Pedestrian paths and bike paths run side by side all over Helsinki
Senate Square in Helsinki
Market Square in Helsinki
A parkway in Helsinki
Feeding the seagulls from our verandah
A monument to Jean Sebelius, a great Finnish composer
Racks by the sea for drying rugs
A Jopo bicycle; these are quite popular in Finland
Riding Jopo bicycles in Helsinki
Uspenski Cathedral, the largest Orthodox church in Scandinavia; 80% of Finnish people are Lutheran
Helsinki, Finland, is a beautiful city...we found ourselves wishing we had another day to spend there. It is a very clean city with lots of parks and trees and flowers. It has public transportation (electric busses and trains, even ferries) but lots of people get around on foot or on bicycle. We took the shuttle from the boat into town, pulled out our map, and wandered around a while. It was so interesting. We found Market Square (Kauppatori), a lively spot just off the water where there was an amazing array of fresh fruits and vegetables and local craft vendors. Then we walked to Senate Square (Senaatintori), where there were some beautiful buildings in the neoclassical style. Native people were quite friendly, more so than in St. Petersburg.
After lunch, we took a Jopo (pronounced Yopo) bicycle tour. Jopo bikes are quite simple, no gears, and foot pedal brakes...just like when we were kids. We rode for about 11 miles, all over the city, which is very bike-friendly (bicycle lanes about everywhere we went!) Our guide was a native, and quite funny. He mentioned that they have a female prime minister and a female president. He jokingly said that the prime minister resembles Conan O’Brian! Not exactly a compliment for a female.... He said that most Finnish families have just one or two children...and we saw a lot of beautiful babies. We saw the site of the 1952 Olympics (which was built for the 1940 Olympics, but those games were cancelled due to the war.) We rode through several parks, by the beach (which was extremely crowded because they don’t have this nice weather very often.) He told us that in the winter, they only have daylight from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (how depressing!) We also saw a place along the water where families can bring their rugs to wash. Our guide said that most Finnish families have wooden floors with many throw rugs. They take their rugs down to the water to wash them, then they hang them on these large wooden racks to dry (we saw several drying in the sun.) As we were looking at these, a man who had been swimming climbed up on the pier (stark naked, I might add!!) pulled on his jeans and walked away. We were all laughing at this...but our guide said it is quite common in Finland, and not thought to be offensive in any way. Oh my.
It was a wonderful ride and a great way to really see the city. Helsinki was a place I would love to visit again someday.
Today we are at sea, sailing toward Warnemunde, Germany. Tomorrow morning we will board a bus for the three-hour ride to Berlin and a tour of that city. There are several speakers we plan to hear today, along with lots of just “being lazy.” It is nice to have a day at sea to relax.
Hope all is well on the home front. Much love to all of you!
Will you bring me home a Jopo bike?? Preferably that pink one! :)
ReplyDeleteSure thing. I told david I wanted one of those for Christmas!!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the SAME thing, Lindi! Pam, I had heard that their PM looks like Conan and had even seen a picture. You're right...not very flattering for a female. hahaha! Keep up the wonderful posts!
ReplyDeleteI remember the daylight thing from Iceland. In the summer it seemed like the sun never went down and in the winter you could easily miss the entire 3 hours of daylight if you were working inside. You get used to it but you have to keep looking at the clock to remember what time of day it is.
ReplyDelete