Day trip to Helsinki, Finland

 I woke up 4:30 am to catch up 6 am ferry to Helsinki, Finland. I walked 2.5 miles from the ferry terminal to city center to take 10:00 free walking tour covering Senate Square,designed by Carl Ludwig Engel: University of Helsinki, white Lutheran Cathedral, Prime Minister's Office, Czarina's Stone (obelisk) at Market square, red Uspenski Cathedral Surrounded by sea, etc.

I visited the city history museum to take a nap, and then ferryed into Suomenlinna (2.8 euro round trip). The "Gibraltar of the North" was a UNESCO site and once the greatest sea fortress in the Baltic, built by the Swedish in the mid-1700s at great expense to protect their eastern flank. It is not just a museum: the sprawling complex houses restaurants, cafes, theaters and museums. I spent 3-hr there walking around and checking out coastal lines. 

I walked a long way to see the Sibelius Monument in Sibelius Park. The world-famous composer Jean Sibelius' monument was disappointingly small, yet the bike path all the way back to the harbor was pleasant to walk on and for people watching. It also has a work of art resembling organ pipes, welded together from 600 pipes and weighing over 24 metric tons. I also passed a graveyard.

Helsinki was the new capital chosen by Russia so the buildings were new and it has no old town. Stockholm is more interesting than Helsinki, and Tallinn is better than Stockholm. However, Helsinki has free WC. 

 I barely found enough things to do till 7 pm and walked back to the ferry terminal to rest for 9:40 pm ferry to arrive Tallinn at midnight. It was a long day. The ferry has shops, cafes, casinos, etc.