This morning, I woke up to the sounds of jackhammers outside the hostel window, which is always fun when you’re a bit hung over. Ah well, nothing some coffee couldn’t fix. We went to the deli around the corner for some brunch, and I had what they referred to as a salmon bagel, which was actually smoked salmon with tomatoes and cream cheese on a black bread type baguette. Pretty close to a Montreal breakfast, actually, except for the bagel part.
We stopped off at an R-kioski, which is the ubiquitous dep/7-11 type shop in this part of the world, for some 24-hour transit passes, and then made our way up to the Esplanade and Market Square. The market is filled with all the usual sorts of stalls selling all the usual sorts of silly souvenirs. Oh yes, and a really odd statue of what I can only describe as a misshapen adult peeing fetus. We learned later that the statue isn’t permanently on display; it appears to be there to promote a gallery exhibit full of similar weird sculptures. Anyway, we meandered and souvenir-shopped for a while, and then headed over to the ferry terminal for the short ride over to Suomenlinna.
A set of islands in the harbour of Helsinki, Suomenlinna is a UNESCO heritage site filled with old fortresses, walking paths, a beach, and even an old submarine converted into a museum. We spent most of the afternoon there, eating ice cream, walking around and exploring cool castle walls with grass on top (or, as Cat calls them, furry castles) and old bastions and cannons and such. We stopped off at the swimming area of the beach for a dip. And we did a LOT of walking. All of us had sore feet by the end of the day. But it was sunny and gorgeous out, and and we had a really nice time.
For dinner, we met up with Suzie, a friend of Alex’s from England who’s been living and working in Helsinki for a few months now. It was nice to have a quasi-local showing us around. Suzie took us to an awesome traditional Finnish restaurant for ruoka — which, after much googling, we discovered simply means “food”. There was reindeer on the menu, of course, as well as smoked fish and other Finnish delicacies. So far I’ve decided that the people in Finland are all out of this world friendly and helpful, but their taste in food here definitely borders on the weird. For example, lots of food and alcohol is flavoured with salt licorice and Fisherman’s Friend, which they seem to see as a delicacy. Another common dessert flavour is tar. Yes, really. We sampled a tar custard dessert that tasted sort of like a cross between creme brulee and cigarettes. I’m told it’s an acquired taste.
After dinner, we went to the Hotel Torni, where the rooftop bar on the twelfth floor offers amazing 360-degree views of the entire city. Even the bathrooms had great views. After a drink there, Suzie sadly had to leave, but the three of us headed over to a nearby brew pub for the best beers we’ve had since arriving in Finland. They have outdoor terrasses as well (and they pronounce terrasse like we do in Montreal, the French way) but there must be a city bylaw or something because they all seem to close early and make everyone come indoors. So rather than sit inside where it was hot and sticky, we headed back to the hostel after stopping off for some late-night kebabs.
Another great day in Helsinki. This city is great. Funnily enough, the locals all seem surprised when you compliment their city, as if they’re mystified that you’d want to come here or that you enjoy it once you’re here. I don’t know what gives them that idea, because Helsinki is a really cool place. I’m really having a blast here in Finland. I may not leave.