St. Petersburg to Göteborg: Helsinki

We've had a fabulous time in Helsinki. There's lots to see and do and we've been run off our feet trying to get through a formidable list of must-see attractions. The Finns are especially big on architecture and design and, admittedly, they have had some pretty big names in both fields during the last century. In both disciplines the Finns were largely responsible for what is known elsewhere as "modernism". They merely regard their approach as "functionalism". The name Jugendstil means young-style and was supposed to distinguish from more classic German architecture. Lots of columns and bay windows but with older style cone-topped towers. Nothing fancy. Just designs that are simple to draw and build and work. The functionalism was necessary to address social issues like the lack of post-war housing. Interestingly every building we have been into proudly displays the name of the architect responsible for it's design. Contrast that with the elaborate buildings we've seen in Russia from the Tsarist era.

A quick recap of museums visited, bearing in mind we had paid for the Helsinki card which gave us free access to the all and, let's be truthful here, we wanted to get our money's worth - and then some. As you do! So there were the Museums of Art, Photography, Natural History, Design, Architecture, Theatre and Hospitality as well as the Suomenlinna Museum. Phew!

Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) style guardians at the entrance to Central Railway Station.

The Snifforama. Push the button, smell the aroma and try to guess what it is. One of the unusual exhibits at the even more unusual Museum of Hospitality.

Perhaps the most highly recommended (by locals) site is Suomenlinna - an island fortress constructed during the time when Finland was an outpost of Sweden. King Fred called it Sveaborg but the Finns apparently had trouble with the pronunciation, hence the name change to the far easier Suomenlinna. . It was built to guard the eastern perimeter of the then large Swedish empire against the Russians during their war of 1788 (while Arthur Phillip was plnking the British flag at Sydney Cove). The Swedes regarded it as the "great northern Gibraltar" but in 1808, those pesky Russians managed to wrest control of it with hardly a cross word. They then turned things around and made it into the guardian of Russia's western extremity. The Russians were then ruthlessly bombarded by the combined Anglo-French fleet during the Crimean war circa 1855. Anyway it's now an UNESCO World Heritage site with and only a 15 minute ferry ride from downtown Helsinki to get there.

Lovely old wooden buildings. Well old style actually as all but one were destroyed during the Crimean war.

Looking back from Suomenlinna toward Helsinki. This is a rough as we've seen the Baltic

Whoa, is that the Costa Concordia?

This fellow was responsible for building the fortress for the King Fred 1 of Sweden. His name was Augustin Ehrensvard.

Real cannon. Unfortunately they were duds. Couldn't shoot far enough.

Thru' every season, tern, tern tern... Typical Nordic coastal scenery - small granite outcrops with quaint little red buildings.

And so we come to the end of our time in Helsinki. Thought we would duck down town the tram while our cards were still valid but a comedy of errors saw us going the wrong direction firstly on the tram and then again on the Metro. Luckily it's a small place and we were able to walk to Ekberg's coffee shop for a treat before we leave.