Fantastic Finns, super Swedes — A Baltic adventure
In the inimitable words of Monty Python: "Finland, Finland, Finland, The country where I want to be, Eating breakfast or dinner, Or snack lunch in the hall." It was with this level of searing cultural insight that William Lockwood stepped off the plane in Helsinki, ready to tackle whatever hurdles the country could throw at him, with a taste of Sweden thrown in for good luck.
Stockholm.
- By William Lockwood
- Published in the Courier : 03.06.11
- Published online : 04.06.11 @ 10.34am
When your first experience of a city is being handed a bottle of cava to drink through a straw during a night-time bus tour, one can be prone to generosity of spirit — but Helsinki really is an attractive place with inhabitants to match.
Its Catholic and Protestant cathedrals mix with parliament and university buildings downtown, while it also has a modernist monument to composer Jean Sibelius and even a stadium for an Olympics that were never held (the second world war rather got in the way of the 1940 Games).
There is water everywhere you look — not surprising, as Finland has 200,000 lakes and nearly as many islands — and on a clear day you can see Sauna Island a 15-minute taxi boat ride out into the Gulf of Finland.
Calling it Sauna Island is neither a crass national stereotype nor is it an exaggeration — it is literally an island covered in saunas, steam rooms and hot tubs, perched at increasingly crazy angles.
Another impressive stat is that Finland, a country of five million people, has over two million saunas — the equivalent of two per family. Most Finns use the sauna twice every week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
With the first saunas as old as the Pyramids of Giza, it is easy to see why they have remained the national obsession. A session in an aspen-fired smoke sauna is cathartic, relaxing and generally nourishing for the soul.
Leaping into the water around Sauna Island where the Gulf of Finland meets the Baltic Sea may seem less inviting, but follow that with a drink in the hot tub while watching the sun come up over Helsinki and you have an experience that should be mandatory for most people on Earth.
Having sweated out our various toxins, the group made the rather surreal return journey across the gulf with our charming guide — and published author on saunas — Ulla-Maija and stumbled blearily back to our hotel. We were staying at Hotelli Seurahuone, one of Helsinki's oldest hotels, which is centrally located and thus very handy for exploring the city.
Helsinki during the day, you'll be relieved to hear, is just as attractive as Helsinki by night. At weekends it bustles with market traders while bands play for free in one of the central squares, while the water is never far away. It is also very tourist-friendly — most Finns speak such good English that I felt humblingly stupid for most of my stay, except when I could deploy my unparalleled knowledge of Finnish footballers in the Premiership. Then the tables were turned.
Unfortunately we could not stay in Helsinki forever and took one last picturesque stroll to the port, where we boarded Viking Line's monumental Mariella ferry.
She took 2500 passengers en route to Stockholm among her assorted restaurants, cafes, pubs and clubs, yet somehow never seemed crowded. We were given a run-down of Viking Line's history by sales executive Gitte, who was totally professional but also irrepressibly good fun. She went above and beyond the call of duty by enduring our wretched attempts at 'karaoke', and let slip the worrying Finnish passion for Hamish Macbeth and Keeping Up Appearances.
The cruise across the Baltic was almost unrealistically beautiful. Tiny islands dotted the sea — some uninhabited, some with holiday homes built precariously on their rugged cliffs — while pleasure boats scudded across the water and massive ferries loomed on the horizon.
Just as importantly for a glutton like me, the food was out of this world. It was possible to eat almost an entire meal derived purely from reindeer and cheese, although the less said about the Elvis impersonator the better.
Despite our late-night karaoke endeavours, it was well worth getting up and on deck early to watch the journey into Stockholm, with the Mariella navigating the myriad islands and channels for hours. As we met our tour guide Eva and began our bus tour of Stockholm, it soon became clear that Sweden was engaged in a sly game of one-upmanship with Finland to see who could create the most jaw-dropping capital city (or at least so I thought).
01.01pm - 04.06.2011 Stuart Allan - Dundee, Scotland Report This
Hmmm, this can't be right. We're constantly told independent countries the size of Scotland are benighted places, unable to look after themselves that were crushed by the recession. Don't these people know they need a larger neighbour to make their decisions for them? PS Finland is beautiful :)
11.24am - 05.06.2011 Mikko - Turku, Finland Report This
"...even a stadium for an Olympics that were never held (the second world war rather got in the way of the 1940 Games)." This is not true. The stadium was used to host the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki after the country and the city had recovered (to an extent) from the war.
09.18pm - 20.02.2012 Tony - Korpo, Finland Report This
Helsinki is ok, but there is so much more to Finland than Helsinki. The Finnish archipelago is amazing and is definitely a must see in my opinion and also Turku is a great city to visit.
Add a comment