Baltic States 11 - Helsinki

The last state, the last capital and the northernmost point of our summer trip. Helsinki, Finland, which we're visiting today on a short hop from Tallinn.

Helsinki - Helsinki Bay

It's quite pragmatic, if you just compare the price of accommodation between Tallinn and Helsinki, it always works out cheaper to buy a boat ticket and leave from Estonia. One day in this city is quite enough.

The worst part of this trip is getting up. The boat leaves at 8:00. We have to check-in, which ends half an hour before departure, so even with a reserve you need to be there an hour earlier. The walk from the accommodation took about half an hour + breakfast and other necessary tasks. So we're standing like a horse before six o'clock.

Talinn - Harbour

There are self-check-in terminals in the port. Of the five, only one worked, and even that went out of service after a while. That's why there was a solid queue of unfortunates at the only check-in window who didn't make it. We sail with Viking Line and our ship is called Viking XPRS. It's a huge ship. It offers several restaurants, casinos and other entertainment venues to serve passengers to shorten the 2.5 hour journey. We first sit inside the ship and after some time, we move to the stern where a relaxation area is created out of garden furniture. It would be good to sleep on the local couches, but this far north in the morning it is still quite cold with the slight sea breeze.

The arrival in Helsinki is truly grandiose. First you pass several islands, followed by a passage between the islands of Kustaanmiekka and Vallisaari. The gap between these islands is so narrow that you're pretty sure the huge ship won't fit, but somehow she still makes it through each time. Then the cruise continues past the Suomenlinna archipelago and other islands in this bay, complete with a teeming mass of small boats.

Helsinki - Island of Harmaja

Helsinki - Island of Vallisaari

Helsinki - Suomenlina - Island of Kustaanmiekka

Helsinki - Suomenlina

Helsinki - So we sailed through this gap

Helsinki - Helsinki Bay

When we packed for this trip, we dressed properly. After all, we're going up north and it's bound to be cold here. And it wasn't, it felt like it was the warmest of all the days we've spent in the Baltics.

When our giant ship docks in port, we leave one dock to move to another. We're taking a ferry to the Suomenlinna archipelago. The ferry departs every half an hour and the journey takes about ten minutes. The normal Helsinki public transport fares apply. What was a bit shocking to us was that the vending machines did not know how to make contactless payments and the card had to be inserted into the terminal the old-fashioned way. However, we eventually found out that you can also pay for the ship contactlessly before boarding, where there is a yellow terminal like the ones at the public transport in Ostrava, or even elsewhere. It won't print your ticket though. They are not checked on entry. It's probably checked by the inspector, but mainly we're in a Nordic country where they kind of rely on honesty.

Helsinki - Anchoring

Helsinki - Ferry to the Suomenlinna archipelago

Helsinki - Viking XPRS

The Suomenlinna archipelago, consisting of four large, still inhabited islands, once served as a fortress protecting Helsinki from naval attack. The defensive forts are still preserved today. One of the islands also still serves as a military base and has limited access. There are also beautiful beaches and sea views. It was 1:30 by the time we'd crawled through it all. However, this is the top archipelago to visit in terms of Helsinki, the rest was just a modern boring city, so if you have limited time and can visit is one place in the city head here.

Helsinki - Suomenlina - Finnish wild goose

Helsinki - Suomenlina - Submarine Vesikko

Helsinki - Suomenlina

We get on the ferry and return to the city. By the harbour there is a market with stalls where you can get magnets cheaply, and you can also eat "cheaply". Janet's friend recommended that we must try the salmon soup. It came out to a nice 12 Euro here (yes, I remarked several times that day that it wasn't that expensive in Tallinn). Janet and Mark had it, I don't like fish, so I just waited to taste it first. This saved me 12 Euro, because I hate the taste of fish and I could just smell it there. Once we finish eating we continue our tour of the harbour, because right next door is the old market building (Vanha kauppahalli) where there are other stalls and restaurants. Here the salmon soup already cost 14 Euro.

Helsinki - Salmon soup

Helsinki - Vanha kauppahalli

From the dock we continue to Esplaanadi Park, where some summer festival is going on and a rather strange duo called Puuluup was just performing. When you travel around the Baltics, you get used to crowds in the city centres and here it's just the opposite, which makes it stand out a lot how depopulated the Baltics are. However, after a while here in Helsinki, I started to miss the quietness of the city. There are nice picnic areas in the park and it's really hot, so the decision to pop into a shop for a beer and sit here for a while falls. When I added a popsicle to that, I shelled out a nice 6 Euro for those two items. With that done, we're done shopping and sitting in the grass. Here comes a major question that we hadn't thought of at first and that we have been struggling with throughout our trip. Can you even drink in public in Finland? Uncle Google has neither confirmed nor completely refuted this, plus we didn't see anyone around with a beer in their hand. However, we didn't let that discourage us and started to drink a little discreetly.

Helsinki - Park Esplaanadi

Beer down, we're rested too, need to explore the rest of the city. First stop was St. John's Lutheran Church. Closed at the time.

Helsinki - The fire station

Helsinki - St. John's Church

We found a pizza machine not far from it. That interested me more than the church. Speaking of technology, I'll add a mention of trams. They are green in colour and all of them have the logo of Škoda Transportation from Pilsen on the front. The latter pushed through the purchase of Transtech, which is something of a railcar supplier for Finland. That's why you can find cars with a winged arrow on many trams and trains in Finland and not only there.

Helsinki - ForCity Smart Artic trams Helsinki

Helsinki - Pizza machine

We move towards the Temppeliaukio church, but first we fit into the shopping centre, because Janet needs to go to the toilet. There's a concert going on here, and all the teenage girls of Helsinki are meeting here, singing in unison in their husky voices snippets of the hits that are currently playing. While waiting, I pop into McDonald's for a couple of Cheese burgers and come across a really bored father who is probably waiting for his teenage daughter to enjoy the concert. However, that anguished bored look on his face is burned into my memory, just like the Suomenlin Archipelago.

Helsinki - Forum Shopping Centre and the local teenage massacre

Now we continue finally to the Temppeliaukio church. It is special because it is carved in the rock. But it's already seven o'clock, and they're already closed, so we're out of luck and slowly making our way to the harbour. On the way we still come across the main train station, whose building is so well integrated into the centre of town that only the Finnish Railways logo, which has the acronym VR, gives it away.

Helsinki - Temppeliaukio Church

Helsinki - Finnish Parliament

Helsinki - Main Railway Station

From the station we head to the last two highlights of Helsinki. One is the Protestant Cathedral, which was still open and had a rather poor interior for my taste. You will see this cathedral in almost every Finnish movie. If you have seen at least the movie "Unknown Soldier", you know.

Helsinki - Helsinki Cathedral

The final point is the Temple of the Eternal Sleep of the Virgin Mary and this is more spectacular from my point of view. I guess the main reason is that it's an Orthodox church.

Helsinki - Uspenski Cathedral

This concludes our visit to Helsinki and we slowly move to the port where our ship will depart from. I'm really glad I've been sitting for a while, I'm really impressed today.

On the boat, we initially settle in the stern and enjoy the sky of the setting sun over the city. Once darkness falls we go inside for dinner and then settle on a bench and try to sleep the rest of the way.