Finland, Finland, Finland...

Well, Estonian history seems to be very like that of Latvia and Lithuania, even though they don't consider themselves close, and make jokes about each other. Defined over the years by the conquering powers around them - Danes, Swedes, Prussians, Russians and Nazis. It was all summed up neatly by the song being played as we ate our pancakes that we found ourselves humming along to. It was by 'Tears For Fears' and the words were "Help me make the
most of freedom and of pleasure. Nothing ever lasts for ever. Everybody wants to rule the world.".

So today is really the end of the first phase of the holiday, dominated by Russian history, and we now move to Scandinavia, only a few kilometres across the water, but culturally a large jump. We wandered about the Tallinn Old Town for a little while this morning, then walked down to the port with our luggage in tow, about a 20 minute walk. Checked in, then boarded the M/S Superstar which actually left early. Its a monster, especially compared to the Cowes ferry. 9 stories high, 16 restaurants, 3 levels for cars, trucks and caravans, a supermarket, playground, bars, casino and animal kennels. With a capacity of 2080 passengers and only a fraction of that number on-board, it felt half empty. Flat seas, sunny day, so we perched ourselves next to a window in one of the restaurants and watched the water slip away for a couple of hours.

Loved the Finnish immigration process - non whatsoever. Walked into town, grabbed a bite to eat, some euros from a machine and some public transport passes from the central railway station, Then took the tram out to our hostel. Reminds us of the hostel we stayed at in Munich - a huge brick of multi-storied cubicles. We were on the third floor, with toilets and a kitchen on each level, and several hundred rooms in all. We think its an ex-university dorm, and unfortunately the room is very smokey, and the walls thin.

Took the tram back into the city and went to the tourist info booth to get ideas and a map, and then to the supermarket to get things for tea. We are back in the land of the euro and high prices. The Helsinki Big Mac index is AU$7.50.