Today we took the Allegro high speed train from Helsinki to St. Petersburg. The trip was 3 1/2 hours but it went by quite quickly between customs and eating lunch in the dining car,so I didn't even get a picture.
Our arrival in St Petersburg was quite stressful. In our rush to leave the train, we left the diaper bag on board in one of the overhead compartments. Luckily, St. Petersburg was the terminal stop, so I was able to run back and grab the bag. I had to mime to the mean looking security guard to get him to let me back on, and got yelled at by a couple other station staff in Russian, but we didn't lose our most important bag! The taxi I had booked with a car seat for Jasper was waiting for us as planned, but Jasper decided to scream the whole way to the hostel.
Nap time in the hostel common room
We were all happy to be out of the (-20 degree) cold and safely arrived at our hostel. We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging around the hostel. It is a really great place, with a big common room full of couches, a well stocked kitchen and another lounge room with computers and chairs for reading.
Playing in the common room
We happened to arrive in Russia on Orthodox Christmas eve, so we got to partake in yet another Christmas dinner with the other hostel guests. For 1000 rubles (roughly $18.30 CDN), the staff cooked us a three course Christmas dinner and served wine.
Ready for dinner
It was nice to meet some of the other hostel guests and sample some traditional Russian foods.
Christmas dinner at the hostel
Jasper enjoyed the meal, especially the fried cheese patties with blueberry sauce for dessert.
Can I have some?
We are staying in a family room at the hostel, with one bed on the main level and another in a loft up above. There is a little alcove by the window that Jasper likes to play in. He often bumps his head on the window, not realizing that it is glass. The view from the window is excellent, looking right out on the embankment of one of the canals.
Not much today other than packing and hockey. It is getting COLD here in Helsinki, so we didn't want to spent more time outside than we needed to.
Playing with his new souvenir puck
The first game was the bronze medal game, USA vs. Sweden. Sweden seemed pretty apathetic and the US easily won 8-3.
It's very quiet in here...
Between games, we stayed in the arena and at nachos and popcorn for dinner. We walked around the stadium enough times that I got more than 8000 steps just during the games.
Sitting up like a big kid
The final was much more exciting with the home team Finland facing the neighbouring Russians. The crowd was mostly Finns (and Canadians cheering for Finland), so they were very excited for the Finland win.
Too much excitement
After the game it was right back to the apartment to pack for our train journey to St. Petersburg.
We slept in this morning and then had a big lunch before we had to go to the hockey arena. I took the opportunity to go for a swim at the Yrjonkatu Swimming Hall in downtown Helsinki. It is a a beautiful old pool, built in the 1920s. I couldn't take my own picture, since it's a bathing suit optional facility, so I stole this one off the google images. I also got to try out a Finnish sauna.
Yrjonkatu swimming hall
Today was our first time going to the Hartwall arena, the larger venue for the hockey tournament. We had to take a different bus route and we got stuck in traffic, since team Finland was playing in the first semifinal.
Not even a sold out crowd and home team win could wake Jasper
It was an exciting game to watch, since the home team was playing team Sweden. Finland ended up winning, so the crowd was mostly happy.
Meeting the WJC mascot
We had to stay at the arena between games, since there's not much around the arena. We found some pizza for dinner and met the mascot. Pat, Jasper and I got interviewed by a journalist from the Toronto Star, so we may even be in the paper in the next couple days.
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.
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.
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.
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!
