Finding Finns & Falling Fantastically for Finland

Friday, September 20th - Sunday, September 22, 2019

Helsinki, Finland

My friend Anna and I decided we needed to see if Finland was a real country, and lemme tell you what, it was. It was very real. And we went for a weekend! The flight was only about an hour and a half and wasn't bad at all. We had no trouble with security or navigating either airport (and I was worried about both!) Traveling only two to a new place for only a weekend was a little intimidating not gonna lie, and Anna and I frequently found ourselves turning to each other and giggling in disbelief. We were really in Finland! 

We made it to Helsinki!

We got to our hostel, CheapSleep Helsinki at almost 1am. Now, Helsinki is a very safe city, one of the safest in the world. But I did not feel safe at CheapSleep LOL. We should've known from the name! Instead of being with a bunch of other college-age travelers, trying to see Europe on the cheap, CheapSleep was full of older couples, 50-year-old men, and rugby players... There were a few travelers our age, but not many. It was... bizarre. CheapSleep drew the 3am Walmart crowd if you know what I mean. It was pretty clean though and had an outlet by each bed, and a locker, which was nice. But needless to say, we did not spend any more time than necessary there, nor did we enjoy the comforts of the CheapSleep Sauna. 

CheapSleep Helsinki

We had a 2-day public transit pass, so we started our Saturday by taking the bus to the market square. There were people on the bus, but the city felt quiet and empty. The Finns are a reserved people. In fact, two Finns told us the only place to talk to a Finn is in a sauna because they will undoubtedly be drinking. (There is actually a Finnish beer called "Sauna", created just for this purpose. Does that dehydrate you? One would think. But it's TRADITION!) 

The market square was on the coast, and many a cruise ship was docked there, unloading Asian tourists, further emphasizing the lack of actual Finns in comparison. We strolled past Helsinki Cathedral and accidentally walked in on the end of a funeral... One less Finn. The outside of the building was beautiful, but the inside wasn't that interesting. Now the outside of the hearse wasn't very interesting, because it looked like a minivan, but the inside looked like the mini-van out of hell. 

Helsinki Cathedral

We meandered around the various stalls set up in the square. I purchased a slice of homemade chocolate squash cake from a Finnish grandma. It was very satisfying. And then some traditional Salmon chowder from another vendor. I found myself wishing I was in the market for a new knit hat or reindeer pelt. I asked one stall owner how often they actually got moose in the city (there were so many stuffed moose and moose t-shirts I had to ask). He told me once every year or two, one would wander in, and that they'd had one just a few months ago. I'm getting the impression that Finland is like, the Montana of Europe. I found myself wishing we were going into the countryside, instead of staying in the city. 

A Kitchy Market Stall

My Chocolate Squash Cake AKA Breakfast

Salmon Soup and Brown Bread

That afternoon, we went over to the Helsinki Ooppera (pronounced "Ope! Era" hahahahahaha). Our dear friend Donald's choir, The Crossing, was performing there. They were performing Aniara, "A choral-theater work, over three years in the making, with The Crossing, Helsinki’s Klockriketeatern, and composer Robert Maggio." The piece was based on an epic poem by Swedish author, Harry Martinson. It follows a space-craft leaving a future Earth completely destroyed by nuclear war. The space-craft is destined for Mars but is knocked off course by an asteroid, and now going forever into the infinity of space. It was insane. It was so so so good. I was blown away by the synchrony of the choir, the power of the music, and the set design. 

Aniara Trailer

Afterward, we joined Uncle Donald, Uncle Steven, and the rest of the artists, at a cocktail bar down the road. Rosa Izakaya and Cocktails served wonderful handcrafted drinks and made a mean G&T and French 75. Thank you so so so much, Donald and Steven, for letting us be a part of your special night!

Steven, Donald, and I

We left the cocktail bar around 11, and stopped back at our home sweet home, CheapSleep Helsinki, and changed outfits, and hit the town. We had a club in mind, but on our way there, walked by a line of Finns around our age! WHAT?! These were the people we'd been looking for! So we abandoned ship and jumped in line for Milliklubi Bar and Disco. Milliklubi was expensive and weird and fun but also weird? There were two dance rooms, three bars, and an ice-cave to sit in. It was just strange. I liked it okay, I think Anna liked it better! 

Iceberg Room

The next day, we woke up to go to Allas Sea Pools and Sauna. I was a little worried because it's a public pool, and I think those are often hit or miss. Can be really fun, but can also be really grody. I don't know how they do it, I'll chalk it up to general Scandinavian-ness, but Allas was incredibly clean. No floating hair clumps! For 9 euros, we had access to the saunas and pools all day! It wasn't very warm, but you could start in one of the gender-segregated nude saunas, or the clothed co-ed one, then jump in the freezing seawater pool. Then when you panic and think your body is going into shock, like me, you can run into the heated fresh-water pool next door and warm up before running through the icey air back to the sauna. I could have stayed there for HOURS on HOURS! Fun fact: Sauna is maybe the only Finnish word to make it into the English language. 

Allas from the harbor

After Allas, we walked all of like, 100 feet, and hopped on a ferry to the island Suomenlinna. Suomenlinna was a military fort, that was then taken over by the Russians for a while, and then back in Finnish hands. It's now home to all of 800 people and a popular tourist destination. It. Was. GORGEOUS! Anna and I left our bags at the "unofficial baggage drop", a corner behind the desk at the tourist information center, and wandered. We found our way to a yummy little Bistro and explored some little tunnels in the old fort walls. 

Getting off the ferry

In one of the little tunnels

The island

On one of the bridges -- Suomenlinna is actually a collection of small islands connected via bridge

My favorite part of the island though was probably the Toy Museum. It's a family-owned museum of old toys! And I have a weird thing for old toys. I wandered with the full book on the museum that the owner had out to borrow, and read just about everything. Anna had the patience of a QUEEN while lollygagged. The museum is connected to a sweet little tea shop and we treated ourselves to matcha lattes and tiny chocolates in the shape of cupcakes. 

The Toy Museum 

Barbies

Little hedgehog toys

Finnish dolls

Anna pointing the way!

Our time in Helsinki was drawing to a close, so we headed back to our ferry, stopping only to climb on a few rocks ;) 

Climbing rocks :)

Truly, cannot complain about the 48 we spent in Helsinki! Big recommend Suomenlinna and Allas. Big recommend the Crossing, but alas, they are based in Philly. Haha. I really hope I have the chance to visit again someday and venture out of the city a bit, into the rest of the country. And now, I need to get some sleep so that I'm energized for my trip to Eastern Europe next week! 

Cristiana