Jane in Finland: Friday September 24 - We're moving and dangerous

On this lovely grey and cold morning, our group of 6 was indeed a force to be reckoned with. What could be more fierce-some than 4 Dutchies, 1 Austrian and one Russian-Canadian ?
Annelies and I were the first to arrive at the railway station followed by Fiona, Harriette, and Reinier. Stefan, who had our train tickets arrived mere minutes before the train left. Not nerve-racking at all.
3 hrs later, as we stepped out of the Helsinki railway station, we were full of energy and wonder. The wonder levels didn't go down throughout the weekend but the energy levels plummeted.
During our 6 free hours in Helsinki before our ship left to Tallinn, we went to explore the inner city which was possible to do by foot. I'm trying to remember the last time I went on a 6 hr walk ... It definitely wasn't recent at all. The Church of Finland was a majestic white building that was emphasized by the hundreds of painted bears standing across the street from it. Much like the Berlin bears, there was one painted bear from each country in the world. The Canadian one was really cool - it was painted in pixels. As I waited in the line to take a picture by the Russian bear (OF COURSE there was a line of Russians, we're everywhere ;)), I thought about how the Russian bear looked somewhat frightening with it's angry eyes and red lips.
We also visited the Russian church that was in close proximity to the bears. It felt great to go into an orthodox church again, I've really missed going to Liturgy every Sunday.
before heading to the West harbor to catch our ship, we stopped by a pizza buffet to have supper. Me in a PIZZA buffet? It may seem shocking at first but I've taken an extreme liking to European pizza, it is so much better than Pizza hut or any other pizza place in Canada which is to bad because I'll go back to disliking pizza when I come back. IF I come back - hehe.
It was slightly more difficult to walk with all of our bags and an extremely full stomach but it had to be done. we made our ferry just as everyone was boarding. It was a really huge ship with 10 stories, a restaurant, bar, or lounging are on each floor and goodness knows how many thousands of cabins. After setting all of our stuff down, we felt rejuvenated enough to explore the ship. Me and Annelies even signed up to sing "I will survive" at the karaoke/nigh club area of the boat. This will be my second time karaoke-ing to Gloria Gaynor but hey, it's a classic.
by the end of the ride, we were all extremely tired of our 6 hrs of traveling and 6 hrs of walking that we did today but again, the night Estonian air had something in it and we had a bouncy conversation during our walk to the hostel. Our couch surfer contact fell through in Tallinn unfortunately but now I get to experience a hostel which is something new for me :)
At night, Tallinn looked beautiful. The harbor shrank away as we entered the Old City which reminded me of a medieval village. everything was made out of stone and there were red rooftops and castle towers everywhere. As soon as our beds were made and bags deposited on the floor of our hostel, our tiredness melted away and we got ready for a night excursion. a nice Mexican guy, Arturo, who was staying in the same room as us in the hostel showed us around. After exploring the old streets, we stopped at the "No name bar." I giggled at the sight of it as it reminded me of the Superstore/President's choice products back home. There was a ladies special on which made the cocktails even cheaper than they were originally. After some socializing, dancing and a game of pool, I was more tan ready to hit the sack.
How's that for the first day of my weekend?
Get ready to be bombarded with pictures :)