Oh my, the real world will hit soon. But I am going to enjoy this last email recalling the last few days of this magnificent honeymoon. On Tuesday, we decided to go to the Royal Palace Apartments for a tour. We waited for the English tourand it was well worth it. It was very crowded and hot, but very informative. There was a special display with the gowns the queen has worn over thepast 30 years, one for each year. I wish there had been a postcard of it, but there wasn't and you aren't allowed to even bring a camera into the palace. Once we did that, we had time for lunch and a stop at theTI (tourist information) to figure out what to do for today. Then we headed for the ship. Serenade was the name of our big ship. We were on deck 11 and had a view of the promenade. Since this is only the second ship I've ever been on and the first was from Copenhagen to Oslo, I was impressed. We decided to live it up and to try the Smörgesboard. We did as Rick Steves suggested and had dinner at the first seating so we could have a goodview of the archipelego after dinner. Being the adventurous person I am. I tried pretty much everything. There were only about 3 things that I didn't like and Pete finished for me. I tried to take very small portions so I could try everything. All the beer you could drink was included and of course I didn't get past the first beer. Though I did finish that. After that we enjoyed the view from various parts of the ship and checked out the two clubs onboard. Pete played roulette for a while and won backwhat he put in. The club with the cover band was the one that was hopping, the one with the disco music and karoke was dead. Pete and I danced a bit and watched the midnight dance performance before we headed to our room. By about 3am, I was up and puking until 10am. I know you don't need to know the details of that, butI'll just say that I hope not to see or eat fish for a good month, if not longer. I do love sushi, so not to worry my sushi loving friends, but give me a month or two, this experience was a doozey. Determined not to miss Helsinki, I got myself together and headed off the ship with Pete. We decided to start with an hour and half boat ride alongthe harbor and islands. There was a brief history ofHelsinki broadcast in English and either Swedish orFinnish, not sure. I hear they are very similar since Sweden ruled Finland for many years. That was nicefor poor, sick, Andrea. I'm not sure what caused the illness, I'm thinking it might have been a food allergy. So once health care kicks in, I'll be having a nice long chat with a doctor. Pete wanted to spend some time looking at the two churches, so somehow in my weakened state, no food, Pete went to breakfast without me, I managed to climb quite a few stairs. Picture proof to follow when we return. And of courseI could not pass up the shopping in the open air market. Pete let me have 40 minutes to shop alone. He ended up with dried reindeer, gooseberries, strawberries, one meat filled pastry and one potatoe filled pastry. I ended up with a lot more to weigh down his bag since mine was full from the extra clothes I bought earlier :). After that it was time to reboard the ship, take arest and try to eat. I had a bit of a baked potatoe and a tiny bit of a salad, which Pete finshed along with the tapas he ordered. We listened to the cover band a bit, but not too long because I still felt awful. I woke up still hurting this morning, but determined to eat a bit. All I could manage was a croissant. The boat arrived by 10am and by 11am, we were running to the pier to catch a boat to Grinland. The plan had been to go swimming and just relax today, but of course plans are always subject to change. Today was the only day with rain and cooler weather. Pete sounded determined to swim anyway, but didn't end up doing it since we wanted to say goodbye to Helena on our way back to our hotel. So we walked around the island, shared a bowl of soup, which I had a few spoonfuls, and a dessert, which was easier to get down:). (It was pudding like. In my defense, the soup had FISH. Yuk. for now anway) We had some time to sit and watch the sail boats before we headed back on the 2 hour boat ride. We dropped by Helena who is heading out to London tomorrow. She heated up some spaghetti for me, which I was actually able to eat without any pain. Victory! I was worried it would be a horrible flight, but I think I'll be ok. She also had icecream bars waiting. I couldn't pass that up, so I had most of mine and gave Pete the rest. (maybe there is something to his weight being related to finishing all my stuff. I have got to stop that.) Anyway, it was a nice goodbye. She may end up in Paris next year, or backin China, or another country all together. We plan on seeing her again, wherever she lands because we had a fabulous time visiting. So ends the honeymoon tales. We head out bright andearly for our 15 hours or more of travel and back to reality. We had a truly memorable trip. I hope to finish my scrapbook on the plane minus the pictures ,which I plan to add sooner rather than later because I never added pictures to the one from Italy. Thank you all for reading and being a part of the new chapter of our lives. It's been an exciting month.