16.06.2011 – 16.06.2011  16 °C

A very leisurely start today in my Ikea-sk room! I had to move hotels today so decided to make the most of my current room before moving on.

I had spent yesterday afternoon doing some reconnaissance around Helsinki so I knew where I was going to find my new hotel. My hotel was down on the waterfront (and had cost me an arm and a leg) which was quite nice.

After checking in I took off for the Finnish National Museum (which is housed in an old castle). On the way I decided to stop for an early lunch and tried out some Reindeer meatballs with potato and boiled veges.. Reindeer is really quite tasty.. the meatballs I had, had quite a smoky flavour and were quite tender and juicy! Tick for another local cuisine that this little black duck has tried!

Back to the museum….

The Finnish identity started in 1150 when one of the Swedish kings annexed Finland and created a new duchy. Prior to this time Finland was populated by small villages on the lakes and oceans that mainly caught and traded in fish. With the influx of the Swedes, Christianity was brought to the peninsular and the old pagan beliefs were abolished. Over the next two hundred years Finland quadrupled in population.

Finland has always been stuck between two powers, the Swedes on its western flank and Russia on its eastern. Russia eventually took over Finland in the mid-1700s and Finland became a Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire until its abolition in 1905 (with the abdication of Nicholas II).

I would describe that all of the history of Finland is derived from one of the two powers above. Sweden very much grew the country into what it is today, with Russia giving it a more cosmopolitan feel towards the end of the 1800s.

After spending a few hours trekking thru the museum I decided to return to the hotel via the supermarket to get some more food for tomorrow’s adventure at Suomenlinna fortress and my ferry ride to Stockholm.