Just got back an hour ago (and straight onto DB.... sad little man I am!).
All I can say is wow! What a lovely city. Really lovely area, easy to get around, the people were the friendliest i've come across in Europe, the food is fantastic and the weather was good (too good - I am beetroot red with sunburn). And the ladies... my lord, even the wife and her girlfriend noticed how stunninghly good looking everyone was so I had free reign after that, got a sore neck to complement the beetroot colour rofl
Completely overdosed on salmon, with the occasional bit of Elk. Saw some bear in a can, but I wasn't sure what my ethical stance on eating bear is just yet - the tastebuds said give it a go but the heart said "but bears are nice..." and in the end 26 euro for a 150gm tin of bear meat sealed the deal, the bear is safe from me for now. Lots of strange pelts at the markets too (see below photo)...
We ended up staying the most of today at Suomenlinna, it was absolutely lovely. Howling winds and it was freezing but still really enjoyed it. We were actually thinking of taking the boat to Estonia today but the girl at the hotel reception said the ferries were a bit unpredictable and we might have trouble getting to our flight on time. She recommended Suomenlinna to us instead, then we started talking about the beaches and her boyfriend doing underwater stuff, and then with a few language difficulties here and there it turned out her bloke was a freediver and spearfisherman so she showed me some photos of the pike he caught that day and we were best mates after that
Brilliant place, loved it. We're planning Christmas in Lapland now.
Cheers,
Ben
Ps. When I told my friends I was going to Suomenlinna Island, they said "wear the fox hat".....