Helsinki, Finland

I arrived in Helsinki at 11:00 pm due to the time change from Norway and was glad I had decided to spend the night at the Hilton inside the airport complex.  When I made the reservation 3 weeks ago I'd figured I would be exhausted upon arrival and in need of a good nights' sleep.  I was right.  I made the short walk to the hotel, got upgraded to the Executive Floor and went to bed.  I wanted to get an early start in the morning so I could get into central Helsinki and start checking out the sites.  When I woke up and looked out the window it was snowing like a blizzard so I thought I better check the weather.  It was supposed to snow like this all day.  UGH!  I knew that going to Scandinavia in winter was a risk, but I'd had such good luck in Oslo that I was hoping for similar results in Helsinki.  I had some breakfast and decided to make my way into central Helsinki anyway so I would be where I needed to be if the snow decided to give me a break.  :)  My hotel let me check-in early so I dropped my luggage and braved the blizzard conditions in search of lunch.  I made it about 3 blocks before I realized there was no way I was going to be able to walk the city for the day with this kind of snow coming down.  I was dressed in full snow gear and was still getting cold from the relentless wind.  I grabbed a sandwich and a hot chocolate at a cafe and went back to the hotel to read up on the indoor activities I might be able to tackle for the day.  For those of you who didn't know - Finland is where the sauna was invented.  Apparently, it is quite common in Finland to go to a public sauna and swim, have a refreshment and sit in the sauna.  This sounded like a great idea to me on such a blistery cold day and I didn't have to go far to partake.  Upon asking the front desk staff, I learned that the top floor of my hotel was equipped with an indoor pool, a refreshment bar and a series of individual saunas.  I reserved a sauna, put on my swim suit and made my way to the 8th floor!  After swimming for an hour I had a fresh squeezed orange juice and went into my designated sauna stall.  I was given a bucket of water with a ladle and instructions on what to do.  I walked into my private sauna, ladled some water on the hot rocks and had a seat.  It was awesome.  Hot, but awesome.  I noticed a small window with tinted glass on the far end of my sauna stall and decided to see what it was.  Much to my surprise, it was a window that opened to the outside.  Apparently the idea was that if it got too hot I could open the window and let fresh air (and snow) come in to cool me off.  So fun!  I will definitely being visiting the pool and saunas again during my time in Helsinki.

After a shower, a brief nap, a check of my email and getting caught up on my games of Words with Friends, I decided to see what my options were for dinner.  I really didn't want to spend my entire first day in Helsinki in the hotel...  Since it was still snowing like crazy, I asked for something nearby and casual (since I was in full snow gear) and the front desk staff gave me several suggestions.  I headed out into the blizzard again and on my way to the first restaurant they suggested I came across a building that appeared to have a large farmer's market inside.  I ducked in for a second to see what the deal was and was pleasantly surprised by what appeared to be a European version of Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia.  I made my way around the stalls and decided this would make a way better dinner option than a restaurant.  I bought some bread, meat, cheese, wine and dessert pastry.  Around the perimeter of the market where a handful of tables where I sat, enjoyed my dinner and did some people watching.  It was really quite good.  I checked the weather report for Wednesday and it said there was only a 10% chance of snow and a high of 27 degrees which sounded like a much better day for walking the city center and checking out the sites.  :)

I got up at 9:00 and headed downstairs for breakfast before hitting the streets of Helsinki for the day.  My goal was to see Senate Square, Helsinki Cathedral, Uspenski Cathedral, Temppeliaukio (the rock church), Market Square and visit a Christmas Market for some miscellaneous gifts.  Much to my surprise, I was able to accomplish all of this in about 5 hours of walking.  I didn't see a single snowflake all day and while it was cold and windy, I knew I had a sauna awaiting me back at the hotel!  I gobbled up a bratwurst at the Christmas Market for lunch and it was almost as good as the ones I had in Germany!  The gentlemen manning the grill was about 75 years old and decided to confess his love for me because I ate bratwurst.  He chatted me up for about half an hour and asked me to come back for more bratwurst the next day.  He was right in my typical demographic: men over 70 and children under 10.  :)  I headed back to the hotel around 3:00 for my swim/sauna and thawed out by the fireplace in the lobby with some hot chocolate before heading up to the 8th floor.

Senate Square and Helsinki Cathedral
(That is snow covering the stairs from the square up to the cathedral)

View of Helsinki from the bridge outside my hotel

Uspenski Cathedral

Pews, walls and windows inside Temppeliaukio (the rock church)

It has never bothered me to travel alone.  Of course, I have always preferred to travel with friends/family, but  an occasional trip on my own has always been enjoyable, too.  For some reason I was particularly unmotivated to go to a restaurant for dinner by myself in Helsinki.  I think it must have had to do with the fact that it got dark at 3:15 each day and walking around a new city in the dark by myself has never been something I am fond of, but regardless, I wasn't feeling particularly excited about walking 20 minutes to a restaurant on Wednesday night.  I gave myself a pep talk and headed for Vapiano for dinner.  When I arrived it was a little Italian place that had salad, pasta and pizza on the menu.  If I had to guess I would say it was the equivalent of a low-to-mid cost chain in the US.  Not my typical choice when traveling abroad, but I was there at this point and was going to eat!  The food was decent and I was one of numerous people eating as a "party of one".  I slowly meandered back towards the hotel, swinging through another Christmas Market along the route.  I got something for my Mom and Aunt Lois that I knew they'd both really enjoy so it was a success all around.  Then it was off to bed, as I had another full day of walking planned for tomorrow...

When I woke up on Thursday morning I was greeted with the cruel reality that it was going to be another blistery cold and windy day in Helsinki.  I had already made a list of the things I wanted to see on my last day in Helsinki and after a big breakfast decided to get started.  I bundled up extra warm since it was snowing even harder than it had been on Tuesday.  I headed in the direction of the Olympic Stadium which was the farthest of the places I wanted to see.  I figured that if I made it to the furthest place first, I could hit the others on my way back to the hotel.  It was so cold that the snow was forming icicles on my eye lashes and eyebrows.  I am not joking.  About 20 minutes into my walk I noticed there were considerably fewer people walking throughout the city than the day before.  Was this a sign?  I shrugged it off and kept going.  After about 35 minutes I made it to Olympic Stadium.  It was cool.  I decided to pay to take the elevator up to the top of the tower (mostly just so I could warm up and be inside for a bit) but the view wasn't great due to the snow and cloud cover.  Oh well.  I walked toward the Sibelius Monument next.  The monument is a sculpture that looks like an organ or some wind chimes and is dedicated to Jean Sibelius who was a famous Finnish composer.  It's located in Sibelius Park which was about a 15 minute walk from Olympic Stadium.  On my walk the icicles began forming on my face again, so I decided this would be my last stop for the morning.  I made it to the park, took some quick photos and headed back towards the hotel.  The walk got harder and harder as the snow continued to accumulate on the sidewalks, making a thick, slushy goop that made it hard to gain traction.  I was glad to have the boots I purchased for my trip to Antarctica with me, as they are the only thing that kept me from falling down many times.  :)

Olympic Stadium and Tower

Sibelius Monument (a bit blurry)

I decided I'd most likely stay inside the hotel for the rest of the afternoon even though I still wanted to go to the National Gallery.  It was just too cold to venture out again and a swim and sauna sounded too good to pass up.  If I change my mind I'll update the post, otherwise look for more posts when I am back in Atlanta.