I'm in Helsinki, Finland's cool capital with two days to explore
and drink plenty of coffee, and it's January so believe me it's very cool!
Helsinki lies on a series of peninsulas and islands that face the Baltic and as
you approach from the sea you're welcomed by the twin cathedrals the orthodox uspensky cathedral
and the lutheran cathedral of helsinki. But why does this nordic capital have two cathedrals that
look like they've been transplanted from Saint Petersburg? Time for a 30-second history lesson.
Finland is actually a relatively young country, it's only been independent since 1917. Before
that, as the grand duchy of Finland it was part of the Russian empire for over a hundred years
and before that it was ruled by Sweden.
I
really enjoyed that the Ateneum. It's a must-see
if you're here, it's a showcase of all of the most important artists that Finland
has produced and there was one tiny self-portrait in there that absolutely blew me away!
Oh yes and it's got a really good cafe as well.
Quite possibly my favourite railway station in the whole world.
I first came to Helsinki in 1991 inter- railing and it was the furthest I'd ever been at the time.
I can remember looking up at those four guardians and thinking wow i'm a long way from home.
Time for some hardcore coffee
I can't fault that.
Helsinki has three must-see churches, the two russian-looking cathedrals and a church that looks
like, well a rock, in fact you'd be forgiven walking straight past it - it's down there.
I'd love to hear the full sound of the organ, apparently the acoustics are spectacular.
Now it's time for some music appreciation. No not my usual alternative noise, I'm talking classical.
Despite growing up speaking Swedish, changing his name to Jean and composing during the time
of Russian rule, Sibelius is Finland's national composer bar none. His music is now synonymous
with Finnish identity. I love this sculpture. I like to imagine that it's drawing the energy from
the cold Finnish rock and then the tubes blow into the breeze Finlandia or the Karelia suite.
I've read that when you trek out to the Sibelius monument and it's cold
the place to get a hot drink is a little cafe on the water called Regatta.
It's very cozy in here and it smells of Christmas!
Well the cinnamon buns were fresh out of the oven and everybody was having them so
what was I going to do?
Also good to know they had an enormous amount of gluten-free and vegan treats in there.
If an alien from outer space suddenly landed in Helsinki then it would probably think that the
woods and forests of Finland were populated by these funny little creatures. They are of course
Moomins and you'll see them absolutely everywhere. The Moomins are troll-like creatures, playful and
living in harmony with nature. The stories were created during the forties and fifties by Tove
Jannson and although around the world that's how she's now known she was in fact a prolific artist.
Her large playful and evocative frescoes can be seen in the Helsinki art museum.
All of the art in the Helsinki art museum belongs to the city itself and it's housed
in a spectacular building called the tennis palace built in the 1930s for, you've guessed it, tennis.
I've just got time to dive into the national museum but first what a building!
Well I learned an awful lot from that. I think we all think of Finland as being a very modern
tolerant and prosperous country but what's clear is that there's been a lot more to it
than that. It's been very very turbulent, not only in the times before independence,
but even afterwards and far more recently in the 60s and 70s - mass immigration to
Sweden because of unemployment and then further unemployment in a huge recession of the early 90s.
There was also a really harrowing and moving account of the history of a group of ethnic
finns called the Ingrians who used to live in the region around present day St Petersburg and
particularly during the 1950s purges of the Soviet Union they were exiled to the farthest reaches of
Siberia and to some terrible terrible conditions and much of their culture has simply vanished.
But then as light relief Finland style there were also Moomins and sauna ladles.
Now after a long day I have a craving for curry so I'll see you tomorrow.
This morning I'm taking the ferry across the harbour to the sea fortress known as
Suomenlinna. I don't think i'll be getting a suntan on deck though.
Only 10 minutes later and we're here already and it's bitterly cold.
The sea fortress was built by the Swedes and it was originally called Sveaborg.
They built it to try and fend off the Russian empire but in the end they had to surrender it.
Then under Russian rule it came under a heavy attack during the Crimean war by
English and French forces. After Finnish independence it was renamed Suomen linna,
and it's not a museum island - around 800 people actually live here and there's a waiting list.
It gets very busy in the summer but I think today it's going to be fairly exclusive. Well
if anyone does live here they're staying inside today and who can blame them.
The icy wind just blasts in from the Baltic and comes through these tunnels and freezes
you to the bone. I can't imagine what it must have been like if you were
garrisoned here during the 18th and 19th centuries. I'm at the fortress at
the southern tip of the island and this is where you'll find all the heavy artillery.
This is the king's gate so named because it's where the king of Sweden
came ashore in 1752 to inspect the fortress.
Whether he chose to come in the summer or
the winter I don't know - I'd recommend the summer though.
time to go
Swimming in this weather?! I think I'd rather go for coffee.
If you're a fan of art nouveau then you simply won't be able to put your
camera away because you'll be snapping every doorway every turret every wind.
There are so many little features to see as you walk down almost every street.
You'll see Karl Fazer's chocolate everywhere you go in Helsinki but this is the original cafe
with this fantastic art deco facade. Let's take a look.
I think i'm going to enjoy this.
This salted caramel cake is, well what can I say, it's to die for !
I'd read that you shouldn't gossip in the back of the cafe because the acoustics of the ceiling
meant that everyone could hear what you were saying. Now I thought that was probably
really exaggerated but it's completely true.
As soon as I sat down it felt like there was a loud speaker above my head pumping out a
German conversation and I looked around and saw that it was a couple way over in the corner.
So what's great about Helsinki? Well I love its architecture, I love the spaciousness,
I love its trams and the fact that it's got both Scandinavia
and Russia in its DNA. There's a great positive vibe. It's just a really cool capital!