Hel(yeah)sinki

There are some islands just off the coast of Helsinki called suomenlinna. Also known as the sea fortress. Was built in the mid to late 1700's by Sweden which controlled Finland. Sweden built it to help stop the Russians from going any further west. The fortress was hugely instrumental in the growth of Helsinki and the formation of Finland today. We spent the day roaming around the old fortress. Was quite impressive and really worth spending a day finding out about it. The liberation of the fortress in 1917 led directly to the formation of Finland. Was called the Gibraltar of the North and thought to be a very difficult fortress to take. The Russians managed to get it in 1809 and held it until 1917, but it is surpringly in good

condition (with a few touch ups) and has become a big tourist attraction. Despite a colder day we enjoyed a great day learning about the history of Finland. Was a good day that we finished off with a meal of good (expensive) Finnish food. Katelyn and I felt we accomplished a lot today even though we really only went to one place. Going to travel the city tomorrow to see what else makes this place so interesting!