Postcards from the Past: Finland

Lapland

When and Where:           07/2002 – Helsinki

                                        08/2008 – Helsinki

28th Country Visited; 19th European Country Visited

Interesting Facts:

-        The Finnish language is one of the ten most difficult languages to learn and translate. 

-        Finland is called the Land of the Midnight Sun.  In June and July, the sun stays above the horizon.

-        Finland has 188,000 lakes.  It has the highest water to landmass ratio of any country in the world.

Back in 2002 during my adoption journey, a Philadelphia-based adoption agency suggested I check out Estonia as an adoption option.  So I decided to travel to Estonia.  Given that there are no direct flights between the US and Estonia, I looked at options to get to Tallinn, Estonia’s capital.  The best route seemed to be flying to Finland and taking a passenger ferry for just over 2 hours across the Gulf of Finland.  My friend Chuck accompanied me on the trip.   

After a connection through London, our flight arrived at Helsinki International Airport.  We took a cab to the Holiday Inn nearby and went to sleep.  The next morning, we took the public trolley into town.  Public transit in Helsinki was easy to navigate despite the language barrier.  Most signs were in Finnish, Swedish and sometimes English.  The first stop, the Helsinki Central Station, is one of the most important monuments and landmarks in Helsinki.  BBC has Lonely Planet have both designated it as one of the 10 most beautiful train stations in the world.  The granite clad structure which was built in 1919 has a clock centerpiece and giant statues of men holding lanterns.  The Lantern Bearers as they are called, illuminate at night.  Next, we walked over to Helsinki Cathedral with its green and gold dome.  Also known at St. Nicholas’ Church, it was completed in 1852.  From atop the steps of this Evangelical Lutheran church, there are stunning views of the Gulf of Finland.  We walked around the beautiful harbor.  Our next stop was Sibelius Park named after the famous Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.  There is a contemporary monument named for Sibelius in the park. 

We returned to the Holiday Inn, had dinner, and went out for a night on the town.  We took public transit back into downtown Helsinki.  After stopping by a variety of bars, we headed to the train station for the trek back to the hotel.  At 1:00 am, the streets of Helsinki were filled with people out shopping or partying.  The sun doesn’t set in Finland in June and July and without a watch, you wouldn’t know it was 1am.  The next morning, I headed back into town to take the 2+ hour high speed ferry over to Tallinn Estonia. I stayed in Tallinn 2 days before heading back to Helsinki.  The day after I arrived back in Helsinki, we made our way back to London and onto Philadelphia.

Fast forward to 2008, I traveled to Helsinki with my family on a Baltic cruise.  Since I had seen most of Helsinki before, Aaron and I took a boat cruise around Helsinki harbor.  My brother and his family took a train ride up the coast of western Finland.  It was a chilly and misty August morning and traveling by boat around the harbor was miserable.  Two hours later and completely soaked, Aaron and I walked around town going sightseeing and shopping.  We visited Helsinki cathedral and to a Russian Orthodox Church.  After a quick lunch at McDonald’s, Aaron and I headed back to the ship. 

Helsinki, like all the Scandinavian capitals, is a world-class city.  It is a modern and immaculate metropolis with beautiful architecture.  It is worth visiting, even if it is a cruise destination.

Helsinki Cathedral (2008)

Helsinki Central Station (2008)

Helsinki (2008)

Cosmopolitan Helsinki (2002)

Sibelius Statue, Helsinki (2002)







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