Helsinki, Finland: We toured Old Town Helsinki in the morning. Narrow winding streets and ancient buildings made up the town. After boarding the tour bus we headed for the town of Porvoo. Porvoo is the second oldest town in Finland. We learned about the Moomins, white, cow-like cartoon characters developed by Tove Jansson. [Check them out. There's an entire family with all sorts of adventures.] We stopped for coffee and desert [or tea and desert] at a local restaurant. Our server had been an exchange student in Michigan!
Stockholm, Sweden: The first part of the tour was spent at the Vasa Museum. The Vasa was a warship designed by the King of Sweden back in the 17th century. The king was not an engineer, he designed a magnificent, but top-heavy ship. When it was tested for ballast, the Vasa nearly capsized! On its maiden voyage, 10 August 1628, the ship was launched and sank 30 minutes later. The vessel was eventually salvaged and is now on display in its own museum. Minimal repair work had to be done on the Vasa. One of the first things that hit me was, What a great Bob Newhart routine!
"Hi King? This is the captain of the Vasa. We seem to have a little problem..."
Stigtuna is the oldest town in Sweden. We visited St. Mary's church, built in the 1200s. The ruins of St. Olaf's church date back to the 1100s. We stopped at Fant Brun for lunch. It was a quaint little open-air café just off the street.
After five port days, the exhausted cruisers enjoyed a day at sea.
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