This was a very quaint city. Like most of the European cities visited on this tour, it was clean and tree-lined, with much green space in the town centre and surrounds. Our guide was a retired principal of a school and her English was quite good but with some interesting ‘turn of phrase’ at times that made us giggle a bit.

Our tour consisted of a walk through the Sunday morning markets to buy some souvenirs – specialising in wood polished products, linen that I hope was locally made, woollen products and food. It was by the docks so presented a lovely picture in the bright sunshine, with glistening water, a multitude of seagulls and many languages as people strolled about.

After this, a short cruise among the islands and canals, which revealed some quaint summer houses and spectacular homes! Many bridges allow access from one small island to the next and boats busily criss-cross the waterways. Also, like most of the cities on this tour, bicycles are everywhere around the town.

A highlight is the Sibelius memorial sculpture on a high point of the town. This sculpture, set in a lovely, lush park is an interesting structure of stainless steel pipes which if you put your ear to one will sound as a result of the wind. It was very impressive, but like most tourist spots, very crowded.