Jan 3 Porvoo

This morning we got our act together enough to catch a bus to Porvoo, a town about 50 km outside of Helsinki. It is one of the oldest settlements in Finland, with an old town and several old buildings to check out.

Crossing the bridge in Porvoo

 It was snowy and cold when we left in the morning, so we bundled up as much as we could.

Cozy even in the cold and snow

Upon arrival in Porvoo, we stopped at the 1 Euro WC and got a map of a walking tour of the old town. The tour took us back and forth across the river and climbed up to the cathedral.

Bridge facing the cathedral

The old cobblestone streets are pretty slippery when snow covered, especially in the steep sections. We watched a car barely make it up a hill, but none of us slipped and fell.

Using the self timer, because we can

After a picnic lunch in the mall, we went for a walk along the river. We stopped to play on the playground ship and take a picture using the newly discovered self timer feature on the camera.

Stop for a coffee and a snack

After a coffee and cinnamon bun break, we went to see the inside of the cathedral and then catch the bus back to Helsinki.

Eating with Grandma and Grandpa

We got really lucky with all of our public transit timing today, every bus and tram was waiting for us (or we had to run a bit to catch it).

Old town in Porvoo at dusk

Back at the apartment, we had dinner and play time with Jasper. This evening, Jasper really seemed to enjoy his new peek-a-boo book, and the bubble soccer from our host's kids. As usual, hiding under the table is a sure way to make him giggle.

Beating Pat at bubble soccer

Jan 2 Quarterfinals

Today was the day of the quarterfinals at the World Junior Hockey Championships. We couldn't get tickets to the sold out Canada- Finland quarterfinal. Instead, Jim, Dawne and Patrick went to the Sweden vs. Slovakia game while Jasper and I explored the city a bit. I had planned to take him swimming at a nearby pool, but he fell asleep in the carrier on the way there.

At the skating rink by the train station.

We wandered around downtown, popping into stores and malls every once in a while to warm up. I found a Marks and Spencer to get some Percy Pigs and a tacky souvenir shop to get some post cards.

Lights of Helsinki

 The city looks nice at night, but it was very cold and windy, especially by the harbour.

The harbour at night

Jasper and I met the rest of the family at SPORT BAR, a bar near the arena, to watch the Canada vs. Finland game on TV. I was sitting with Jasper at the bar, and a kind family from Kingston invited me to sit with them in their booth. When the rest of the family arrived, they joined us.

With our new friends at SPORT BAR

As you probably already heard, Canada lost to Finland 6-5. It was an exciting game to watch, with the bar alternating between cheering Go-Canada-Go and Su-o-mi. It's too bad that we won't see Canada play in the semifinals or finals.

The family at SPORT BAR

Jan 1 Happy New Year!

With everyone severely hungover and no hockey games scheduled, we decided to embark on an extremely long walk through the bitter cold for some reason.  We stopped at a cafe on an island to get some coffees and rest our weary bodies.

Coffees in the forest shanty cafe

Apart from the epic winter death march, we mostly stayed in the flat and drank coffee.  We discovered some interesting items in our Air BnB host's apartment, including a punching bag in the bed room that is shared by their 3 young sons.  I can only presume that they are training them to be lethal MMA fighters from a very young age.  Jasper laid in to the bag with fists of fury so fast they blurred the photos!

Jasper training for the ocatogon

 We also discovered an odd collection of hats.  Jasper thought they were hilarious when he saw me trying them on, not so much once we made him start wearing them.  All of the attempts at a time delay photo pretty much became out takes, so we're throwing the best ones in anyway.

Oh yeah, we also stopped at a random mall to stave off hypothermia, get more coffee, and eat red peppers from Jasper's diaper bag.

Eating red peppers at Finland's equivalent of Starbucks.  There are several Starbucks in Finland too.

Dec 31 Canada vs. Sweden

We spent the morning relaxing around the house, then walked to the Seurasaari open air museum. It on an island near our apartment and is kind of like a pioneer village, with old buildings collected from all over Finland.

Already cheering for Canada

We managed to see a few of the buildings before it got dark and we needed to head to the arena for the first hockey game of the day.

At the Seurasaari open air museum

The first game was Denmark vs. USA. There weren't too many fans for that one.

Three generations of hockey fans.

Jasper fell asleep and we watched the USA win 4-1 over Denmark. As far as we could tell there was approximately 1 Danish fan in the arena.

Not enough excitement for Jasper in the USA vs. Denmark game.

After the first game, we left to grab a quick bite to eat at a nearby Chinese restaurant. Jasper mowed down on some spring rolls and fried noodles.

Checking out the Swedish ladies

Back at the arena for the headline game of the night, Canada vs. Sweden, the atmosphere was completely different. The stands were packed with 7000 fans, about 30% Swedish and 70% Canadian.

Guess which team we're cheering for

The Swedish fans had lots of energy and loud organized cheers and chants. Unfortunately, neither the Canadian fans or the players could quite keep up with the Swedes, and Canada lost 5-2.

After the game, we started heading down to the senate square to see the fireworks, but decided that it wasn't a good idea to take Jasper there. It was pretty cold and windy, and we wouldn't have anywhere to stop and get warm if he started freaking out. So, Jim and Dawne continued on to the Helsinki New Year's Eve celebrations and Pat, Jasper and I went back to the apartment.

Trying to see some fireworks from the window.

Jasper wouldn't go to sleep, so the three of us watched some fireworks from the window. Happy New Year to everyone!

Dec 30 Temppeliaukio Church

No hockey games for us today. We spent the morning hanging around the apartment, then went out to check out the Tempeeliaukio Church. 

All cozy ready to go out

The church is built right into a rock, so the walls are granite and the ceiling is copper with skylight windows running around the edges.

Inside the stone church

It was definitely the most unique church we've ever seen.

View from the church balcony.

Back at the apartment, Jasper has been crawling up a storm. It's funny to watch the last crawling video that was only taken just over a week ago. He has definitely improved leaps and bounds since then. He will be getting into everything once we get home and don't have 4 adults constantly watching him.

"I didn't do it"

Happy boy crawling

Dec 29 Canada vs. Switzerland

There was only one hockey game today, so we had a chance to explore the city some more. We grabbed a ferry from downtown and went over the the fortress of Suomenlinna. The weather was bright and clear again today, and it was a bit colder, about -3 degrees. 

On the ferry to Suomenlinna

Finnish history is a bit hard to keep track of. They've been back and forth between the Swedes and Russians and have only been independent for about 100 years. We learned a bit more about the history of the country through the signposts at the fortress.

By the Finnish submarine

The fortress is a collection of islands with museums, cafes, restaurants, a grocery store and even a hostel. There are 800 residents of the islands that live at the fortress full time. Many of the fortress' amenities were closed for the winter, but it wasn't too busy (other than other Canadian hockey fans).

On the fortress of Suomenlinna

We walked to the King's Gate at the edge of the islands and explored around some munitions bunkers built into the hills.

Sun starting to set at 2:30 pm.

The landscape is very rocky and barren, kind of like the Canadian shield. The rocks had a thin layer of ice, so we had to be quite careful walking around.

A hobbit's home (munitions bunker)

The sun didn't get very high in the sky all day, and set for good just after 3:00 pm on our ferry ride home.

Sunset on the ferry ride home.

After a dinner break at the apartment, and some playtime and a nap for Jasper, it was back to the arena for team Canada vs. Switzerland.

Hockey pucks taste good.

What should have been an easy win for Canada ended up being a nail biter. Jasper was pretty fussy the whole game and he wouldn't go to sleep.

Very concerned that Canada is losing to Switzerland

Canada ended up winning in shootouts, and we found a hilariously tiny toilet in the family washroom, so in the end it was a good game.

Baby sized toilet at the arena.

Dec 28 Canada vs. Denmark

Today we finally got our luggage back from KLM! It was great to have a change of clothes and more diapers for Jasper. Once we got the luggage sorted out, we were able to leave the apartment to explore downtown Helsinki.

Waiting for the #4 tram.

We took the tram downtown and walked around. It was a nice sunny day, but the sun started to set around 3:00 pm.

In downtown Helsinki.

We saw the major sights, the two big cathedrals and the harbour and then stopped at a cafe for a coffee and a snack. The cafe was well equipped for babies and kids, with many high chairs and a play area for little ones.

The Lutheran Cathedral

The Orthodox cathedral

At the harbour

We went back to the Ice Hall for the first game of the day, Sweden vs. USA at 4 pm. There were tons of Sweden fans there, and most Canadians seemed to be cheering for Sweden too. Sweden won, so everyone was happy except for a few Americans in the stands.

Shoulder ride...watch out for flying pucks!

Our seats were pretty close to the ice today, about six rows up behind one of the benches. There was one close call when a stray puck landed right in the row behind us.

Canada vs. Denmark

After a break for a sushi dinner, we were back at the arena for Canada vs. Denmark at 8 pm. Denmark surprised everyone by scoring the first goal, but Canada ended up winning 6-1. The Danish goalie took quite the beating, and he was named player of the game for the Danes.

Seats close to the action

Really into the game (or is that the Jumbo-tron?)