Sunday, April 18, 2010

Birthday on the Baltic


It's The Swede's birthday!!!  It's the first one that we've spent together in the same place and we celebrated in a big way:  The Swede's folks sent us on a two-night cruise to Helsinki!  I've never been on a cruise before and I've never been to Finland, so while The Swede was super excited about the surprise, I was extra pumped for the new experience.  The weather was just right, the food was bountiful and delicious, the accomodations were perfect, the entertainment was lively and I got to spend 40 hours floating on the sea with my best friend.  Here we are navigating the stunning Stockholm archipelago at sunset on Friday night.  Later that evening we tried our hands at the slot machines, took in a schlager-themed drag show and danced it up at the club.
We docked in Helsinki at around 10:00 on Saturday morning and spent several hours walking around the city.  The Swede has been there many, many times (it's the motherland, after all) so he was a sweet guide.  Here he is posing with our boat.
And here I am posing with someone else's boat.
We were lucky enough to happen upon some Finnish national pride celebration being filmed in front of Helsinki Cathedral.  You may be wondering what Santa Claus is doing there.  Well, FYI, Santa lives and has his offices in Finland.  So stick that one in your pocket, North Pole.  It was right after this photo that my camera batteries died, but I can tell you that the rest of the trip was just as fabulous.  Thank you so much, Mama and Papa Swede, for the wonderful time!  Now The Swede is sleeping soundly in the other room, recouperating from our fun-filled weekend, and I'll wake him soon to find out what he wants for his birthday dinner.

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