Day 1: Esplanadi and Cathedrals
Our overnight ferry from Stockholm arrived at 10:30. We had a great breakfast buffet, packed up, and went to the bow to watch the approach to Helsinki. I didn’t realize the ferries went through this narrow channel so close to Suomenlinna. Suomenlinna is a castle or fort that defends the harbor. As you approach you can see Helsinki Cathedral (white) and Uspenski Cathedral (brown and green) on the skyline. Plus a Viking line ferry and the inevitable ferris wheel.
Off to the side of the harbor you can see church spires in the distance. We walked by that church on the way from the port to our hotel and saw some nice architecture along the way.
After dropping our bags off at the hotel we set off walking. We walked the Esplanadi, a narrow flower-lined park, down to the harbor and the Havis Amanda statue. On May Day students put a student cap on her head.
After the harbor we visited two of Helsinki’s cathedrals, Uspenski (Orthodox) and Helsinki (Lutheran). A majority of Finns are Lutheran. (Though I never met a Finn that was at all religious.)
We then walked over to the train station, which is my favorite building in Helsinki. We used to hang out at a bar across the street. I love the guys either side of the entrance who hold up lights. And yes, that’s a Ukrainian flag, not a Finnish flag.
We ended up in a sunny spot across the street where we had some Lahden NEIPA. Later we went to Naughty Burgers.
Day 2: Temppeliaukio Church and Sibelius Monument
Today was an urban exploration day. First stop, the Temppeliaukio church, which I’d always wanted to see and hadn’t made it to. It’s carved from rock, with a copper ceiling. It’s not as big as I was expecting but just as interesting.
It’s different to see a church with windows that you can actually see out off. We’re so used to stained glass. The entrance is unassuming.
From there we walked up to the Sibelius monument. Sibelius was a Finnish composer. We’ve seen lots of swans on this trip but not that many in flight.
From the monument we walked over to the opera house and headed south along Töölönlahti (Töölö bay) through an area of parks, modern buildings (including Finlandiatalo), and urban meadows.
We continued south through an older neighborhood.
We finished our sightseeing at the Design museum. They had a vaguely creepy display of seats and disembodied hands. They also had a whole series of exhibits about aging and repairs. I really liked this modern quilt piece.
And once again we found a nice outdoor spot to sit and drink some beer. I did a lot of that when I lived here; one reason I never did sightseeing.
Day 3: Bus to Hakunila and shopping
Today we took the bus out to Hakunila, the suburb that I lived in when I was here. I would not recommend this to the average tourist because it’s an average neighborhood, but I wanted to revisit and share it with Steve. I lived in this building with my ex, in a studio apartment. One of the larger windows was in the main room, the smaller window was in the kitchen. We paid about $700 per month (back in 1989-1991) which was a steal (the similar place we were living was $2700 per month). An electrical contractor my ex knew didn’t have an employee who needed it so he rented to us. As luck would have it, when we were ready to move to the USA one of his guys got divorced and needed an apartment. We were able to sell him all our furniture and stuff when we left. (Except for our coveted countertop dishwasher, which we traded to friends for the use of their car during out last couple of weeks.)
Anyway, from there we walked over to the supermarket to get Finnish coffee (Juhla Mokka!) and mustard to take home. We took the bus back to Helsinki and went shopping for a Christmas ornament. Here’s downtown Helsinki at dusk.
For dinner we walked over to the Aussie Bar for fish and chips and rugby. Well, we didn’t go there for rugby but it was on. And three South Afrikan fans sounded like the whole bar cheering on their team against New Zealand.
Tomorrow we head back to Iceland.
Essentials
Lodging
We stayed at the Scandic Helsinki Hub, the first hotel I’ve stayed at in Helsinki. It was centrally located and nicely decorated. The room was spacious and we had the best bathroom of the trip. Most of the bathrooms on this trip have had heated floors, which has been really nice. The included breakfast buffet was really good. The hotel had nice coworking spaces and plenty of lounge areas.
Dining
We had excellent Naughty Burgers our first night at Naughty BRGR, pizza our second night at Ristorante Argegno, and fish and chips at Aussie Bar on our last night.
Helsinki has lots of different restaurants to choose from. Make sure you try karjalan piiraka (Karelian pie) while you’re there. We had some at breakfast.
Transportation
Central Helsinki is compact and walkable. Public transportation is widely available and reasonably priced. We took the bus out to the ‘burbs and back and took the train to the airport when we left. It was easy to buy digital tickets using the online app.