An utterly spectacular mountain drive awaits you in Western Crete. From the city of Hania on the Northern coast, the roads go south through the Lefka Ori (White Mountains) to the soutern coast of the island. We hit Crete during a heat wave in the dead of summer, so we got a rare oppurtunity to [...]

If you like to mix beaches, medieval history, art and architecture, shopping, eating, drinking and exploring the natural beauty of Greece, then Rhodes is the perfect place. Throw in at least 9 months a year of swimming, 12 months if you’re ambitious, and you have another incredible Greek Island. Rhodes is, of course, a popular [...]

Mountainous and boasting over 3,000 caves, the largest Greek island, Crete is positioned between Europe, Asia and Africa, therefore being subject to political, cultural and conflicting attitudes. It has been repeatedly invaded and periodically conquered, diminishing some ways of life and adding others. The Minoan Civilization is strongly perceptible in ruins and records. King Minos’ [...]

By way of an introduction, Finland is situated between the 60th and 70th degree of latitiude, covering an area of 130,000 square miles – 10% of this area is covered by water. It has a population of approximately 5 million people. The land in the north of Finland forms part of Lapland, an area inhabitated [...]

Take the Tram
A tram tour, lasting about an hour, goes for the price of a tram ticket. The tram does a figure 8 to pass all the major city sights. They provide a brochure in English, which includes a well-marked map. Be sure to ask for "Helsinki
Sightseeing 3T". The comprehensive and economical Helsinki card allows [...]

We’ll finish this with a Finnish dish of Finnish fish like this…

Perch Fillets with Mushroom and Sweetbread Stuffing
The Finns love to drink and they love to eat.
Perch, the Finnish national fish, is prepared delicately. The following recipe is the absolutely preferred recipe for the first perch of Spring:
Ingredients

1/4 cup prawns
1 lb. small perch, cleaned
4 cups [...]

Finland is located in Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north, Russia in the East and Estonia in the south. The 7th largest European country, Finland is mostly forests – over 2/3 of the country is covered in trees. There are almost 200,000 lakes containing 100,000 islands and [...]

Eating Out
Food is consistently good. The favorite bar snack is a black sausage with a hard bread, accompanied by a hearty beer. Major hotels have a variety of international cuisine; the only casino in Finland is in the Ramada Presidentti Hotel located in downtown Helsinki, next to the Parliament House. Any of this hotel’s four [...]

Tour Operators
Sightseeing tours by bus, of the city and surrounding points of interest, are available year round. Tours from an hour to all day are available and the buses make pickups at your hotel. During the summer months, a waterbus tour of the Helsinki shoreline operates about once an hour from the Market Square from [...]

I doubt you will find as many museums anywhere else in the world; following is a partial listing of museums available in the Helsinki area. Most are open during normal working hours all year round; some have guided tours. Fees, if any, are reasonable, and exhibits are excellent. The Finns are proud of their art, [...]