I really went for it in Helsinki today, first stop was the Olympic stadium that was built to host the 1952 Olympics. What great fun, i’ll go up the tower and take in the amazing views over the city. Oh wait, the anti weather checker failed to think about the fact that it’s a horribly foggy day today so there was very little view to be had! Oh i did laugh out loud at myself, by myself at the top of the tower! It was peaceful at least and i had a birds eye view of the stadium below. Just about!
Oooooops… it was nice and peaceful up there though. There is always a positive.
The museum was good though, it told the story about how they came to host be hosts in 1952 instead of 1940 as planned, after the outbreak of world war two. There were stacks of winter Olympics memorabilia including some vibrant ice skating costumes and Ice hockey kit etc. I also got the best chat up line to date as i left after being stopped by a guy who told me i looked very good and asked if he could “establish contact with me” very sweet, but i’ve got a few things on in the next few months! So he got an “i’m busy i’m afraid” and i quickly scurried off.
Next stop was the Opera house to bag myself some tickets for the ballet in the evening, i didn’t know any of the details about who was performing but i fancied it and there were tickets luckily so i was all set to go. I started making my way down to the national museum, the building itself is quite spectacular and the story of how Finnish culture has developed across the regions was fascinating. There was even a replica house with the internal fire pit (no chimney!) so you could smell the oaky aroma that would have been prevalent in those houses. Bears are/were a great commodity and there were all sorts of amulets etc on display in that area as well. There were some really nice traditions in making bespoke furniture like dressers, wardrobes, chairs and travel chests as wedding presents. I really liked that, something beautiful, useful and high quality that you can use forever. Stunning!
Next on my Helsinki marathon was Temppeliaukio church, which was blasted into a mound of rock in 1969. It was a pain to find and a very kind lady stopped to help me locate it as i was looking puzzled with a map on a street corner. She was fascinating, used to be a scientist in California and was going that way anyway to walked me almost to the door of the church. It was very simple but spectacular at the same time. It’s quite modern so reminded me of the one i was baptised in at home a little! The church was a little oasis of calm and i lit a candle for you all. It was a perfect place to reflect and be grateful for my time in Helsinki.
I had planned to move onto the herring festival next but came across Kaupunginmuseo on the way. I’m so pleased i didn’t miss this one out. There was a fabulous exhibition of photographs telling the story of the people of the city, many of them having been provided by the people of Helsinki themselves. There was even a replica salon from the 1950s where you could get your hair done! It was brilliant, and the best bit. It was all free. Very impressive and a must for anyone visiting Helsinki i’d say.
Delicious Fishermans plate on the harbour side in Helsinki
I’d worked up a hunger by then (surprisingly enough!) so i went down to the harbour side to indulge in some of the treats on offer at the Herring festival. This is an annual event over a few days in October when the Herring boats moor up and sell all sorts of wonderful marinaded herring and bread products. Celebrating this wonderful regional cuisine, they had a hard time this year i think as it had been pouring with rain for the past 2 days and some of them were looking pretty miserable. But i found a stall selling wonderful fried fish platters, with Herring, whitebait, fried potatoes, a rainbow of carrots and a very generous helping of aioli. It was heaven! I gobbled it up under the canopy away from the rain as the family next to me ordered about 3 helpings of the local fish soup each! It must have been good, they just kept on going back for more.
I needed a rest after all of that excitement so i sought some solace in Helsinki Cathedral, which was far simpler inside than the outer grandeur would lead you to believe. But beautiful in that simplicity all the same. About half a kilometre away i realised that i had lost my gloves, rushing back to the fish stall to find they weren’t there. Some kind soul had left them on the church pew for me, phew i think karma is looking after me. I did a bit more wandering taking in the sights of the giant peeing man (??????!!!!), lovers bridge, every city seems to have of these as a matter of course and the older and more ornate uspenskin-katedraali in Helsinki.
I was happily enjoying all of these things when i realised that i really should be getting ready for the ballet. I hotfooted it back to my lovely apartment in Kallio to get changed into my best attire. I really wasn’t sure what to wear as the Finnish opera house is known for being very casual apparently, i did a combo of jeans, a nice top and sparkly shoes in the hope that they would be clear i had made some kind of effort. I needn’t have worried as there were people in straight up jeans and T-shirt!
The ballet was incredible, three performances all surprisingly sensual with the most wonderful and toned down costumes. It only went to emphasise the beauty of the movement and the story behind it more. It was wonderful and i was entranced by it. The drabness of the building itself didn’t inspire me as i walked in, it looked like an old and neglected council swimming pool in a suburb somewhere. But that belied the inhabitants and i was very pleased.
It was only 9.30 when the ballet finished and i decided that was way too early to be going to bed on a Saturday night. More on what happened next in my next post…
A very hungover Cake-Lady signing off in search of some coffee
Ciao x x x
