Helsinki
Lake near Helsinki
July 14, 2005
Once we arrived in Helsinki we almost immediately met up with my English roommate
Dan and his parents. We drove off to a lake that Dan’s mom, Hannalle grew up near
and on the way she pointed out some highlights of the city and told us more about
the country. She taught us a basic history and explained how the capital was moved
to Helsinki after the Russians took the region, desiring a capital closer to St.
Petersburg.
The city is relatively modern and with all of the McDonald’s it feels more like
the US than any other European city I’ve been to. The city also sprawls like an
American city, however it is nearly all apartments rather than houses and it quite
abruptly ends, much like Calgary or Edmonton... however the city of Helsinki is
still expanding. The people are extremely well educated and everyone grows up learning
Finnish, Swedish, and English.
Before reaching the lake we were headed to, we stopped at a place to grab some food.
I tried the reindeer meatballs, which were covered in ketchup. I understand why
Jacque Chirac said the Finns have bad food. But even if the food was good, its tough
eating Rudolph and feeling good about it.
The lake is very similar to northern Wisconsin or Minnesota. What struck me was
that there were no houses on the lake, it is forbidden by law, so the scene was
beautiful and silent. The parking lot was about a kilometer away and the nearest
road another five kilometers or so. There was no wind and the lake was absolutely
still and silent other than the sounds of us talking and splashing in the water,
which was very cold.
After this we headed to our apartment, where Dan's cousin lives and is letting
us stay for our trip, about 20 minutes from the bay. The area was odd and the apartments
were fairly uniform, but relatively modern and nice on the inside. Each door had
a mail slot and a name very professionally placed under glass. The outside door
was open except at night and the area seemed extremely safe.
After settling in we headed out to downtown for dinner at a Thai restaurant. Dinner
was excellent, I had beef with numerous vegetables, which was slightly spicy. The
dinner conversation was dominated by Benjamin, Dan’s young cousin. He goes to an
English speaking school and for his entrance exam into school next year he failed
his Finnish language exam. His English was incredible for a five year old. He talked
about everything, most of which was unrelated to itself and at times difficult to
comprehend the logic. His mom made him order and eat which seemed like extremely
difficult tasks given his excitement.
His parents also spoke fairly good English, but I didn’t really converse with them
at length. At one point I asked if there was a place we could get authentic Finnish
food and Dan’s uncle responded with “Not in Finland,” as he laughed. The Finns have
really attached themselves to pizza, McDonald’s, Hesburger, the Finnish version
of McDonald’s and various ethnic foods. No real loss, I tried those meatballs...
Hesburger for me.
Lake near Helsinki
Cathedral Square & Senate
Temppeliaukio Church
July 15, 2005
I got up early and after making myself a sandwich headed into town to see an exhibition
“Wood in Modern Finnish Architecture.” The exhibition was great, but small and I
had finished the exhibit in about a half hour. I then headed to the park to relax
and eat, after which I headed to the church built within a rock. The church was
odd and entertaining, but soon I was off to meet Dan and Derek at the market.
After we all arrived we caught a boat to Suomenlinna, an island fortress. The island
is very picturesque and a nice break from Helsinki. It also contrasted quite drastically
from that of Helsinki. It consisted of four islands connected by bridges and all
islands were covered with houses and military structures. On the third island we
decided to walk around the outside walls. There were numerous Finns out there drinking
and eating when we found a huge gun (obviously on display for the military background,
not a live gun) so got on it and posed for pictures. At this point a Finnish military
ship came around the corner and didn’t look so happy, so as they approached us,
we decided to leave, ever so slowly so that we didn’t look like we were doing anything
wrong.
Once we reached the next area we saw a sign that said the area is off limits and
no one is allowed admittance other that military personnel. This sign didn’t exist
on the side from which we entered though so we didn’t feel too bad.
On island four we found huge cannons from the 1800’s that the Russians built. We
finished our loop back to island three, two, and finally the first island. On this
island there were numerous girls sunbathing... despite Derek's insistence, we headed
back to Helsinki after a short while.
Back in Helsinki we checked out the church on Senate Square and then up to Olympic
park, where there was a soccer tournament taking place. We watched for a while before
heading back into town. I ate at Hesburger which was surprisingly better than the
pictures threatened. We also checked out an exhibit, The Earth From Above by a Belgium
photography Jan Arthus-Bertrand. It was incredible so I bought his book, "The Earth
From Above."
Finnish Flag at Suomenlinna
Suomenlinna
Suomenlinna