Fourth Port of Call: Helsinki, Finland

The Lonely Planet guidebook was short on suggestions of what to do in Helsinki, and frankly we were on system overload from two days of non-stop sightseeing and chatter, and Helsinki is not nearly as photogenic as Tallinn, Estonia so this might be the shortest one of the trip.

At the end of our six hours in Helsinki we were sitting around a table in a cafe enjoying WiFi while I ate a reindeer quiche, Don had a tomato mozzarella salad, and Ashley had a chicken salad with corn, peas, greens, peaches, and a hard boiled egg, when Ashley offered to research why anyone would want to visit Helsinki, other than it is easy to get to St. Petersburg and they have decent WiFi. Now that she is busy with junior year in high school, I suspect the research won't happen, but that summed up our experience in a nutshell.

It was also where I learned Carin was entering hospice and would likely die before I came home.

We walked from the boat to downtown -- a three and a half kilometer (two miles) walk. Felt good to stretch our legs at our pace. The cruise ship offered to sell us a $15 ticket (each) to spare us the walk. We managed fine by following the red line (I kid you not). That is what I call a tourist-friendly town.

It was too early for the shops to be open. I tried to follow the Lonely Planet walking tour, and went off in the wrong direction, so we did not make it as far as the Sibelius Monument or the Olympic Stadium because we were afraid of time. As is, we made it back to the boat at 3:06 PM (with a lengthy lunch) for a 3:30 PM launch time. 

We walked up and down Mannerheiminitie Street. Try spelling that, or even saying it. It is a long boulevard with some sights on it. 

We passed a museum having an exhibit of Barbie dolls. Really made me think of Carin. Ashley was more excited about the Kinky Boots ad. We never did find that theater.

Our first tourist stop was the Temppeliaukion Kirkko -- Church of Rock designed in 1969 to appear as if was cut from a giant rock. We climbed all over the roof, but did not go inside.

After the churches we saw in St. Petersburg, we knew a 1969 building in the Scandinavian style would be a let down.

We got more excited about the bike / pedestrian path we crossed walking through town. Helsinki has over 1,200 kilometers (about 750 miles) of bike paths. In one city. It will take more than a quick Google search to figure out which one we crossed. 

We saw a giant shopping mall, but did not go inside.

Popped by the Hard Rock Cafe. Same merchandise as other locations.

Popped inside the HAM (the Helsinki Art Museum), but didn't actually go into the gallery. Probably should have since its claim to fame is Finnish Art (unlike The Hermitage, which specialized in Western Art). The tour book said Helsinki has a lot of public art.

We continued the fast pass version of the Lonely Planet walking tour by walking past Esplanadin Puisto to the Market Square, the official start of the walking tour: Kauppatori. Ashley and I walked through it, Don stayed to the safer perimeter. It was not nearly as crowded at The Hermitage and other places we had been on the trip. I also did not get a sense for what made this one special.

 The port area was pretty, but not as scenic as Copenhagen or Stockholm. 

A couple of shout-outs to St. Petersburg in the form of an eagle-topped stone obelisk, a gift to Helsinki unveiled with Nicholas I and Alexandria visited in 1835. It is called Keisarinnankivi (Empress's Stone). It is Helsinki's oldest monument. 

Around the corner is the Uspenski Cathedral -- one of the largest Orthodox Churches in Western Europe filled with beautiful icons and paintings. Still overwhelmed from the Church of the Spilled Blood and St. Isaac's Cathedral, we didn't even walk up to the front door. We knew we would not be able to appreciate it.

We continued walking to the very photogenic (at least from the outside) Tuomiokirkko -- a giant, white Lutheran Cathedral. Its claim to fame are the 12 zinc statues along the room, one for each apostle. I was not able to identify Judas. The stairs in front of it have long been used as a meeting point for those in Helsinki (maybe not as important now that everyone seems to have a cell phone). I read in the tour book the inside is spartan. We skipped it, though we did walk around all four sides of the cathedral.

 

Back to Esplanadin Puisto -- a four-block park. We tried to find a vegan restaurant for Ashley, but finally gave up.

On the way back to the boat we stopped in a bike shop. Don was able to purchase the British version of Boneshanker Magazine (he has most if not all editions of the American version).

We made it to the boat with 24 minutes to spare.

See, I told you I could cover Helsinki in one not very long post. I predict at least three posts for Stockholm -- a city we all loved.