, talk to each other in the grocery store!!
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 19:24:35 +0000
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