Denise, my sister, and her son Colin, and I explored
Helsinki, capital of Finland, and Tallinn, capital of Estonia last week. Why? Because I had nonrefundable tickets and my plans changed, and my loyal sister said she'd come over from Florida! Her son has some cool flight deals with Qatar airways, so he joined us for the weekend.
We stayed at an AirBnB in the Kallio district, where the inhabitants are dynamic and diverse, according to the Phaedon Wallpaper City Guide to Helsinki that I was carrying around. First morning, we walked south into the Kruununhaka district, where the capital and cathedral are. We ran into the funeral for
Mauno Koivisto, and spent a couple of hours honoring the man who served 2 6-year terms as Finland's president between 1982 and 1994. Imagine being in his position during Gorbachev's, George HW Bush's and Reagan's time!
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| Helsinki Cathedral with the funeral crowd |
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| Lots of formal wear for the funeral |
The video shows the Senate Square and the crowd quietly participating.
We visited
Stockmann's department store looking for, and finding (!)
Dracula Piller Salmiakki for Ben. It is the yukkiest licorice ever, and he loves it. We had a drink at the bar Lenin drank at,
Juttutupa, which is right down the street from our AirBnB. Then we ate dinner right next door, and I had beet (?) lasagna. Beets. But it was very good! Totally enjoyed talking with Denise all day.
Friday, we went to a national park,
Nuuksio, 35 km NW of town. The museum had exhibits that were very interactive and full of gangs of school kids. When we caught the bus back, a nice Finn helped us buy tickets that would work on both the bus and the train. All the Finns have been helpful and friendly, and there's no problem with speaking English.
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| The main train station, with statues that remind me of the Soviet Union (no surprise) |
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| Dinner cruise |
When we got back to Helsinki Central train station, we met up with Colin. He and I had not met since he was a baby, and now he's adult and living in Doha, Qatar. We had a dinner cruise with mediocre food, during which we barely listened to the tour. But the weather was fine! Afterwards, I got into a great conversation with a Finn who was driving a Chevy Stingray Corvette in fabulous condition. Old American cars are a big thing in Helsinki!
In the evening, we had a Skype call with Deanna, who knew all of us Ackleys' names, destroying Colin. But she couldn't name the Murphys, so he felt better. The next morning, Colin had bacon - a huge deal for him, living in a Muslim country. A customer in the SS Market grocery pointed out all the best Finnish beers for him, too.
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| The faces are perfect |
We hopped off the Hop-on Hop-off bus to see the
Sibelius monument. Cool! Denise and I bought pendants there.
We stopped at the
Rock Church, blasted from solid rock, and admired a beautiful gold onion-domed Eastern Orthodox church.
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| Lots of people were soaking up the sunset on the grounds |
We had dinner at
Kappeli's, where Finnish composers (Sibelius) and artists, used to hang out. Colin made us a reservation at a very nice place way in advance, but Denise felt that we weren't dressed well enough. So we dropped in at Kapelli's, where we weren't dressed well enough! The food was great. I had the Sibelius Menu, which ended with chocolate cake.
Sunday, we took a long day trip by ferry to
Tallinn, Estonia. It's a cute town, aimed at tourists. It reminded me of Bergen, only more so. We took a walking tour, led by Heli, who entertained us with her dark sense of humor. Then we had a medieval dinner where they specialize in treating the customers with no respect, and making them clean up their own tables. Pick your own free pickle.
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| Colin and my selfie on the wall of the ferry |
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| Like my Venus de Milo pose? |
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| It was our flag! |
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| Come to the medieval exhibit |
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| Heli introduced Voldemar Panso, actor, director, teacher, and man coming through a wall. |
Monday, we visited
Suomenlinna, a set of islands 15 minutes away from Helsinki by ferry. Lots of garrisons and forts. Lots of invasions happened here, as well as south in Tallinn.
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| Wind, sun and fun |
Colin had to leave. Deanna and I split a bottle of bubbly from Russia and had a great time talking. We never used the sauna in the AirBnB. Everyone has their own sauna in Finland! Denise and I had to leave at 5 am Tuesday, so with a little adventuring, involving hailing a taxi and running to catch the airport bus that was just leaving, we got to the airport and through security - before 6 am for our 8 am flight! Crazy. I now have salt and pepper shakers from two more countries!
Great trip!!
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