Monday, November 03, 2008

Helsinki - 10/21

Had a full day of touristy stuff lined up and I was pretty excited for it. The first stop is the biggest tourist attraction in the city, the fortress of Suomenlinna. It's an old fortress built on an island just south of the city by the Swedes and taken over by the Russians. It was called Sveaborg (sea castle in Swedish) but the Finns changed its name when they had their revolution in 1918. Suomenlinna means the Fortress of Finland (Suomi is Finland) which is a cool name, but kind of ironic when you realize that the Finns had nothing to do with its construction. I had to take a ferry to get there, and it seemed that apart from about 5 Japanese people I was the only tourist.

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IMG_4977 People thought I was crazy to coming to Finland this time of year, but it was amazing being at such a big tourist site and being practically the only one there. I spent a few hours just wandering around the ramparts and hanging out by the water. I made a playlist of all my Finnish music and listened to it the whole day. Turns out 25% of my music collection comes from here! Pretty cool. I think that's some of the most fun I've ever had by myself. Exploring beautiful ruins in Helsinki while listening to my favorite music. I'm pretty sure I had a smile on my face the whole time.

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Now that it was no longer Monday I could actually go to some of the museums. My goal was to limit myself to 1 museum per city unless it was free. I chose the Kiasma museum of modern art. I don't really get modern art, but it looks cool so why not?

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Translated: Black on Black, a picture of you.

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My favorite piece. After seeing DO NOT TOUCH all over the place, there was a sign that read: Please, take a piece and half the room was filled with licorice. Now that is good art.

The next biggest tourist attraction is the Sibelius monument. Not a lot of famous people come from Finland but when they do, they make sure you know about them. Sibelius is a composer from the early 1900s. The monument is a kind of organ type thing. Again, I was the only person there! I heard that this place is crawling with tourists in the summer so I felt pretty special being there all alone.

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Next up is the Olympic stadium. Wasn't really that interested in seeing it but the top of the tower is supposed to have the best view of the city. It was great, but a little too cloudy to be anything amazing.

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IMG_5042 Walked through an old neighborhood with traditional Finnish houses on my way to the Kallio district.

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Kallio is the 'hip' area that every city has. Seattle has Capital Hill, NYC has the east village, Copenhagen has Norrebro and Helsinki has Kallio. My main reason for going there was to partake in a traditional Finnish sauna. Saunas are immensely popular in the country and just about every hotel and apartment has one. The tour book recommended the oldest one in the city and the only one to still use traditional wood fire instead of electric heat.

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It was definitely an experience. Coming from the states I'm not that used to nudity, especially when it's all middle aged guys. Man, it was hot. I've been in saunas before but this was ridiculous. I couldn't even breathe through my nose because the steam would burn my nostrils.

What you're supposed to do is go in and come out a few times. Obviously it's bad to spend more than a few minutes in 180 degree heat. After my second time I was cooling down in the locker room and a local started a conversation with me. Kind of interesting talking to a naked stranger but he was nice and had been to Seattle before.

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Anna wanted to meet me for coffee so went back to the city center to explore a bit more before meeting her. Found a Hesburger, a Finnish hamburger chain and decided to try it. I'm not going to count it as fast food because it's a 100% Finnish chain. Wasn't very good and gave me a stomach ache. That's what I get. Met with Anna at the cafe and she wouldn't let me pay for coffee, what a nice girl. And so begins my addiction to coffee. I used to hate it but when you're cold and tired, it's pretty good.

Headed home and relaxed a bit before going out that night. It was raining a bit, but just Seattle rain so I could handle it. Went back to Kallio and had a metal bar in mind. Found the place called Tauku and it was by far the coolest bar I have ever been to. Metal posters all over the walls and a jukebox with an amazing selection. They had my favorite Czech beer too! Awesome. Sitting in a Helsinki bar, listening to Finnish metal and drinking my favorite beer. Does life get any better? I planned on staying only an hour but I couldn't tear myself away until the very last tram home.

Got to the tram station and the last 2 were canceled! Great. Luckily there was a girl about my age waiting for the same tram going to the same stop. Funny how these things always work out for me. When you're traveling alone, you are never really alone. She just moved to the city from Turku and helped me find the right bus to get on. Man, Finnish people are nice. After another great day I was already missing this city.

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