Helsinki is called the daughter of the Baltic. I don’t really know why. It is the only European capital with no medieval past. It was originally named Helsingborg in 1550 when it hoped to become a major trading port. But it didn’t amount to anything more than a town until the late 19th century. After taking over Finland in 1809 the Russians decided to move Finland’s capital and university closer to St Petersburg, from Turku to Helsinki. It feels Russian because they hired a German architect, Carl Ludvig Engel, to design new public buildings and told him to use St Petersburg as a model.

We decided to do our own thing here and take the Hop on Hop off bus, mainly to get to the town from port. We got off in town and just walked around. We went to the Harbour at Market Square, which always seems to attract us and took in the local market and the Czarina’s Stone, an obelisk with the double headed eagle of imperial Russia at the top. It was the first public monument in Russia, designed by Carl Ludvig Engel, and erected in 1835 to celebrate the visit of Czar Nicholas I and Czarina Alexandra. We took in the sights including the Old Market Hall, cruise boats, City Hall which used to be the towns first hotel, built to house the czar and czarina, and the Royal Palace. We walked toward the Esplanade and came across the Havis Amanda fountain, designed by Villa Vallgren. This fountain has become the symbol of Helsinki and graduating students decorate her with a school cap. The statue was modeled after the artist’s Parisian mistress and was considered racy for the conservative town. Valgren had trouble getting paid but he got the last laugh as the city budget office has seen only her backside, as she is facing the sea.

Then we went to Senate Square with its impressive buildings including the Lutheran Cathedral, the Senate Building, the main University of Helsinki building, and the National Library. In the center of the square is a statue of Russian czar Alexander II. The staircase leading up to the Cathedral was dotted with students chatting and sunbathing.

We stopped for coffee and a pastry at Cafe Kappeli, a 19th century gazebo structure where local intellectuals and artists met. We strolled down the Esplanade, a park-like Boulevard and the top shopping spot, past Stockmann Department Store (Finland’s answer to Macy’s and Harrods). The Three Blacksmiths is a cool statue celebrating Finland’s human labour and cooperation.

Then we went to the Rock Church (Temppeliaukio) a Lutheran Church built into solid rock. Natural light pours in from the Church’s glazed dome and the rough stoned interiors amplify sound. A fellow was playing the organ and we sat and enjoyed it for a while.

Then back to the Esplanade for a beer before catching the Hop on bus back to the port.

Helsinki was nice. We enjoyed it but there really was nothing mind boggling about it.

Fun Facts:
- Hollywood used Helsinki for the films Gorky Park and Dr Zhivago because filming in Russia was not possible during the Cold War.
- Finland is known as the land of the midnight sun because during the summer the sun is visible for 24 hours and stays above the horizon for over 70 days. But the sun does set for a few hours - the earliest sunrise is at 5:25 am on June 15 and the latest sunset is at 10:51 on June 26.
- The country’s official fish is the perch.
- Lily of the valley is the national flower.
- Finland’s animal symbol is the brown bear and the swan is the official bird.
- The sugar maple is the country’s official tree.
- A person from Helsinki is called a Helsinkilainen.
- The worlds leading manufacturer of cell phones is based in Helsinki. What!! - Not China?!!?
- Finland has a thriving mobile game industry that created Angry Birds, Clash of the Clans and Hay Day.
- There are over 140 nationalities in Helsinki. In order they are Russia, Estonia, Sweden, Somalia, Serbia, China, Iraq, Thailand, Vietnam, Afghan, Germany and Turkey....