Wandering Helsinki

Serenade wasn't lucky enough to dock right next to Market Square in Helsinki so we paid €10 for a shuttle to take us into town from this commercial port area.  A fun fact about Finland to share here is that in Finnish the name of the country is Suomi.

While we waited to board the boat for our tour I wandered into the market to look at the beautiful produce they had displayed.  As you can see the berries especially caught my eye.  I ended up with a basket of blackberries and a small, sealed container of the orange berries.

These small, yellow orange berries are called cloudberries and these came from Lapland.  They are a berry that only grows in Arctic and Sub-Arctic regions of the world.  Their scarcity makes them more expensive but the girl at the produce stand assured me they were really healthy to eat.  Ever ready to try something new I bought the €3 ($3.27) container to give them a shot.  They are a bit like a raspberry with seeds like a blackberry so pretty chewy.  I found that I needed a little sugar to make them enjoyable to eat, they are fairly sour, but with a touch of sweetness they are quite tasty.  Oh, and they are supposed to have as much Vitamin C as an orange, AND smooth out my wrinkles.  I probably didn't buy enough for that latter effect!

Our boat looked just like this one, it may have been that one since I took this photo later on.  We all sat on the top to enjoy the views.  It was a little chill up there during part of the ride so I was glad I had taken my windbreaker.

We passed a ferry boat as we left the dock whose name was Serenade, and then I got a glimpse of our home sweet home through the trees a few moments later.  It was a double Serenade!

Since it was a Saturday and a relatively nice day there were a lot of sailboats and other types of watercraft out on the water.

Sorry for the lighting on these photos, with the clouds and the sun behind them it was impossible to get the color right, almost everything turned out dark.  I've tried adjusting some of the pictures but just know that the trees and scenery was much more beautiful than the pictures show.  This flat, forested country of many lakes is thought of as Nordic, along with Estonia and Iceland, rather than Scandinavian.  Helsinki was originally founded in the 16th century by the King of Sweden in an effort to create a trade rival to Tallinn, then it was annexed by Russia in 1809 and the city began to grow.

The only UNESCO site here in Helsinki is Suomenlinna, which is located in the harbor on six islands that are connected by bridges.  This 250 year old fortress was originally built by the Swedes to deter the Russians and was called Seaborg, or Castle of the Swedes.  There were five miles of walls and hundreds of cannons here when it was built making it the second strongest fort of its kind in Europe, only Gibralter was stronger at the time.  

When the country gained its independence in 1918 the site was renamed Suomenlinna, or Castle of Finland. 

It was difficult to get the real layout of the fort and see its strength from the view that we had.  The best way to do that is actually from the air.

This channel is the main one used by ferries that travel throughout the day to Tallinn, Stockholm, and other ports along the Baltic.

Many of the islands have rocky shores like this one.

They are also heavily wooded, except when you see a home nestled in here and there.

A drawbridge connects these two islands.  the tide was high enough and the bridge low enough that everyone on the top of our boat needed to be sitting down to get under it safely, we didn't have a lot of clearance above us.

More shoreline and one of the summer cottages on an island that is full of them.

It would be lovely to spend a week or two in a place like this where you could enjoy the water every day.

This was probably the fanciest "cottage" that we saw, look for the green tower peeking above the trees to the left.

Looking out at this view are multiple islands out in the distance, so many islands!

One of the swans we saw on the waterway.

This small house was really a sauna located next to the water, that way you would be able to roast yourself in the sauna then immediately cool yourself off.  LeaAnn informed me that when they were here before she was told it is pronounced "sahoonah".  Who knew?

At this cottage they not only had a boat to get around in but a seaplane as well.

Just a peaceful meadow reflecting in the water.

Lots of sailboats in this small harbor.

I think this was my favorite property that we saw, just the right size with lots of windows for great views and a nice dock with a boat.  Wonder if it's an AirBnB?

More of the shrubbery near the house, lots of wild berries grow around here and they are fair game.  Also the stone wall of another low bridge we went under.

A pretty view of some plants that could grow in the brackish water.

As we got closer to the main part of the city again we started to see more cookie cutter properties like these.

Another swan with her four cygnets.

A little art under one of the bridges.

City beaches are small and sparse, however they can be crowded on summer days.  We were a little early for there to be a lot of people, 

but there were some swimmers in the chill water at 11:30 a.m.

We passed a group of moored fishing boats, and a few of the city's more modern looking buildings as well.

The island pictured here is a favorite of various national embassies.

On another beach I had to wonder if the small structures were saunas that the locals would enjoy and them cool off in the waters at the beach.  There were several beaches with cabanas like these.

Modern Helsinki on the left and the older city on the right.

These ships are some of the most important in the city, the ice breakers.  Karl learned that the reason the sea freezes here in the Baltic is because so many fresh water rivers flow into it that there isn't enough salt to keep it from freezing.  In the winter these ships are essential for keeping the shipping lanes running, the engines push their massive hulls up onto ice that can be more than 40" thick, slamming the bows down to smash the ice and clear a passage through it.

It's easy to recognize the Empire-style structures of the center of Helsinki, with the cathedral in the background.  

The SkyWheel Helsinki, provides a unique kind of view of the city.  Two of the cars on it are different from all the others, one is for VIPs and the other is a sauna that you can bask in as you ride.  My question is, why would you want to?

When we got back to land I split off from Karl, Sally and Holly, who wanted to enjoy taking the HOHO around the city, and opted to wander a bit with LeaAnn and Chuck.  We hadn't taken a selfie of the two of us in a while.  You may or may not notice that I just can't get away from those 360 camera sticks!

The Upenski Cathedral is the main church of the Orthodox Parish of Helsinki.  It is also the seat of the Archbishop of Helsinki in the Finnish Orthodox Church.  Notice that the cross adorning this cathedral is more like what we're used to seeing, with the addition of the crescent at the bottom, that Noah symbol of hope.  The onion shape of the domes symbolize candles, with the gold stands for "the luminosity of Christ and the other-worldliness that is associated with the saints".

The cathedral was completed in 1868 and is dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God, which means it is the dedicated to the "falling asleep" or death of Mary.  That term, dormition, implies that she died peacefully, or in a state of spiritual peace.  Every year there is a celebration of her dormition on August 15.

We climbed the stairs to enter the cathedral and my eyes immediately went up to the dome inside.  Simple, but lovely.

While the altar area was well decorated it didn't feel ostentatious.

Off to each side of the altar the walls were a subdued color.

The Nativity painting on the left was markedly different than any other I'd seen recently, as was this portrayal of the crucifixion.  I liked them both. 

Candles can be left on this altar or taken to others, like the one pictured on the right.  The cabinet on the right was full of rings and other jewelry offered/sacrificed in return for blessings.

No idea how old this hanging was but it looked pretty ancient.

 I also liked this painting of the resurrected Jesus.

And here we found a much more traditional painting of the Last Supper.

Outside again I noticed that atop one of the towers in the distance was a weathervane that dated the structure to the year 1885.  The street the building is on is pictured on the right.

We then walked over to Senate Square which is dominated by the Helsinki Cathedral. This 19th century cathedral is  one of the most recognized parts of the city’s skyline with its five green domes that are dotted with golden stars.  Unfortunately for us we were unable to see the largest of the domes due to repairs going on.  

This Evangelical Lutheran church was built as a tribute to Czar Nicholas I and is the masterpiece Karl Ludvig Engel who drew up the plans for the city. When Helsinki was originally designed by German architect Engel, he was tasked to use St. Petersburg as a model, hence the reason that the older parts of the city feel Russian.  Fun fact, it’s also the reason that “Gorky Park” and “Dr. Zhivago” were both filmed here rather than their actual mother country during the Cold War.

Sometimes there is a back story for photos and this one had one.  There was a long line to take a photo in front of the sign, one group of three had to take about 57 versions of photos of themselves in front of it so I just snagged a quick picture as they moved around and then cropped out the tops of their heads.  They were a bit frustrating to watch.

A little later the line had gone down but we still didn't want to stand in it so LeaAnn said she'd take a photo of me in front of it.  The only problem was my hat string and my camera lanyard were all tangled up with one another and I couldn't get my face uncovered quickly without choking myself.  She took this photo of me struggling and it crack s me up!

Eventually we got the picture I wanted. 🤣

You knew there had to be at least one picture of flowers!

The statue that stands in Senate Square is Grand Duke of Finland Alexander II, who also happened to be Czar of Russian and King of Poland until he was assassinated in 1881.  Before his death he initiated several reforms to increase Finland's autonomy within the Russian Empire, pretty much encouraging Finnish nationalism.  He was also the Czar who freed the serfs in Russia. 

One of the interesting ways to travel in Helsinki was the tram.  We didn't use it but they ran throughout the city via electric wires overhead.

After doing a little shopping along Market Square we decided it was time to get something to eat.  Chuck and I opted for .....

no need to guess, yes, we ate Reindeer Hot Dogs, with mustard, cucumber relish, and crispy fried onions.  It was all quite delicious and I really couldn't tell any difference between the reindeer dog and a regular one.

After lunch it was back to the ship to edit photos and start writing this blog post after a very enjoyable day in Helsinki.  One last photo here as we were sailing away with a view of more of the archipelago's islands.