Helsinki, Finland
I went to Helsinki with very high expectations and a very good attitude. I have long known an artist in my home town that originally comes from Helsinki and she is one of the nicest people I know. She has been a rather good ambassador for her city for a very long time. She told me to expect a beautiful city and such is what I found. My first impression was formed when the bus driver refused my $14 for the fare into town. This must be a very generous place. A later ride on the bus system and the electric trolleys yields the same response from the drivers.
Like all of the Baltic capitals, Helsinki is ensconced on a complex shoreline and an archipelago of nicely forested islands. A ninety minute boat ride around the water fronts provided a fine overview of the spatial arrangements of the city. There are many pristine islands with enclaves of houses and structures of historical interest. There is a strong ethic of environmental preservation and conservation of green space. Helsinki has many spacious parks and greenways evident from the water.
A highly developed marine infrastructure includes everything from large cruise ships to multi-day ferries to private yachts to pedestrian ferries and cruise boats like the one I am on. This one is most pleasing, having a large saloon with restaurant and bar in a warm mahogany interior with draperies at the windows. This proved especially meaningful when I got caught topside in a very cold sudden rain. The commentator who described the sights was by far the best commentator I have heard in any context whatever. Usually, I pay no attention to these and focus on photo-imaging only. I managed both this time.
Unique here in Finland is a substantial fleet of most impressive ice breakers. For four or five months a year they sit idle. When the unimaginably long cold winter sets in and all the water ways freeze solids these boats function to keep the waterways open and to allow the city to function during the long polar night.
Like many European capitals, this one has large districts where pedestrians have the upper hand and vehicles have to give sway. Walking in Helsinki is a delight, as it is nearly everywhere in Europe. A long wandering all the way across the town center landed me in a bucolic university botanical garden featuring a nice series of Victorian glass houses with colorful gardens planted around the outer walls. Before one of these a fine reflecting pool contains lilies in the peak of their blooming cycle. A rather attractive young and demure Finnish woman was captivated by the brilliant flowers and collecting them in her camera as I was doing. Her smiles were captivating. I wondered why it is that some of the most intriguing people pass our life orbits only tangentially, never to be seen again - one of the more haunting aspects of long distance travel.
The influence of Russian orthodox experience is very evident here, primarily in the form of the great Uspensky Orthodox Cathedral on its commanding perch above the market square, Kanava Terminals, and marinas. This splendid church is a repository from grand iconic art and the structure itself is a fine example of ornamental brick work. I happened into the sanctuary for a Sunday morning service and would have stayed, excepting that the three women I was chumming with for the morning were not interested in going into the church. I ended up striking out solo for the remainder of the day and went back to the church at leisure later in the day.
The large expansive Senate Square is enclosed on three sides by interesting multi-colored facades in the ‘usual’ ornamental neo-classical design that make photography so very easy. The fourth, northern side, is unusual in that it consists of a steep set of some 40 granite steps that run the entire length of the square, forming a wall-like sense of enclosure. On top of what feels nearly like a Mayan plinth is the vast domed edifice that constitutes the Lutheran Church. There could not be many more commanding contexts for a great church over its city.
It is abundantly clear that Helsinki is a prosperous, clean, well organized city with abundant opportunities for its communitarian minded populace. I could only wish that I could get a one way ticket there and discover the magic to be found in this northern oasis of civility. I can hardly wait to see my artist friend and give her my assessment of her hometown.
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