I like Scorpions, a German rock band with a long history. Not all the songs stand out, but rock ballades are great. You might know “You and I”, “Send Me an Angel”, etc. I don’t know how, but I missed their concert in Sydney in 2016, but the desire stayed. In fact, I thought they were no longer performing but googled, just in case, and found a concert in Helsinki, a part of their “60 years of Scorpions” tour. The rest is now the history.
Snapshot. Finland, in the north of Europe, has population of around 5.6 mln. people, similar to Singapore, but spread on a much larger territory - close to the size of Vietnam or Malaysia. From a bird view perspective, the country is a combination of forests, lakes (over 50,000), rivers (600) and islands (around 180,000) with 30% of the population concentrated around Helsinki Metropolitan area. Yes, I like numbers. People earn their living in mining, forestry, services, fishing and agriculture. The climate is harsh with long winters, especially in the north, and July being the warmest month enjoys fresh average temperatures from 15°C to 20°C.
Finland was once part of Sweden and Russia becoming independent in 1917. The country is proud for its many innovations including Nokia achievements, sauna, ice skates and… “Molotov Cocktail”. The last bit was a humorous, but deadly response to Soviet lies (by then Foreign Minister Molotov) that during invasion of Finland in 1939 the Soviet Union dropped on Finns not the bombs, but “food supplies”. On a side note, Finland small army inflicted heavy losses upon the much larger invading Soviet troops during the Winter War (November 1939 - March 1940) using deeply functional extermination tactics. This intelligently skillful resistance pushed Stalin’s regime to conclude peace treaty signed in Moscow, albeit resulting in some loss of the territory for Finns.
And finally, the country has been listed as the world’s happiest for nine consecutive years (World Happiness Report). And it feels so here, through and through.
First impressions.
Public transport can tell a lot about its country. After landing at Helsinki airport having endured 14 hours flight from Tokyo, we take a bus, then change to a tram to reach our accommodation. First of all, the payment system – simple and efficient, like many things in Finland. It is based on distance and time without big effort into segmentation. There are major two zones in Helsinki - AB and ABC – the city is covered by AB, but airport is further, so you need to pay for ABC ticket. You can choose zone in the reader (in case of a tram) and tap your credit card or buy through HSL app which is more convenient as it will tell you how much time is left before the ticket expiry (you are entitled to 90 minutes and can change into bus, tram or train without paying extra). Inside the bus I see a phone charger. “Probably advanced place”, says my self-talk. The thought is reinforced by the sight of Wolt food delivery cart autonomously battling the traffic and cobbled terrain.
Manners. I found that Finland people highly value space and quietness. During one week I spent there almost every mode of public transport was enjoyably peaceful. Put aside a couple from US engaged in a seemingly casual conversation but sounding like inaugural speech. The place felt a bit like Japan, but with a smile.
Signs on a train show what I am already used to in Japan – “remove backpack”, “give way”, “voice down”, but “use perfume in moderation” was something new. Well, most Japanese do not wear perfume, and I finally started to appreciate it. Now, writing this in Sydney, on the beach, “smelled” a group of runners stampeding by and leaving a heavy deodorant wave. Did not pair well with the aroma of the ocean, for sure.
The absence of announcements about “you must follow these rules” was also relaxing. Again, comparing it with Japan where the Quiet is often destroyed through the myriads of unnecessary announcements in every possible public space, sometimes one voice climbing upon another.
Respecting private space is probably also part of the Finnish culture.
Retail and eating outlets are mostly staffed by a very young people, similar to Australia, but this is where the similarity ends, as workers in Helsinki are courteous and professional without an indifferent youngster look you can often spot in some Sydney outlets and definitely without cloyingness of Japanese “commercial omotenashi”.
Common sense in Finland prevails over blind submissiveness to social rules. When we visited a concert by The Scorpions with over 10,000 spectators, it was obvious that toilets will be crowded at the end (as there was no break).
What happened was that women just walked into male toilets, which were not too busy, and used cabins with seats while males were using traditional standing option. Not sure, maybe it was also some kind of rock community spirit. “Better a guilty conscience than a wet pair of pants”, as they say across the border, in Russia.
In another comparison, I remember AC/DC concert in Sydney –a lot of drunk people, platoons of security and crowded transport after the event.
In Helsinki the security personnel were not conspicuous at all, people when leaving behaved like they have just enjoyed Swan Lake, all disappearing quickly into somewhere - our short train ride back to Helsinki from Veikkaus Arena was half full.
The City. Helsinki is elegant and full of history. Basically, you walk on its pages. The narrow and cobbled streets, imposing buildings, green parks – it is all compact and never tiring. You can dive into this observational euphoria and never want to come out.
As you can see, the city is pleasantly uncrowded, either with people or cars.
This scarcity of human population is compensated by Mallard ducks and huge seagulls.
And yes, dogs are also everywhere – on a train, in a supermarket or a café.
Helsinki summers are short, and the word “sunworshipper” has a very literal meaning here. People enjoy every single beam of sunlight as if drinking it in long, appreciative swings. The infrastructure is here to help. Most cafes have outdoor terraces or just tables outside.
There is also an ocean pool with saunas and sundeck right near Market Square.
Beaches are within the city. Very much enjoyed Hietalanta Beach in the suburb of Toloo.
You can just walk there from the city center.
This post is not a city guide, but rather one emotional clapping of hands. So, I am not listing suburbs “to do”, but rather areas visited and liked. Writing this, I experienced again this deja vu moment of wanting to go back to explore more.
Definitely wander around Helsinki Cathedral and adjacent Market Square.
Central Station is a marvel by itself. A beautiful building, inside and outside.
Esplanade Park has a stage (Espa Stage) where live music events happen during the summer. The Park promenade crosses Helsinki downtown core, so it is a good place for watching people and showing yourself.
We stayed at Radisson Blue Seaside Hotel having booked a room with a sea view. Nearby there is one walking track which I would like to explore all the way through but managed just a little bit.
Ruohalahti Park along the trail.
Helsinki is boasting around 130 km of nature-close city walks - as a fan of this strolling genre I might need to come again.
We also ventured out of the city which I will describe in Part 2, but Helsinki’s highlight became Sompasauna, a public sauna complex on the beach, run by volunteers who chop the wood, bring it in, replace water, etc., with some help expected from the visitors as well. There are three sauna huts, a mini stage with a piano and a guitar, and a few benches to sit. It is free. People interchange between hot saunas and cool waters of the Gulf of Finland, many drinking beers, some are naked, both men and women – guess, it is a Suomi way. We spent a few hours there returning back to the city when no more sweat was left in our bodies and high in spirits. If you visit, bring plenty of water (or beer) and padlock to use lockers if need be. Yuko and I did not research that far and had to resort to shifts to watch over our backpacks and wallets.
There is a large outdoor gym nearby with some serious muscles silently sizing each other up. Actually, Helsinki has around 50 open air gyms. I wonder if anyone trains in winter though…
I will be back with notes on side trips out of Helsinki and, of course, food.
Yours in travel.
Excellent to read this! We are flying to
Europe in October via a few nights in Helsinki. New respect for the Scorpions making time for this country and city.
Deja vu...I've been there a couple of times, many years ago. Very similar impressions. A great read, thank you, Igor!