Helsinki lacks curb appeal. Our early morning (8 AM – that’s early for laze about retirees) revealed a city with little architectural charm. No Medieval castles or cathedrals, no quaint Old Town charm; just a city with trams, buses and cars, square utilitarian structures with orderly rows of windows but little visual appeal. I was ready to complete our three-hour panoramic bus tour and go back to the ship and do laundry (ok, Judy does the laundry but you get the idea).
Actually, the Port Talk guy on the ship forewarned us about the visual thing. He blamed the Soviets who ran the place from 1809 until 1917. Even after that Finland has remained in the shadow of the Soviets and Russians.
Like Estonia, Finland has been under someone’s control for just about forever, at least in terms of recorded history. The Northern Crusades that drove the heathens (Vikings and other such ilk) to Christianity caused Finland to become controlled by Sweden. Even today Swedish is one of Finland’s three official languages.
Remember how Peter the Great went after the Swedes in the early 1800s? (You did read yesterday’s history lesson I posted, didn’t you?) Pete got the job done; part of the reward for doing so was Finland. Russia let Finland be an independent duchy with its own language, Lutheranism and what not. Nicholas II (the guy buried at Peter and Paul Cathedral with the rest of the fam, remember) tried to tighten the reigns but Nick II got preoccupied with the Bolshevik Revolution and Finland found itself free and independent in 1907.
Like any good new nation it promptly held a civil war (Reds vs Whites) but got its act together. First it formed a constitutional monarchy, hired a guy from Germany to be king but that didn’t work out so they reverted to a straight democracy. Then WW II happened. Actually, Finland had first the Winter War and then the Continuation War. Both were fought against the Soviet Union. In the Winter War (1939-40) the Soviets demanded military bases in Finland. Finland refused and kept the Soviets out for 3.5 months before signing a peace treaty of sorts. Germany helped Finland recover from the Winter War and so Finland chose the lesser of two evils and sides with the Nazis in the Continuation War (aka WWII) fighting for the most part against the Soviets.
Despite all that history Finland has somehow maintained a democratic form of government, and a member of the EU and the UN. It has, ever mindful of the giant called Russia on its border, maintained a level of neutrality and has not joined NATO.
Other than the depression of the 1990s Finland has a fairly robust economy, capable of maintaining a strong welfare system. Taxes are a tad high – averaging 53% or so, including health, education and retirement benefits. But the Finns are happy and proud of their system, according to our guide.
So there we were, captive on a three-hour bus ride. First, a 15-minute photo op at the Sibelius monument (the FinlandiaGuy). Kind of nice; a bunch of shiny pipes somehow evoking peace, I think the guide said. Actually Finlandiawas written to help bring a sense of nationalism to Finlandians who weren’t exactly seeing eye-to-eye at the time.
Then a few more random turns down city streets and it’s now 9:30. “You now have one hour and ten minutes free time before we return to the ship.” In other words, “End of the line. You’re on your own.” So we walked with the guide to the town hall for the free toilets and headed out to explore.
We had no plan but nearby was the fish market, right down on the waterfront. We didn’t buy anything but we did sample some sort of Finnish delicacy – a smoke freshwater sardine like creature – not bad, really, once you get over the idea.
Up the hill two blocks is a huge Lutheran cathedral (or is it just a church; I’m not sure Lutherans have cathedrals). Nice looking church inside and out. Finland is an 80%+ Lutheran country but there is an Orthodox population too. In fact around the corner from the Lutherans is a “Slavic” Orthodox church. Finns don’t say Russian Orthodox Church any more; our guide says it’s now called the Greek Orthodox church. This church spits the difference by saying it caters to Slavic believers with priests who speak Russian, Swedish and Finnish.
We then walked up the street, through a park and to the train station that features four giant monolithic statues out front. We’re told the statues are sometimes rented out to carry advertising but today they were bare.
Next stop: the Finland National Museum. Turns out the museum is next door to the very impressive Parliament building. We tried to go for a look-see but the front door guard said Parliament is in plenary session so no visitors today. But the museum was worth the hike. It starts at the end of the last ice age and goes through in considerable detail through 2017. We only could spare an hour but what we were able to see was very worthwhile.
One thing we discovered was that Sweden, during the reformation, passed a law requiring all churches to have a pulpit. “No more mumbling in Latin behind a screen you priest guys. Stand out in front of the congregation and say your piece to the common folk.” Another tidbit: back in the day the houses of the wealthy made no differentiation between public and private spaces. Then someone had the bright idea to create elaborate parlors where you can greet and impress your guests. Bedrooms are just for you; no one will see yesterday’s clothes draped over a chair in the corner.
Judy’s a great traveling companion but at Mile 3 in our jaunt she was getting sore and hungry, a condition requiring immediate attention. I some how coaxed her back to the fish market by the waterfront and a restaurant within the enclosed fish market. There we had the most amazing chowder I’ve had since my Grandma Libby made one from the halibut and haddock we caught one summer in Maine. This was salmon soup and there was no question: the salmon was just off the boat fresh.
Then back through a park (featuring, by my count, statues of three naked ladies), ice cream cones in hand, to the bus back home to our ship. And yes, Judy did a load of laundry.
So, given the soup, Helsinki isn’t all that bad after all. I asked the waitress for the recipe. She said, “I can’t tell you I want you to come back another time for more.” We just might!
Tomorrow it’s Stockholm, our last Viking port of call.
