Europe 29 May 2012 - Helsinki

The port at Helsinki, Finland is a little out of town. Therefore, it is necessary to take a bus in to town, or walk about three miles. We chose the shuttle.

Esplanade

From where the shuttle dropped us off, we walked through Esplanade Park, a long block wide park to the waterfront. There is a monument to someone in the center. At the waterfront end we bought a two-hour tram ticket for a quick unguided tour of the city center on the 3T Tram. It made a large loop, passing most of the sites we might want to see, and gave us a good overview of the city.

Temppeliaukio Kirkko

We began in the central city and did make one stop at The Church in the Rock, or as it is in Finish, Temppeliaukio Kirkko (Temple Square Church). It is a modern Lutheran church carved into a large rock hill. Its organ is by a modern Finish firm, but we didn't hear it. We entered the church only five minutes before it was closing for an hour and a half for a funeral to take place. For once, our timing was good.

Back on the tram, we continued our city tour passing through several neighborhoods. We passed the Olympic Stadium, the Finnish National Opera House, Linnanmaki Amusement Park, the Swedish Theater (designed by Eero Saarinen), and went through the design district from where comes much modern furniture, and finally returned to the starting point near the waterfront.

Old Market Hall

The Old Market Hall, built in 1888, is an interesting market area with food stalls and restaurants. It is noted as one of the most beautiful in the world. Next to it, is an open air market on the waterfront with the usual collection of food, crafts, and souvenir stands.

Vendaces & Potatoes

We had lunch at one of the food stands in this area. The local dish we shared, along with sausage and paela, was Vendaces & Potatoes. Vendaces are small fish, about the size of small sardines, but come from fresh water lakes rather than the ocean. The whole fish, about 2 inches long, is deep fried, and you get a large pile of them. And I do mean whole fish; head, tail, skin, bones if any, and all. They were really pretty good. We washed that down with a local beer.

Uspenki Cathedral

"Bridge of Love"

On the hill above the market was Uspenski Cathedral, the Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Helsiki. Leaving the church, we crossed the "Bridge of Love" over one of the canals. There is a tradition in Helsinki for couples to come here after their wedding ceremony and place a lock on the bridge. There were many.

From there we walked to Senate Square, an open square surrounded by government, university, and church buildings.  The central train station was a few blocks away and our next stop. It is a large building with a tall clock tower that was designed by Eliel Saarinen. Since we weren't going anywhere, we only used the WC.

In Senate Square

Tuomiokirkkko

We returned to Senate Square and Tuomiokirkko, the Lutheran Cathedral. It is a large white square building with a dome and a large organ. Again we did not hear it. There is also, of course, a Luther statue along with one of Melancton. The altar piece is a large painting.

Obligatory Ice Cream Cone

Once again we walked through Esplanade Park. There was entertainment on the band shell stage as we passed. And finally, we stopped for an ice cream cone at a stand in the park, a very popular Finnish thing to do.

Returning to the ship, again by shuttle, we sailed away from Helsinki, passing through many islands in the Baltic Sea heading for Stockholm.