Our time in Finland was incredibly heartwarming, as we had anxiously awaited seeing the country that Whitney’s father lived in some sixty years ago as a small boy. He spent time in Turku while his father taught at a local university for the year. His memories of munching on munkkis fueled our excursion through Helsinki.
We spent the morning in Porvoo, a quaint medieval town from the 14th century. The old town is well known for its picturesque red cottages lining the waterway. We ambled along the riverbank and enjoyed some coffee and pastries at a small café before heading back to Helsinki for an afternoon of exploring.
In Helsinki, we visited the Sibelius Monument dedicated to the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The sculpture opened in 1967 consists of 600 hollow steel pipes in a wave like pattern representing the composer’s music.
We then headed for the old town to admire the Helsinki Cathedral. The church was built from 1830 to 1852 and is an Evangelical Lutheran cathedral.
In Market Square we found the long awaited munkkis. The jam filled donuts coated with sugar were everything Whitney’s father said, simply delectable. We sauntered up to Uspenski Cathedral to devour our treats. The Uspenski Cathedral is an Eastern Orthodox cathedral built between 1862 and 1868.
After eating our munkkis and korvapuusti, we headed back onboard the ship and anxiously awaiting St. Petersburg.