And so it comes to an end...

Our last day in Helsinki, and last day of our trip, was spent at the Ateneum Art Museum, which features primarily Finnish artists, and Ainola, the home of Jean and Aino Sibelius (the name of the house actually means "Aino's place").  Ateneum was a very interesting place with its mix of time periods, disciplines, and themes.  The day was perfect for our bus ride up to Ainola, after early lunch.  70 degrees Farhrenheit and sunny, the home of the Sibelius family and the surrounding woods were warm and inviting.  The house has remained virtually untouched since the death of Aino Sibelius in 1969 and the tour guide at the house was able to share stories about even the smallest details of the house.  Today was a great finale to the adventure.  Tomorrow (if you can call waking up at 3a.m. truly "tomorrow"), we head to the airport to come home to our families and friends in the Twin Cities.

A piece by Finnish contemporary artist Kaarina Kaikkonen

The woods surrounding Ainola

Ainola

Helsinki's Open-Air Museum, Church in the Rock, and Kallio Church

Today, we went to the Seurasaari Open-Air Museum and looked at original old Finnish wooden structures (all transplanted to the site of the museum), some dating back to the late 17th century.  Several troops of tiny children, wearing brightly colored construction worker vests, were all tromping around the museum in single file lines.  Following the museum, we went to see the Church in the Rock (Temppeliaukion kirkko), designed by Tuomo and Timo Suomalainen.  I've attached a panaroma shot of the inside of the church, but you can find much nicer pictures of the church by Googling "Church in the Rock Helsinki."  It was a special moment to be greeted by the minister at the church and have her husband present us with a piece of choral music he had written.  We attempted to sing through the piece as a group, some of us more successful than others (those darn contemporary composers and their penchant for using no key signature!).  After a brief break, we headed to Kallio Church to meet Mark and Jeff's good friend Tommi Niskala, who is both the conductor and organist at the church.  He played a number of pieces on both the church's small and large organs, treating our little group to a private concert.

The Karuna Church at the Open-Air Museum

Church in the Rock

The large organ at Kallio Church

Tommi Niskala playing Finlandia on the organ

Arrival in Helsinki

Our ship arrived in Helsinki at 9:55 am local time, and upon disembarking we were met by our new tour guide (a British woman who has lived in Helsinki for 26 years).  As soon as the bus dropped us at the hotel to deposit our luggage, we were off on a walking tour of downtown Helsinki.  Among the sites we took in were the Helsinki Music Centre, Finlandia Hall (designed by Alvar Aalto), the Central Railway Station (designed by Eliel Saarinen), and the Helsinki Cathedral (a Lutheran cathedral).  We also were able to catch a glimpse of the most beautiful Burger King you'll ever see, located inside the Central Railway Station.

Finlandia Hall

Helsinki Music Centre

Central Railway Station

The prettiest Burger King you'll ever see!

Helsinki Cathedral

Uppsala and the "Ferry" to Helsinki

Our final day in Sweden (Sunday, May 22nd), was spent outside of Stockholm in Uppsala.  There we saw the impressive Cathedral of Uppsala, which has changed dramatically in appearance several times since the 16th century.  We also visited the botanical gardens of Carl Linnaeus, and enjoyed lunch at the Cathedral Cafe.  After lunch, we returned to Stockholm to board the Silja Serenade (operated by Tallink Silja), to get settled in for our scenic archipelago-laden departure from Sweden.  I realized pretty quickly that calling the ship we were on a "ferry" was a bit ridiculous!  Though not as big as some cruise ships, our Serenade had a main promenade filled with shops, restaurants, and even a theater featuring live performances of "Grease" (though I was told it would be performed in Finnish!).

Cathedral in Uppsala.

Chapel at the head of the Cathedral.

The Cathedral has experienced many changes over time.

Botanical gardens of Carl Linnaeus - many flowers enjoy living among stone.

My quarters aboard the Silja Serenade.

Voyaging through the archipelago.

The Serenade's promenade level at night.

Last Night in Stockholm

Today's agenda was relaxed and casual.  Around 12:30, we boarded a boat for a 1-hour cruise of Lake Malaren, heading to Drottningholm Palace.  Our tour of the palace brought us through the decadent state apartments.  The evening was free, and I made my way to The Pelikan for dinner, at the suggestion of a friend's sister who lives in Stockholm.  The restaurant has been in operation for over 110 years, and the name itself has an even longer history dating back to the 17th century.  The food was delicious (I had "pork knuckle"), as was the Aquavit!  Tomorrow, we say farewell to Stockholm, travel to Uppsala, and board our overnight ferry to Helsinki.

Aquavit at The Pelikan

Whirlwind Stockholm!

Today was perhaps our most fast-paced day of the trip thus far.  After a bountiful breakfast at the Marriott, we all piled into the tour bus for a trip to City Hall, where we admired the intricate gold leaf mosaic Gold Room and the majestic main hall which serves as home to the Nobel Prize dinner.  From there we hopped over to the Vasa Ship Museum.  The Vasa was a "royal ship" class warship completed in 1628, which sank to the bottom of the Stockholm harbor within minutes of its launch.  The effort taken to raise the ship (which was preserved by the brackish water of the harbor) was an amazing story of engineering, almost as compelling as the ship's fate.  Next on the list was lunch at the restaurant at the Tower of Kaknästornet, which is still used today by Teracom as a sending/receiving tower. The afternoon was filled with a visit to the Millesgaarden sculpture garden, an exterior tour and peak inside the Royal Palace Chapel, and more detailed walking tour of Old Town - And the brevity of that last sentence does a tremendous disservice to what we saw in those places, but hopefully the pictures below will assist with recreating the impression they made!

The main room of City Hall; site of the annual Nobel Prize dinner

A stunning gold leaf tile mosaic in the Gold Room of City Hall.

The courtyard of City Hall.

The Vasa as seen from the stern.

View from our lunch spot.

Carl Milles sculpture at Millesgaarden.

The opulence of the Royal Palace Chapel.

The unique character of Old Town.

Stockholm, My Scandinavian Hotel Room, and Skate Kids

We spent most of the morning and very early afternoon traveling to Stockholm.  When we landed, we had a couple of hours to kill before the group could check into the Courtyard Marriott, so our tour guide took us on a simple tour of a few spots, including Old Town.  We were treated to a spectacular view of several of the islands that make up Stockholm (and as was the case with my other posts, the pictures don't do it justice!).  Checked in at the Marriott, I thought it important to capture what is the most Scandinavian looking Courtyard Marriott I've ever seen.  The Marriott is directly across the street from a large beautiful park, that features sand volleyball, an open-air pub (with bocce ball courts), a lake with a dock for small boats, a children's playground, and a skate park!  Tomorrow will be a very busy day with more significant sites and things to report.

A magnificent view.

Swedish take on Courtyard Marriott.

Skate park across the street.

Fjords! Fjords! Fjords!

I'm reminded a little of John Candy and Steve Martin's "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles," though ours would have been "Busses, Trains, and Ferry Boats," and with far more majesty and far less annoyance!  We started the day with a bus ride to Voss, where we caught a train over to Myrdal for the truly spectacularly quaint tram ride down into the Flam valley.  The photos do not do justice to the grandeur of the experience, particularly when we transferred to the ferry that took us through the fjords to Gudvangen.  Most of the pictures I'm including with this post are of the fjords from the two-hour ferry ride, with the exception of the stop at the mighty Kjosfossen waterfall as we took the tram down through the Naerfjord and Aurland fjords into the Flam valley.

Kjosfossen Waterfall

Syttende Mai, Mount Floyen, McDonald's, and Donald Trump

The title of this post almost speaks for itself.  The Norwegian festival of Syttende Mai kicked off the day - marching bands warming up at 5 a.m. and a canon on the hill "practicing" promised exciting festivities.  Two intersecting parades passed each other on the main street in downtown Bergen, the cacophony of sounds of a hip hop dance troupe and marching band forming their own Ivesian symphony.  In the early afternoon we traveled via funicular up to the top of Mount Floyen, where the views were breathtaking, even with the cloudy overcast sky as backdrop.  A walking tour pointed out one of the oldest buildings in Bergen, now occupied by a McDonald's!  In the evening we caught a glimpse of our own embarrassing politics spilling into the international scene.  It's nice to see that the Norwegians have a better sense of humor about the presumed USA Republican presidential nominee than I do!

Arrival in Bergen

We arrived in Bergen at what would have been the Midwest equivalent of 3a.m., and after marveling at a simultaneously unusual and honest bathroom sign, we all jumped right into a couple of walking tours of Edvard Grieg's home (Troldhaugen) and the Fantoft Stave Church, and took a quick motorcoach tour of the "old" Bergen.  We're all working hard at fighting off the temptation of jetlag to all go up to our respective rooms and pass out for 7 hours!  Luckily the air is brisk, the sun is shining, and the exuberance of the Bergen locals in anticipation of Syttende Mai all work wonders to keep the tiredness at bay!

Yes, these are the symbols for the restrooms in Norway!

Spring is in bloom in Bergen.

Edvard Grieg's home