Suomenlinna Sveaborg

This is how I started the day, after sleeping in a little longer than yesterday.  I went to a coffee shop called Robert's Coffee and had a delicious cafe mocha, served in a glass and a spoon! So fancy. They were playing a very strange assortment of music of really old American music (including Low by Flo Rida...) that did not seem fitting for a coffee shop.  I read my book while Alex took care of some stuff at work.  Then we headed down to the shore to get on a Ferry for Suomenlinna, which is a fortress on a number of Islands outside Helsinki, which served as a line of defense against Russia and Sweden, which both occupied Finland at one time.    It is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and is a "must-see" site in Helsinki.  It was colder and windy on the island, and the ferry ride over was quite chilly.  Once we arrived at the island, Alex was taking my picture when we heard a woman screaming on the dock behind us.  We turned around to see a group of people, one man being led away, and the woman screaming trying to follow him.  Two other men then tackled her to the ground.  People were starting to gather towards the scene and trying to figure out what was happening.  We then saw a person with a camera, and apparently they were shooting a movie! It was all quite bizarre.  We then entered the gates and began touring the island on foot.  We walked along the path to see the church/lighthouse (one of the few of it's kind) and some other buildings and statues.  This led us to the other side of the island, where the main part of the fortress, called Kustaanmiekka, which included the bunkers and cannons intended to fight off intruders.  There were cannons facing both towards Russia and Sweden, as a reminder of the past occupancy of both countries.  The coast was very pretty, and Alex said that in the summers, people come to the island to picnic and swim on the coast.  There is also a small residential part of the island, in the middle of it all.  We ate lunch at the Suomenlinna Brewery Restaurant, and I tried the beer (note: not a fan of pils).  We both had a salad and Finnish Salmon Soup.  It was pretty good, though I don't know that I would get the soup again.  After lunch we ventured back across the water the the mainland, where there was a swarm of police and caution tape.  The street to our car was taped off, so we had to go around, only to discover the street littered with loose cobblestone and smoke.  Apparently a  pipe burst and the street kind of exploded... right by our car. Luckily the car was fine, and we were able to get out.  All sorts of interesting things happening in Helsinki this week.  After we got home, I wasn't feeling too well (either the jet lag or the soup...) so we just hung out and read the rest of the afternoon.  It was a pretty good day, even if it was a little chilly. My summer had an abrupt end, and I miss it a little. But I think these pictures make up for it. That's all for now!