Helsinki and Suomenlinna
We’re in Helsinki in Finland, and it’s very cold and drizzly! Nonetheless, we’ve had a good visit, and toured some interesting places. We did a lot of walking of the city and stopped by most of the various must-see historic sites. None of the pictures of some of the more popular tourist sites turned out particularly interesting, however!
![](http://briancrawford.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/helsinki-november-evening-1024x734.jpg)
![](http://briancrawford.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/uspenski-cathedral-768x1024.jpg)
![](http://briancrawford.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/tsarinas-stone-1024x524.jpg)
The following day we took a local ferry to Suomenlinna, which is a collection of islands off the coast near Helsinki that houses a stone for built by the Kingdom of Sweden in 1748 and occupied by Russian soldiers during the 1800s. The island was grim, cold, and kinda spooky, but a super neat place to explore – I love places like that. My main takeaway is that I’m glad I wasn’t a Russian soldier during the 1800s.
![](http://briancrawford.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/brian-at-suomenlinna-769x1024.jpg)
![](http://briancrawford.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/suomenlinna-fort-view-817x1024.jpg)
![](http://briancrawford.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/suomenlinna-fort-1024x768.jpg)
![](http://briancrawford.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/amelia-at-suomenlinna-768x1024.jpg)
![](http://briancrawford.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/suomenlinna-chamber-768x1024.jpg)
The area surrounding the fort was also quite fun to explore.
![](http://briancrawford.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/creepy-tree-1024x768.jpg)
![](http://briancrawford.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/suomenlinna-tunnel-756x1024.jpg)
![](http://briancrawford.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/no-passage-862x1024.jpg)
![](http://briancrawford.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/suomenlinna-cannon-912x1024.jpg)
![](http://briancrawford.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/no-dogs-allowed-1024x798.jpg)
![](http://briancrawford.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/suomenlinna-coast-1024x768.jpg)
![](http://briancrawford.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/suomenlinna-window-768x1024.jpg)
And that about wraps up our fall break trip to Latvia, Estonia, and Finland… we’re flying back to Prague tomorrow afternoon.