January 27 - Helsinki Walking tour

While Paul seemed to sleep most of the night Mary woke up about 2:00 and couldn’t get back to sleep.  Looks like it’s’ going to take us a while to get on the new time zone.  We had breakfast at the breakfast buffet in the hotel…pretty routine breakfast items (they even had cheerios) plus some Finnish breakfast items like various fish and cheeses. 

Since the sun rises quite late in Finland (8:45am) our walking tour of Helsinki doesn’t start until 10:00.  The day is dreary and overcast but not too cold.  The temperatures seem to be hovering around freezing. The guide said it was unseasonably warm.

Our walk took us to a nearby square where we saw an interesting statue, the memorial to the Winter War (a 3 1/2 month war in 1939/40 between Finland and Russia).

The square was surrounded by interesting old buildings. 

Our first stop was the Old Market Hall (Vanha Kauppahalli) on the waterfront.  They were just opening up so some of the stall and shops weren’t yet open or fully set up but there was stuff to see…even a robbery.  A guy grabbed a couple of beers from one of the stalls and high tailed it out right in front of us.  The shop keeper grabbed security who went after the robber.  We didn’t see how it ended.

The picture of the reindeer head...yes, the shop was selling Rudolph steaks. 

The harbor area is relatively small but does have a lot of interesting buildings facing it, a big Ferris wheel and a masted sailing ship.

From there we took the tram to the Temppeliaukion KIrkolla (Rock Church).  This church was blasted out of solid rock and is partially underground.  The walls are rock... 

 and the roof is copper and glass. 

 The beautiful organ is of copper.

This of the domed roof from the outside.

Raila said that the interior is very dramatic when sunlight streams through the glass roof.  However, with the overcast skies we won’t get to see that.  However, the church on it’s own is very dramatic.  Apparently, the Finns didn’t particularly like it when it was first built but it has grown on them and is now one of the biggest tourist draws in the city and is the only church in town that charges an admission fee).  The church is a Lutheran Church. 

What an interesting fact we learned about Finland.  Anyone who is a member of the Lutheran church or the Finnish Orthodox church pays an income-based church tax of 1 to 2% of their income, depending on the municipality.  One doesn't have to belong to the church but if they want to be married or buried in the church and aren't a member then it costs a lot. 

A statue called "Singing Fish", with the Helsinki Central Library in the background.

We continued on Helsinki Central Library which is much more than a library.  

The second floor had meeting rooms (very large and very small), computers for use on a first come first serve basis, music studios, a set up for sewing, art rooms, printers for printing posters and 3-D printers and just about any other activity you could think of.

The spacious library on the third floor had tons of places for lounging and reading, a café...

and a children’s play area (complete with a stroller parking lot).  It was pretty amazing. 

We saw the Parliament House

and the Sanoma House that houses the major Finland newspaper,

and we saw bears on buildings.  Bears are the national animal of Finland.

There was also a massive underground Mall where we saw all types of shops and interesting eateries.

We had lunch at Restaurant Savotta.  It is billed as featuring authentic Finnish cuisine.  As vegetarians we passed on the reindeer.  But our pumpkin soup and barley risotto were very good.

A bit more walking and a stop at the department store eyeglasses department to get Paul’s glasses fixed and we were done for the day.

It was snowing again this evening when we went for dinner. 

Interesting tidbit about Finnish - The schools don't do spelling bees like we do in the US.  Seems that in Finnish there are no silent letters.  Every letter in the word is pronounce.  

More Finland tidbits (as told by our guide - some confirmed via Google checks):

There are no pronouns in Finnish for "he" and "she".  Apparently the "pronouns" are all gender neutral.

Finland has been named the happiest country on earth for the last 4 straight years (per the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network - ranking based in interviews with actual citizens and not on measurable factors like income, health or life expectancy.

It seems that Finland has this concept of "every man's land".  Every year when it is berry picking (turns out Finland has 20 types of edible berries) or mushroom picking time, anyone can go berry or mushroom picking anywhere.  

That means, if you own woodlands you can expect berry and mushroom pickers on your private land and it is allowed by law (or maybe just culture...not sure).  For purposes of berry and mushroom picking, all land, including private land, is "every man's land."

A rather interesting attitude.  Not quite our approach to the use and control of private land in the US but it actually has a very nice feel to it.  Sort of an "I own it but my neighbors are welcome to share in the bounty of my land" attitude.