Confucius say, "Heaven risee, Helsinki..."

HELSINKI is the capital and largest city in Finland, and home to approximately twenty percent of all Finns.  Though founded in 1550, it didn’t grow much until the 19^th century.  Today it is less expensive than the other Scandinavian capitals, so not a bad place to hang for a while.  There are ferry services to Stockholm, St. Petersburg and Tallinn only some 50mi/80km across the water in Estonia.  The city is small enough to walk around easily and the architecture is lovely.  Much of it is clustered around Senate Square, such as the state council building and the Lutheran cathedral.  Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral is a vestige of previous Russian rule.  In the Hollywood tradition of “day for night,” Helsinki has been used frequently in cold-war movies as the cinematic equivalent of Communist USSR, art imitating life.  This is the place to try a reindeer burger.  Enjoy.

     There are a couple good hostels listed in the book here, prices $30-35 for a dorm bed, maybe twice that for something private.  For a 10% discount on the already low $10 book price, click on the 'discount store' link and when prompted for coupon code, enter 9KGCTDCP.