Gorgeous day for the

HERRING FESTIVAL

in

Downtown Helsinki!!

And with it being our P-DAY.....that made it even nicer that it was a gorgeous day to be downtown!

We walked past the FESTIVAL OF THE BEARS on our way to the TORI where the Herring Festival is held. Wayne was able to get a fairly decent shot of the bear 'exhibition' from the steps of the big white LUTHERAN CHURCH.

At the Herring Festival Wayne did not hesitate to 'taste' several forms of how

the herring are prepared. Not me...... I settled for just buying a jar of those wonderful PICKLES like the ones we bought last year at the festival. At least I think they are like the same ones!

There were so very many boats lined up along the harbor.....from the many Islands around the Helsinki area....including a lot from SWEDEN.

The Government Building across the street from the Tori was flying the FINNISH flag along with the GERMAN flag along with the EU flag. Must have had a visitor from Germany in the country today.....and flying the German flag as a courtesy to them.

ALERT: There was an ALERT posted on Sunday morning for all Americans in the EU....to be vigilant and watch for any type of terrorist activity. I guess there may be an 'expected' attack on American tourist at any time somewhere in Europe. We felt fairly safe being in a highly trafficked tourist spot today. Finland seems to be a 'safe' place to be. More so than Germany or the UK at least.