Finland – Land of 1,000 Lakes (2008)

Finland was a short stop for me as I only allocated 2 days but I really made the most of these two days.  I figured since it`s not a ton of time, I had to get out right away and see the city.  Helsinki is one of those places that is best seen by walking (or biking) yet I wasn`t brave enough to rent a bike as there are so many bike paths and there are rules to how you ride with traffic and deal with people and I figured walking was fine for me.

First stop – find something for lunch and I wanted a salad.  It`s getting harder and harder to get vegetables and salads (and many people I met coming from the Baltics and Russia said its all meat and potatoes there). My guide book listed a place known for its salads and I didn`t care the price, I wanted a good salad and was off.  The concept was similar to New York.  Choose the lettuce and then select a two items to mix in.  Only difference was the mix in were: salmon, baby shrimp, olives, marinated mushrooms, feta cheese, marinated apples and buffalo mozzarella…oh yea and chicken, but that meant one tiny slice of chicken – no joke.    Little did I know, the topping selection was the beginning of a trend for local food choices in Finland.  The Fins love olives and mushrooms which are two of my favorites.  As I was sitting in this cute cafe, overlooking the town park, I was lucky enough to have a marching band cruise down the street that I was eating on and playing great music, so that was a fun treat.

With a full belly and feeling a little bit more healthy, I was off to see the city.  I found a good walking tour in my book and started out.  Past a few museums, along a beautiful lake called Lake Toolonlahti.   Little did I know that Finland is known as “The Land of 1,000 lakes”(as two locals told me)…so I had seen my first lake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was now in hunt of the Olympic Stadium.  The Olympics were in Helsinki in 1952 (and the Olympic stadium won awards as one of the most beautiful stadiums ever).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was quite nice stadium for that day and age I guess.  I read the best view of the city was from the Olympic tower, so up I went to see and it was a great view.  Small little space at the top, but that`s normally the case.  I think there were 5 of us up there at once so it was cozy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My book made reference finding the cheapest beer in Helsinki and to do your own pub crawl in the working class neighborhood of Kallio.  I figured I was close to that and headed there at the end of my day to see how the locals live and experience the cheap happy hours (2 Euro beers sounded good to me!).  So I wandered around there a little and found the first grungy bar called Roskapankki.  Later I learned the name meant “trash bank” and man was it.  I think I was over dressed in my pink tank top with sorta matching flip flops.  The locals here were all in black leather, had longer hair than me (the men), very full goatee (that were braided down their chins).  It was quite the scene.  I sat at the bar and tried to find a way into some conversations, but as they were all in Finnish…no luck.  So I finally left without talking to anyone except the bartender.  I know its not that big of a deal, but it was one of the first times I couldn`t get into a conversation when I wanted to.

I decided to continue my walking tour back towards town and just headed south and knew I would turn up somewhere.  That I did…lake #2 (but I don`t think I will see many more of the 1,000 in the country).  This lake was smaller and right near the train station, but I walked around it and saw lots of swans.  There are swans in every body of water I`ve seen in Europe – even castle moats.

After a full day, I was done as I think I was out walking and seeing the city for a good 8 hours and I was exhausted.  I had plans to go out that night, but alas…at midnight I couldn`t rally.  Its still strange that its light out at midnight so its hard to trick yourself to go to bed.

Next morning, I knew I wanted to take a ferry to Suomenlinna.  This is a set of 5 islands 15 minutes from Helsinki that served as an island fortress during the 17th century.  It was built by Sweden to defend the eastern part of the empire from Russian attacks.  It was fascinating to learn about the change in power from Sweden to Russia to finally back to Finland.  The island served as a POW camp as well.  A wonderful day walking all over the island, seeing the bunkers and cannons pointing out to shoot at any ship passing by.

Suomenlinna Island

Canons at Suomenlinna Island

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have to comment on my lunch…I stopped for pizza.  My pizza was a house favorite with black olives, green olives, mushrooms and blue cheese.  I don`t think I`ve ever had blue cheese on a pizza, but it was really great.

After lunch, I had to walk as I felt too full.  As I was walking and saw a strange sight out of the corner of my eye.  Cameras and candles were set up in a cave entrance and a half naked guy was lounging out in front.  I think he was posing for pictures but I couldn`t tell what was happening there.  Just as I stopped another guy came up and was looking and we were all trying to figure it out.  He thought it was some kinky photo shoot and we all started laughing.  As I asked where they were from, the couple said Canada, which I always ask where since I have family in Canada.  Turns out there are from Saskatchewan (where my mother and grandparents are from), and when I said this, it turns out they live about an hour from where my mom grew up (in Canora) outside of Saskatoon.  Small world as they have been to Canora and it`s such a small town.  So I walked with them for a while and they invited me to join them for supper, but I had a massage appointment that I was looking forward to.

Back on the main land, I wanted to walk around and see a few of the cathedrals, more of the harbour and eventually make my way to a traditional sauna experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I headed back to neighborhood of Kallio area as that is where the Kotiharjun Sauna was.  This is Helsinki`s last public wood fired sauna that dates back to 1928.

I was told it was a real Finnish experience and I should go.  So when I walk up, there are about 15 men sitting outside in plastic chairs talking, laughing and drinking beers.  No women were outside.  So I was concerned this was a men only place (as some sauna have separate days for men and women).  When I asked, I was told there are separate saunas for men and women, and the women don`t normally come outside to drink, but are welcome to do so.  So I had made an appointment for a massage (as this is also traditional and I must do what is expected…and my body is aching and I needed this splurge).  So into the hot sauna, then off for the massage.  I have to say, I know why you never see “Finnish Massage” on the menu back home (only Swedish massage).  The Finnish massage was more of a rub/shake down.  Not really relaxing, but still nice.  They use almond oil as there are many health benefits the massage therapist said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I  wanted to whole experience of the sauna, so after about 20 minutes back in the hot sauna, I decided to go outside and have a beer with all the men.  All the men were chatting with me, but I think it was more since I was wearing my bikini top and towel and they aren`t used to talking to women outside so it was a nice change.  This sauna was all locals so they kept asking me why I`m here all the way from New York.  It was fun as there were Fins, Swedes and Russians all talking to me at once and not all spoke English, but enough people did so there were different translators depending on who was talking.  It would have been fun to make a You Tube of this scene as it`s really hard to describe.  You can see a photo of the sauna that I took when I left.

The Tram…
With all new cities, I have to figure out how to get around and if I want to figure out a subway, tram, or bus system while I`m there or just walk the city.  I had purchased an all day transit card and figured I could use it to get up to the sauna as it was kinda far.  The tram system looked easy, but looks can be deceiving.  I got on the first tram and was going in the correct direction.  I was trying to figure out what the stops are, as the maps don`t have them labeled and there`s really no way to figure it out.  Guess I missed my stop as I noticed the tram was turning a lot and figured out on the map it was too far.  I asked the driver where we were and he didn`t really help or even point to any place on my map but he said I missed my stop.  So much for helping.  So I crossed the tracks to catch the other tram back.  This time I asked the driver if she could let me know when the stop was since I missed it before.  She said yes.  All of a sudden, I think I saw the stop, but she didn`t say anything and when I go up, she said yes, that was it and I missed it again.  So I get off and walked back.  Took me almost an hour to go what should have been a 15 minute tram ride.  Funny part to this story, is after my sauna experience, I go back to the tram and get on the right tram.  As I was watching the map, I think the driver went the wrong way.  Is that possible?  I guess other people on the tram did too as there was quite a commotion and the tram comes to a screeching halt.  The driver made an announcement (which I asked a women near me what it said and she said the driver made a mistake and took the wrong track so we had to get off and go wait for another tram).  At least this time, I got it right and the driver was wrong.  Makes me appreciate subway systems with labels a lot more.

So back at my hostel, I had one more item on my to do list…go to the Arctic Icebar.  I was so excited as this bar is all ice, serves vodka in ice cups and you have to wear a parka since it`s kept below freezing.  I tried to rally some people from the hostel to go with me, but since there was a 10 Euro admission fee (which included a shot of vodka as I tried to entice them), so no one wanted to pay it so I was off on my own.  I think it was 11:30pm when I left for the bar and it was crazy walking there. Such a nightlife in the city and it was Saturday night.  Half the fun was walking there and people watching along the way.  I know what you are thinking…its late to go out in a new city, but I stayed on well lit streets, walked with other groups and was very safe as I know safety is more important, so trust I will always take those precautions when I go out.

So I found the bar and there was a sign saying it was closed.  So sad as I was looking forward to that.  Oh well.  I ended up going to another Irish Pub, Molly Malone`s, that I was reading about and it was a lot of fun.  Huge bar with outdoors, upstairs and live music.  So I enjoyed my expensive been 6 Euros ($9), chatted up a few locals and then called it a night.  It was just starting to get dark on the walk back at 1:30 in the morning.  I don`t what time the sun comes up, but I know its early as I was up at 6:30 as it was so light in my room and I was  hoping to sleep till 9am.  Guess I got an earlier start to my day than I needed.

So that`s Finland.  Here’s the flag and beer.

Glad I stopped for a couple days and now off to Estonia on the ferry.