It’s about 1,400 kilometers generally east from Alesund to Helsinki. We spent about 10 hours getting from the exit of Hotel Brosundet to the entrance of our Air B&B in Helsinki. Granted we lost an hour with a time change and a few more hours to waiting in airports so it wasn’t all that bad up until the end in Helsinki going the last kilometer or so. Perhaps the directions to walk here are good and perhaps we were just messed up following the walking directions from Apple Maps and perhaps there were too many cooks trying to make things work. We took a strange route to get here and that meant it took longer than it should have and caused irritation. I think it was well past 17:00 when we finally managed to open the final, of 3, doors and enter the Air B&B. The rest of that afternoon and night we spent settling in and finding the local K-Mart (not the same thing I am sure - think small neighborhood grocery/convenience store) to get some breakfast foods, pasta, and tomato sauce for dinner.
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We aren’t in love with the Air B&B except for one key feature: the location. It isn’t a bad place in most respects but it’s not the best we’ve been in either. But a lot can be forgiven if the location is good and we are pretty near many thing we want to visit. First up on that list will be walking to the Market Square which is one mile away.
Before I go any further I should note that it seems very quiet around us right now. It turns out that we have arrived in Finland during the Midsummer Holiday. This is pretty much precisely what you are likely thinking it is: a celebration around the Summer Solstice. If Finns can manage to get away and out into nature (as they put it) they do so. They also may go to live events and bonfires. Many places close for the wekend. Perhaps we will manage to go to a Midsummer event but I doubt it. We walked the quiet streets towards the Market Square. We noticed some shops, many restaurants, a few homeless peole, and probably anyone else walking was a tourist. It was a nice enough stroll with a pause at the Strindberg Cafe for a very good almond croissant and so-so coffee.
When we reached the Market Square we found more people. While I am sure most not selling food, drinks, or other stuff were tourists this open-air market is actually used by locals too and is far from a pure tourist trap. If you want to get some fresh fish, baked goods, or fruit this is certainly one place you can count on finding what you need.
We tried reindeer hot dogs and hamburger (not really different from what get back home) with fries.
After wandering the market we took a tram ride around the center of town. This just gave us, over about an hour, a circular well over 13km trip around part of the city.
An aside: with such an active Market Square you would think the city should have public toilet facilities present. Off a side street, behind an unassuming and even a bit shabby seeming door with the letters “WC” painted large upon it, was one such example. You’d have to know it was there to know it was there. Inside Dad and I found two people sitting and doing who knows what. Some sort of staff. Down a flight of steps we soon found off to the left and the right were toilet facilities for women and men. While the entrance to this space was a bit dark and unwelcoming the bathrooms were bright and clean. Perhaps they are marked on some map somewhere - that would be lovely in this age of digital maps.
Back at the Market Square, hours after we dropped our last Norwegian krona in a street musician’s bucket - and he was playing the same Russian folk song still (only thing he plays) - we began our walk back to the Air B&B. We were ready to get off our feet for a little while. After all, we had to contend with dinner still and were not really sure where we would go (settled on Vietnamese cuisine - plenty of food but not that flavorful).
Our second full day we would also spend walking part of the city. We would go to Suomenlina Fortress. This fortress sits on a collection of islands about 4km southeast of the Market Square area. It’s popular for both locals and tourists as it hosts places to stroll, picnic, eat - when restaurants and cafes are open - and of course the fortress. I am sure we just scratched the surface of what we could have learned. To reach the islands, there are I believe 8 though only 6 were fortified, we took a ferry. I haven’t been able to figure out how to buy multiple tickets for public transit on the HSL app so we have used the machines which provide instruction in English. We managed to purchased our €3 tickets (one way). It’s a quick and easy ride.
Departing the ferry we began our exploration pretty much by following the suggested route (mostly). Suffice it to say that we soon found ourselves surrounded by buildings with plenty of history starting with the a church that was built in 1854, over a century after the Swedes began construction of the sea fortress, for the Russian troops garrisoned on Suomenlina (Sweden surrendered the fort to Russia i May 1808 during the Finnish War; Russia held the fort until Finland gained independence in 1917 - though they may not have taken full control until 1920). Great chains surround part of the structure that once were used to block the harbor or so I think we read. Today the church is Lutheran instead of Russian Orthodox and the steeple has a lighthouse that signals (we did not see this) for long flashes on a regular basis (“H” in Morse code, representing Helsinki).
We continued our ramble along the rounded cobblestones. Watch your step especially if the stones get wet. We passed through a great entrance into the Great Courtyard. I tried to imagine what this place was like a couple centuries ago. Too bad it isn’t really doing any re-enacting. Perhaps if we passed by a working smithy or sailmaking shop (both do exist somewhere) it would feel different. We passed many buildings and other things, many closed, and saw mostly fellow tourists.
From a section of the high point of the island we walked by cannon emplacements where many cannon still stood. Underneath many - all? - were bunkers that I expect held gunpowder, shot, and other necessities to serve the cannon. I am guessing but it makes sense to me. As we moved around the top a light rain fell. That rain had started earlier. More than hard enough to ensure you wanted to be sheltered or at least wearing a rain jacket or using an umbrella (both). During part of this time we found our way to Cafe Piper which may be the oldest cafe on Suomenlina. Not a big selection of food. Mom and I settled for sandwhiches; Dad had a nice salmon soup. It is in a nice setting.
All told we spent a few hours strolling the area of this sea fortress. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon even if it was raining some during that time. Eventually we, along with many many others and two cars, piled into a ferry for the return ride to the Market Square dock. The distant lightning did not seem so distant when we arrived and began our mile-long walk back to the apartment. We did make a stop at Stockmann - the largest department store in the Nordic countries - along the way.
We ended our day with a final walk to dinner. The rain had cleared out treating us to lovely blue skies as we walked to Putte’s Bar and Pizza. No ill effects from this neopolitan-style pizza and far less pricey than what we had at Anno in Alesund, Norway just over a week ago.
Photos
Walking down the esplenade we are among the few probably not out in nature celebrating Midsummer. One thing we have noticed is that there are not that many trees. I am sure the city’s central park has forested areas - claims are made about it - but most streets boast planters like you see here.
—June 24, 2023 at 11:12 AM.
Do you want some whole salmon fillets? You can find this and plenty more food in Market Square booths.
—June 24, 2023 at 11:47 AM.
Vegetables of a wide variety. I feel certain that this amount of food is feeding far more than tourists strolling through.
—June 24, 2023 at 11:48 AM.
Strawberries! We bought a bunch of these to be part of our breakfast cereal.
—June 24, 2023 at 11:51 AM.
Underneath this sloping roof sits the tourist information building. Our second building we got to walk to the top of.
—June 24, 2023 at 12:04 PM.
The Suomenlina Church.
—June 25, 2023 at 12:09 PM.
Inside part of the Suomenlina Fortress.
—June 25, 2023 at 12:37 PM.
Surprisingly I do not have any photos of the cannons. Here is a view some of the men manning some of the cannons would have seen. Of course, cannons are emplaced along a much lengthier curve of the island.
—June 25, 2023 at 1:43 PM.
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