Finland!

Really, this should be titled ‘Helsinki’, since it’s the only part of Finland that we had the pleasure of visiting. Then again, apparently about a third of the population of Finland lives there, so it’s a pretty big deal to the country.

Finland was lovely! Helsinki is a port city, and it was wonderful to be by the sea again. Saint Petersburg might technically be on the Black Sea, but its really on the Neva River and is actually isolated from the Sea by sea walls so there is really no direct contact. In terms of architecture, much of Helsinki was built after the Russians took control of Finland back in the 1700s, so not surprisingly a lot of the oldest parts of the city are very reminiscent of Saint Petersburg, since they were built pretty much simultaneously. I have to say, I’m getting a little jaded about stucco. Its beautiful, the colors they paint it are wonderful, but there’s only so much a girl can stand. Other than that, Finland reminded me of London in the sense that their integration of old and new buildings is admirably successful, beautiful in its own right in fact. I hope I have some pictures that at least partly capture the feeling. Helsinki also struck me as a very arty city, or that might have had something to do with the places that I visited. Lots of cafes, too, which is always enjoyable and warm, a very important attribute in such a cold climate. Efficient public transportation and bike paths also featured as favorable attributes, although Helsinki is also an easily walkable city both in its small size and wide, comfortable sidewalks. People were friendly, and pretty much everyone speaks English, as well as probably four other languages. A Finnish girl, upon hearing that my friend Ashley was studying Russian, remarked that Saint Petersburg was a beautiful city and then asked about other language was she studying back in the States? To which Ashley was forced to admit that Russian was her only foreign language. A sad state of affairs, to be sure.

Now for some more specific features of our time in Finland. We met at the Metro station on Thursday at the obscenely early time of 6am. Astoundingly, Tanya got up to have breakfast with Anna and I and see us off; which I thought went way beyond any sort of requirement of her as a host mother. She told me that if she got up early she could get more done in the day, but I think she only said that to allay my fears and probably worried look. Our train was at 730, and we arrived in Finland around 1pm. We were picked up and taken on a city tour by bus, seeing such sights as the ‘cathedral in the rock’, a Lutheran cathedral literally partly chiseled out of the hillside and with an astounding roof made of copper wire. It was one of the only modern churches that I’ve loved; the rock and the copper made the interior glow and feel warm and welcoming. After the tour we checked into the hostel and had free time for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, since it gets dark around 430 that far north, it meant that we only had about an hour of sunlight left, so spent it wandering. Then it was time for groceries and dinner. Ashley and I decided to go to the free concert in the cathedral in the Rock at 7, which was a number of soloists from a music school in Helsinki on the oboe, accompanied by piano. They were very talented, and it was a very enjoyable experience. Afterwards we walked some more, found a kiosk with Dr Pepper for Ashley (Dr. Pepper was a very big deal in Finland; the soda isn’t available in Russia, but Finland not only has it, they produce it. Everyone who grew up in the south was immensely excited, especially Ashley, who brought two cases back with her and has pictures everywhere with her and the beloved drink. I can only dream of such devotion), and somehow got swept up into going to a Karaoke bar with others from our group and some Finns who they had met at IMOP. Strangely enough, it was very like an American karaoke bar.

Saturday was our full day in Helsinki, and we made the most of it. First Ashley and I went to free sauna at the hostel, then took advantage of the free breakfast for about an hour. One interesting thing to note about Finland; apparently there are about 3 million saunas for 5 million people. As the guide put it, “so we have plenty of room for visitors”. They also traditionally wash their rugs in the sea, or any available natural body of water. ‘But that’s neither here nor there’ as Gogol would say. We then left the hostel and, after visiting a local market, trekked over to the ‘Cable Factory’, an ex-cable factory (strangely enough) that now serves as a museum/gallery/art studio/school for art, theater, crafts and whatnot, and generally anything arty that should be in a building. The entire complex houses too many artists and arty things to count, and its extremely cool. The best exhibit we found was one on an anti-fur campaign, although we only touched on a small portion of its offerings. It also has a 1 ½ floor. After lunch in its café, we headed for the student/poorer part of town, which was much to my liking, being much like any student area. After more wandering it was time to find the café I had looked up on the internet and which had promised an interesting and exceptional interior, which it delivered, sort of an ultra-bright Scandinavian crossed with Russian theme. It had a lovely homey atmosphere, and I got the sense that everyone else in there was a regular; I think one table just served themselves from the kitchen, even. There was no cash register, and the owners where playing scrabble on one of the tables, walking back to the open kitchen when needed. We stayed for quite a long time, feeling completely comfortable sitting around drawing and talking. Really, a perfect café. Then we visited the modern art museum in Helsinki, which is housed in a building that perfectly reflects its contents. It was a joy to wander around in, and while I am not generally a fan of modern art, the collection has some exceptional pieces, including one of licorice candy that is available for digestion (we were literally consuming art), and beautifully worked paper from Japan.

After the museum closed it was time to go back and sleep, since we were getting up at 5am to get to the ferry to Tallin. It had been a very successful day.

Sunday we also spent in Helsinki. I got up early to sauna, which I had all to myself to blissfully enjoy, and then after breakfast walked with my friend Jacob around the headland, looking out over the port and its islands an finally out over the sea. He showed my what is meant to be the most famous park in Helsinki, which contains a hill that, being right off the water, offers a view of both the city and the ocean. It was stunning, especially since the weather that day was gorgeous. Unfortunately, my camera decided to stop working temporarily at that point, but it really was glorious. We continued walking through the rich part of town (sea views are always expensive) back downtown to take the tram and go to a weekend second-hand market. The market was very satisfying and I have the feeling that the lively Finnish around me was all bargaining. We had to be back at the hostel by two, so the rest of the time was spent walking across town, something accomplished in a surprisingly short time; Helsinki proper is really rather small, but it doesn’t seem like it. Then off, back to Saint-Petersburg! Leaving from one of the most beautiful train stations that I have ever seen.

Helsinki actually reminded me very much of Wellington, or rather what Wellington would be like if it was magically transferred from New Zealand to the Far North. Lots of cafes, arty, a capital city, quite highly educated, port city…. And it just felt familiar.

On another note, I have to say that it was nice to see such a variety of ethnic groups, just going about daily business and acting like they belong. In Russia, people who aren’t obviously white don’t always look as comfortable.

Overall, Helsinki was lovely, but perhaps too nice and clean for my tastes. After Russia, it seemed almost sterile. Before I left, Tanya and I had a conversation in which I tried to explain that Russia being hard makes it interesting, and she said she really didn’t understand. Its true, though.

Back in Russia, yesterday I went to the Russian Museum with Jane and viewed some very, very good art. Russian art isn’t particularly famous, it seems, but not for any reason that I could see. If anyone’s interested, I would recommend taking a look at Serov and Koronikiev (spelling? I will check these). Or just Russian art generally.

Today I had a small adventure taking the tram. Yesterday I bought a transportation map of St. Petersburg from a woman in the metro, which are not for sale in any normal places as far as I can tell, or at least no-one I know has been able to find one. Anyway, I decided to test it out todayA few things I noted today about Russia. First, I am constantly surprised by the extremely young children taking public transportation by themselves. Today I saw a young boy who couldn’t have been more than six with a backpack approximately his size on his back traveling on the Metro. Its amazing. Also, the cold weather really does make all the public transportation essential, I’ve realized, although it ironically creates a situation in which while waiting for said transportation you get extremely cold, colder than if you just walked. But probably not as cold as you would get if you walked for a long period in negative temperatures. Finally, now that the frost has set in its possible and amusing to see what people have been doing with water, imprinted in the frost. For example, where buckets of water have been thrown from restaurants, or where bikes have left a trail. Ice generally is just fantastic.