Helsinki 1
Day 0 = Thu 2 Jan
- Helsinki
- Russian capital of Finland, moved closer to Russia than the old Swedish capital of Tuurku
- Not the introduction to the second act of a regrettably broad pre-War production of Dante's Inferno by the CWA Peking Opera Appreciation Society
- Small fishing village that grew from 4000 in 1840s to ??? in ???
- Mostly built during the Tsarist Russian occupation, and probably fairly contemporaneously with Brisbane
- Landed in Helsinki
- The shops said everything was "Normal", which was a relief
- Lunch at airport
- Cab to accommodation
- Accom
- K Supermarket
- "Kamppi" shoping centre
- Shopping in Finnish
- Luckily (for me) Swedish is an official second language in Finland, so all products had Swedish names (and ingredients) somewhere
- Meatballs not Carl-friendly, but found sausages that he might like
- They seemed traditional and tasted a bit like kabana
- Update: He didn't like them, oh well, I'm happy to finish them off
- Plus a "Finnish Saturday sausage", which might be like luncheon meat
- Update: He didn't like that either "It tastes like jelly if it was made of meat."
- Having to weigh the fruit and veggies and pop a price sticker on the bag
- Forgot to do one bag but checkout guy did it for me
- "Post Malone" at checkout asked (in Finnish) what I assume was "Hey mate, can I hop in front of you, I've just got a couple of tinnies?"
- Speaking of, while Sweden sells 35% beer in supermarkets, in Finland you can buy 8% Karhu beer.
- Early to bed
- Took a Zyrtec antihistamine to try to
- sleep better
- reduce immune symptoms that aren't actually fighting the virus (which I assume happens in the bloodstream, not the nose)
Day 1 = Fri 3 Jan
- Good night's sleep
- Zyrtec worked
- Though possibly also finally over the cold as well
- Though I don't sound like it, now in Old Man River mode
- Travel blues setting in (though didn't realise it till later)
- Walk around
- Went out for an hour while Emma and Chris got ready to go to an art gallery
- Still planty of sbnow around, but the footpaths had turned to slush underfoot
- Walked across Mannerheimintie, past Central Railway Station with it's famous statues
- Up past the Cathedral
- Down to harbour
- Back up Esplanaadi
- Crazy Finnish joggers - one layer of lycra and slippery footpath!
- Down Mannerheimintie, past Lönnrotinkatu and Kalevankatu
- Ducked into Moomin Shop
- Great location! The whole walk took only an hour.
- Back home
* Tried the "Finnish Saturday Sausage", turned out to be a lot like Devon.
- Off again for another walk, this time in the snowing snow.
- Erica had a migraine
- Carl was still mad at me, though I hoped he might get FOMO
- Temppeliaukion kirkko (Rock Church)
- 8 Euros to get in, so had a wander around and over
- Nice photo of "the other Dome of the Rock" (the one nobody is fighting over) with the clearing sky behind
- Checked out the "souvenir canon" in the shops around
- Headed along "Aurorankatu" (Aurora St) to ...
- Finlandia Hall
- Looks a bit like QPAC in Brisbane
- Lovely view of the lake nearby
- Lots of snow
- Beach volleyball court and deck chairs in the snow
- BBQ and picnic table in the snow
- More cool buildings in the area
- Did the whirlwind home
- via what I think was a walkway that used to be a railway cutting.
- Dropped past Kamppi for more supplies
- Emma took Chris to check into Scandic *
Day 2 = Sat 4 Jan
- Went off ahead again
- Vanha kirkkopuisto (Old Church Park)
- So pretty with fresh snow, but church was closed.
- Old tombstones
- Lönnrotinpuistikko
- Lönnrot monument
- Elias Lönnrot and Väinämöinen
- Moomin shop
- Weird angry Moomin shirt, but bought a happier Tshirt
- Aleksanterinkatu main shopping street
- Stockmann department store
- World Trade Centre
- "The Horcrux of Capitalism"
- Past Senaatintori and Helsinki Cathedral to back down to Harbour
- Markets on waterfront
- Sauna complex on far side under skywheel
- Uspenski Cathedral
- Orthodox Cathedral presumably built by the Russians
- Impressive but weirdly small on inside
- Lots of bling though
- Finally got word from Emma that they'd finally left and were on their way to the Cathedral
- Joined them at Cathedral
- They didn't want to go inside for some reason
- They headed off to Uspenski Cathedral while I looked inside Helsinki Cathedral
- Bigger than the Orthodox place with less bling
- I headed over to Kuappahalli
- Emma messaged and said they were looking for somewhere to eat
- I said Kuappahalli, she seemed dubious but we went there and it was lovely
- Erica had reindeer burger/kebab
- I had a lihapiirakka (meat pie)
- Beef and rice baked in dough
- plus a Karelian pasty (karjalanpiirakka)
- The rest had baked potatoes
- Emma got the cook to get Carl an unbuttered one (using the allergy card she'd printed), which he fluffed up and added salt to
- Back to markets
- Over-mittens for Carl, though possibly too tight
- I got a grillimakkaraa (grilled sausage)
- Which was very warm (lammin), and I ordered in (mostly) Finnish!
- Walk along Esplanaadi to Moomin shop for everyone else to shop
- Emma and Chris went to fika at Karl Fazer
- Shopping again
- Saw the "Aussie Bar" and had a quick look in
- They had soccer on the TVs, so marks off for that
- Dropped off and took down rubbish
- Oddly specific pictures on "general rubbish"
- Nappy, coffee and toothbrush
- Another walk in the nighttime
- Might as well
- Went in opposite direction
- Stockmann
- Esplanaadi
- Harbour
- Cathedral
- Railway Station
- Home
- Ice cold water on tap
- Shower with cold water to end
- Icecream headache
- Dinner and YLE Uutiset
- Packing and podcast
Day 3 = Sun 5 Jan
- Mostly packed, so brekky and out the door to the cab across the street at Scandic with Granny
- Nice drive to airport
- Past Finlandiatalo and lake
- Taxi drivers are all brown in Finland too (so far)
- A relaxed hour wait at airport
- Flight (Finnair)
- Gorgeous view of Finland from above (daytime flight)
- Snow-covered-ice-covered-lakes
- Forests in between
- Granite boulder fields
- Listened to Sibelius 2nd Symphony and blissed out
- Landed in Rovaniem1 at about 1:30 and -25C
