OUR SCANDINAVIAN ADVENTURE - HELSINKI DAY 1

Hello again, my dear readers.

If you are following my posts, you might recall that after spending a week in London, we said goodbye to this amazing city to finally embark on our Highlights of Scandinavia and Baltic Cruise tour with Finland being the first stop on our itinerary.

Not going into too much detail, I would just like to remind you that the tour operator was Nordic Visitor and if you would like to read more about it, you could find it here.

Here is a very important fact about Nordic region and Finland in particular.  It has been named the worlds' happiest country for the ninth consecutive year in 2026 Worlds Happiest Country report.  Driven by high trust in institutions, social support and low corruption, Finland is closely followed by Denmark and Iceland.  The Nordic region continues to dominate the top ranking. driven by, among other factors, an excellent quality of life and work-life balance. And we were ego to see it for ourselves.

Upon arrival at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport where we were welcomed by a professional English-speaking driver (arranged by our tour operator Nordic Visitor) who drove in his private vehicle and once we reached our pre-booked hotel, Scandic Grand Marina,  helped us with the luggage.

It was reasonably early in the morning and since we had been in Europe for over a week by now and didn't feel jetlagged any more, we were ready to go out and explore the city as soon as our bags were delivered to our room.

Our hotel has a perfect position, it is in walking distance to the sea, Market Square and city centre.  We began our explorations by visiting Senate Square and the grand, neoclassical Helsinki Cathedral.

A short stroll away, we came across Uspenski Cathedral, the largest Orthodox Church in Scandinavia and one of the most visible symbols of the Russian influence on Finnish culture.

It was lunchtime somewhere so we headed to https://www.allaspool.fi/, an open all year round urban spa that includes sauna, seawater/fresh water pools, wellness facilities and a cafe.  There are estimated to be over 3 million saunas in Finland and almost every household has one.  This is one of the most vital parts of people's wellbeing and you can find them in private homes, apartment buildings, officers, factories and hotels.

Our hotel didn't have one but even if it did, my husband's medical history does not allow him to be in a room which is heated up to 90 ℃.  It didn't mean that we couldn't go inside, buy ourselves some drinks and food and take an outside table overlooking the Gulf of Finland and enjoy the sun and the joyful vibe of other patrons.

Once we left the pool, we took a stroll around city centre, admiring the style of architecture of the buildings that we walked by, crisp clear air  and the general feeling of open spaces not crammed with people, cars, dogs or bicycles.

 

For us, living within walking distance to the Pacific Ocean and its world famous Bondi Beach with its waves constantly crashing on the beach, the multitude of swimmers, surfers, runners, dogs walkers, kids and tourists  and all the noise that comes with them, walking along the embankment of the Gulf of Finland watching the almost still water lightly disturbed by a warm breeze gently rocking the boats was such a stunning contrast that we just stopped walking and stayed still for a minuted in appreciation of the beauty and serenity around us.

And with this blissful feeling of happiness we retired to our hotel and went to bed.  

Until then,

Anna

xoxoxo

LONDON DAY 4, A VISIT TO ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL AND A NIGHT AT BBS PROMS

Hello again, my dear readers.  Hope you are all well.

It is our fourth day in London and we are on the road again.  Our day started with the trip to St Paul's Cathedral.  Although it is our third trip to the UK capital, we have never been inside and only saw it from the top of a Hop-On Hop-Off bus😄.  It was the high time to see it as I don't think we will be coming back in a hurry.

St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral and the seat of the Bishop of London.   The Cathedral serves as the mother church of England of the Dioses of London in the Church of England.  It is one of the most recognisable sights of London and its world-famous dome is an iconic feature that has dominated the London skyline for the last 300 years. This present structure with its dome designed in English Baroque by Sir Christopher Wren, who spent 35 years working on the project, and when completed in 1710, was the tallest building in London until for 250 years till 1963.

There is no free admittance except for those who are The Friends of St Paul's Cathedral and infants from 0 to 5 years old.  However, they offer various discounts for different categories of visitors including for those who are over 65 which we both are.  Luckily for us, our Australian drivers licences were sufficient to prove our age and grant us a discount  for the tickets, so there is a plus side to old age after all 😉.

The moment we stepped inside, we were taken by the magnitude of the structure and the artistic and engineering genius of its architect.  

It took us a good couple of hours to walk around, slowly and carefully exploring the rich decor of the cathedral's interiors: its very tall coloured glass windows, richly decorated domes and the main altar, beautifully painted frescos depicting various biblical scenes, the tall columns supporting the main dome and the porticos all around the cathedral. 

There are over 500 monuments, with notable statues and sculptures honouring national figures such as Admiral Nelson, Florence Nightingale and other military and naval leaders.  It would probably taken us a few more hours in an attempt to see them all. 

Feeling tired and slightly overwhelmed, we left the cathedral and took a walk around the neighbourhood.  After a short 5 minutes walk we found ourselves on Paternoster Square and its iconic over 23 meters tall column topped with the golden flaming urn.  What caught me by surprise were the rows of pink canvas deck chairs placed in the centre of the square that were occupied by people enjoying the warm weather, having their lunches or just relaxing and watching the world go by. 

And just few meters away there were a bunch of men dressed in their corporate uniforms minus the jackets playing table tennis on their lunch break.  What a marvelous idea of the use of the public places for everyone to enjoy.

But that was not all.  At the other side of the square I saw a big bronze installation and walked towards it to have a closer look.  The moment I saw a dog and a rabbit, I knew immediately who the artists were.  Their names are Gilli and Mark and believe it or not, they live in Sydney and their kids went to the same school and the same time as my younger daughter Georgia.  Six degrees of separation, indeed.

These sculptures feature endangered animals alongside artist's signature hybrid characters, Rabbitwoman and Dogman.  Visitors are encouraged to interact with the sculptures which I did.  It was time for us to go back to our hotel to get some rest before dressing up and going out to Royal Albert Hall for BBC Proms.

The first time I attended the BBC Proms was on my first trip to Europe and the UK on our honeymoon and I enjoyed it immensely.  So when we planned our 2025 trip to London and Scandinavia we checked the Proms 2025 program and discovered that Beethoven's 9th Symphony would be performed at Royal Albert Hall during our London sojourn and the tickets were going on sale on Saturday 17 of May 2025 at 9am UK time which was around 7 pm Australian Time.  At 7 pm sharp I logged into the Tickets Sale site and immediately received a message that were 16,980 in the queue and there was nothing we could do but sit and watch how the numbers were going down.  Two hours later our position was 2295 with the estimated wait of 14 minutes.  After 30 minutes of watching the final countdown, we became the proud owners of two tickets for a night at the Proms.  Job well done!!!

We had an absolutely marvelous evening.  I can listen to Beethoven's 9th every day and never get tired of it.  And who doesn't love the most famous piece "Ode to Joy"?

Our London sojourn ended on such a high note, we couldn't wish for a better way to celebrate our last night in London.  And now it was time to same goodbye to this glorious city and embark on our Scandinavian adventure. 

If you missed any of the previous posts and would like to catch up, you can do it here:

London, Day 1, arrival

London Day 2, morning - Visiting Wallace Collection

London Day 2, evening - Dinner at Sketch

London Day 3, trip to Windsor Castle and night at the theatre

Until then,

Anna

xoxoxo

 

LONDON DAY 3, A MORNING TRIP TO WINDSOR CASTLE AND A NIGHT AT THE THEATRE

 Hello again my dear readers,

I am picking up the pace, trying my best to avoid long gaps between the postings of the narrative of our trip so you will not lose the plot😜.

For our third day in London we planned a visit to Windsor Castle in the morning and in the evening going to the theatre to see The Mousetrap.

The easiest way to get to Windsor Castle is to take a train.  As I mentioned earlier, our hotel in Aldgate was just two minutes away from the train station which was extremely convenient.  We alighted at Waterloo Station to change for the GWR train that took us directly to Windsor and Eaton riverside.  From there, it was just a 10 minutes walk to the gates of the castle.

Windsor Castle is one of the oldest and largest occupied castles in the world.  It was founded in the 11th century by William the Conqueror and has been a home for 40 monarchs ever since.

It's architecture is based on a medieval structure with Gothic features reinvented in the modern style.  As you walk towards it, you become aware of how big and imposing this castle is.  

There are a few rooms that are open to the public such as the State Apartments, Ceremonial and  Historic Rooms, Queen Mary's Dolls House, you can explore the Precincts or watch the Changing of the Guards.

Unfortunately the photography is not permitted inside the castle so I can't share with you any images but I can assure you that the interiors of the castle look as grand as its exterior.  You wouldn't expect anything less of the royal residence, naturally.

When it comes to food and drinks, there are a few small outdoor cafes where you can get coffee and sandwiches but if you really want to enhance your experience, have your lunch in the Undercroft Cafe at Windsor Castle.

Situated underneath St George's Hall, it dates back to 14th century and has a medieval interior that reflects the architecture style of the castle.  The cafe serves delicious set meals comprised of a hot soup, a main course and a delicious pud at a very reasonable price which for us, Australians, was an icing on the cake considering the weakness of our $ against the British £.

After lunch we took a walk around the grounds and then made our way to the train station to get back to the hotel to refresh ourselves for the evening.  I know that it sounds like a cliché but we were going to see the play, The Mousetrap.  You know the saying "When in Rome, do as the Romans do"?  Well, I have my own spin on it and whenever we are in a foreign city, I would always say "When in such and such, do as the tourists do" and so we did.

The play has an interesting history.  It was written by the master of mystery, Agatha Christie.  The play has a twisted ending which the audience are traditionally asked not to reveal after leaving the theatre.  It is not only the longest-running West End show but it also has by far the longest run of any play in the world reaching its 30,000 performances on the 19 of March 2025.  Christie herself didn't expect Mousetrap to run for such a long time.  When her impresario was going to give it fourteen months, she contradicted him giving the play only eight months.

The play was performed at Theatre Royal in Nottingham in October 1952 but moved to St Martin's Theatre in 1975 where it has been performed ever since.  

It might not be the most thrilling, nail-biting plot as I expected it to be but we thoroughly enjoy our evening.  When the show ended,  we stopped at the box office to get one of the theatre attendants to stamp our playbill showing that we had just watched performance number 30,197!!!

After the leaving the theater, we stopped at a local pub for a night cap and then took the train back to the hotel.  Day 3 was done and dusted.  

Have you seen this play and what is your opinion about it?  Please share your thoughts in the section below.  

Until then,

Anna

xoxox

Linking with I DO DECLARE 

LONDON DAY 2 - DINNER AT SKETCH

Hello dear my dear readers,

Welcome to the evening edition of our Day 2 London sojourn.  If you wondering what we did in the first part of the day, you can read it here.  Hint:  we went to see The Wallace Collection 😀.

Please accept my sincere apologies for taking a long time between posts but if you were following my blog, you might notice that about a year ago I stopped blogging and it is taking time to fall back into the rhythm.  I am working on it as we speak so please be patient😊.

You won't believe me if I tell you the reason I wanted to go to Sketch.  Many years ago I had a strange hobby, using my Olympus camera I was taking photos of the unusually looking toilets whenever we went; some of them were quirky, some were lavishly decorated, some had interesting interior details, etc.  It was way before iPhones, Instagram or Facebook so you couldn't share it with anyone unless you printed them.  So when I mentioned it to one of my friends, she just jokingly suggested that if we ever going to London, I should check out the bathrooms at Sketch.  Mind you, it was many, many years ago and  that hobby has died as many others did over the years, I still remember her comment and put a dinner at Sketch on our London's "to do list".

A quick read of their webpage made me want to go there even more.  I couldn't find any mention of the bathrooms though but we liked the food and the vibe and decided to give it a go.  As per usual practice, any place that we would like to visit on our travels which requires booking, we would book from home well in advance and this time it wan no exception.

And so on our second night in London we found ourselves standing outside Sketch looking at the "Faceless Dog" sculpture hung about the entrance.

The first thing we saw when we stepped inside, was a famous "Drip"

followed by the drawing of a Hopscotch pattern on the floor.

The restaurant offers a multitude of dining experience depending on what time of day you want to have your meal and whether you want sweet or savory or just a cocktail or two across different rooms, each decorated in a unique style.  After some consideration, we booked a dinner in The Gallery

As we were making our way to the dining room, we came across some other quirky displays and eye catching light installations.

But the toilets were the icing on the cake, just as I hoped.

You access the bathroom area by a split curved staircase.  As you enter the bathroom, you see big white egg-shaped cubicles scattered all around the perimeter. 

Each egg contains an individual toilet, each with its individual music and sounds creating quite surreal experience.   

The colours of the glass ceiling cast a soft glow over the eggs adding another dimension to the whole experience.

As for the food, I really enjoyed my Sketch Beef Tartare followed by Sketch 057 dessert.  The staff was very polite and attentive  and we both had a very enjoyable evening.  

This brings the end to our Day 2 in London.   Stay tuned for more😀

Until then,

Anna

xoxoxo