Finland - Sizzling in the Sauna

July 13

Hello everyone!

My final stop on my continental European holiday. The finish. The Finnish, you could say…

The Three Smiths statue in Helsinki

In front of Helsinki Cathedral

Finland. Not a part of Scandinavia - as I explained when I went to Denmark in 2024, that term is reserved for Denmark and the two nations on the Scandinavia peninsula. Even though it borders it, Finland doesn’t belong. 

The language family is different - Finnish is linked with
Estonian and Hungarian, not other Nordic languages

They eat reindeer here. They do have a lot of them.
This was a reindeer hot dog that originally I had sent
back because the actual sausage was so small.

It used to, back in the day, which partly explains why I found Helsinki city centre a bit strange. A bit different from the three Baltic capitals, even though Tallinn is only a short ferry hop away. Much of Finland used to be part of the Swedish Empire. For almost 500 years, in fact. During that time, Helsinki wasn’t important in comparison to other places within modern Finland’s borders.

An insurance company that seems to remind you to
protect yourself against bears...and gnomes...

Moomins are from Finland

The result of that is that Helsinki never developed the cute ‘Old Town’ that has characterised the other four capital cities I have visited this month. Instead, it takes some influence from another country…to the east…

National Memorial to the Winter War, when the Finns fought
back against the Soviets in 1939 and 1940

The striking Lantern Bearers at Helsinki
Central train station were built in 1914

Finland shares quite a long border with Russia. The Russian Empire for just over 100 years, taking over from Sweden in 1809 until the declaration of Finnish independence in December 1917. Admittedly, it doesn’t look Soviet Russian. It does look a bit like St. Petersburg, however, and that city (a 3.5 hour train ride away before Russia invaded Ukraine) was the capital of Imperial Russia throughout this time.

An Art Nouveau building in Helsinki

The Helsinki Winter Garden, which opened in 1893

I arrived into Helsinki on a boat from Tallinn. I was not expecting the boat to be as massive as it was. Once I saw it, I certainly didn’t expect it to be as full as it was. I have read since that going to Tallinn from Helsinki is a popular day trip.

Viking Line's Gabriella

It was a warm day but the wind meant I needed a jacket!

When you are arriving on the boat, you firstly pass a fascinating-looking island called Suomenlinna (it’s in the next blog). The city skyline soon comes into focus, and is headlined by two large religious buildings. The rest of the skyline is actually quite low.

Suomenlinna is a bastion fortress just off Helsinki

The skyline as you approach the city from Tallinn

Neither is actually Russian Orthodox. The one that seems likely to be that is actually ‘Eastern Orthodox’, which the internet tells me is not Russian Orthodox. It was built with about 700,000 bricks that were brought over a fortress on an island called Aland that had been demolished in the Crimean War.

The largest Orthodox temple in Northern and Western Europe

The grounds are currently being renovated

The other is Lutheran, and dominates the square below. Helsinki Cathedral is a symbol of the city and the country. 63 metres tall, topped with a large green dome, it is a striking sight from all angles. I was told that it looks better on the outside than the inside. With there being a €10 fee for entering, I stuck to admiring it from outside.

The building is over 60 metres tall, and can seat 1,300 people

Though I didn't enter, over a half a million people do each year

Another symbol of the country is the sauna, the room in which you sweat by sitting naked in a hot room whilst throwing water on scorching stones to steam it up. Apparently the country of 5.6 million people has over 3 million saunas. Even my hostel had one, which was free to use in the mornings. Partly due to time constraints, and partly due to the intensity of the steam, I lasted about 15 minutes. 

The rules suggested that Finns will drink beer in the sauna

A photo of what the inside often looks like

This public sauna requires bathing suits to be worn

The picture above is a public sauna and swimming area, entry to which costs €23. It is one of many examples of Helsinki being a surprisingly expensive city. It felt like London or Paris prices at times.

Coffee and a donut - special deal, but still over €6

Happy Hour beer in town. 400ml. Discounted to...€8...

The cost played into me finding more free things in Finland’s capital. One was entering the National Library of Finland, which has a stunning first room. Its main function is to preserve anything made in Finland.

The library was built after a fire destroyed an equivalent
institution in the old capital of Turku in 1827

The walls and cupola are stunning

There’s another library in Helsinki, much more modern and a fascinating insight into local life here. The Helsinki Central Library contains three floors, with only one of them being dedicated to books. It has just about every social activity you can think of: multiple chess tables on the ground floor; pods to do Zoom calls, 3D printers and other makerspaces on the middle floor; and the books, newspapers and a variety of seating options on the top floor, including on its wooden roof. Spectacular building from both outside and inside.

The exterior of the library is striking

3D printer for all to use

I was told that Finland isn’t a particularly religious country. Helsinki does have some interesting places of worship beyond the two massive cathedrals, however. One is found in Kamppi, a central shopping and entertainment square. That random shape below with the wooden exterior is actually a chapel. Nearby there is a church which is rock hewn, meaning it is carved out of the rock and is found underground. When I went, it was shut.

Entrance is through the small building on the right

Temppeliaukio - rolls off the tongue...

Partly this is because I was struggling a bit with timekeeping whilst in Helsinki. The city is quite far north, its latitude equivalent to the Shetland Islands above Scotland in the UK, meaning that the summer nights are long. I went to bed each night with it being light outside - chances are it never actually got dark. Winter must be tough here, even in the country that calls itself the “happiest country in the world”.

This was taken at about 10pm

The UN's World Happiness Report has had Finland top for nine
consecutive years. The UK is 29th and El Salvador is 37th.

I was happy enough in Helsinki, though as you’ll see from the next blog, preferred spending my time outside of its centre. It took me by surprise, from its prices to its pristine parks a little bit to the north. Maybe if I return I’d spend more time in the sauna!

Helsinki hosted the 1952 Summer Olympics. Paavo Nurmi, a
distance runner in the 1920s, is arguably their most famous athlete.

Catching a small music festival in the Esplanade Park in town

Very big Cathedral!

Love you all,

Matt

Estonia - Tallinn Knights

 July 10-11

Hello everyone!

Another bus ride has taken me from the most populated Baltic capital to the smallest. One whose name translates to ‘Danish Town’...

Old Thomas, the guardian of the city also
known as the Silicon Valley of Europe

Throughout history, it's also been called Reval,
which links to a man killing a deer and then
feeling sad. Should've called it Bambi...

More a Norwegian town when I went to watch
the FIFA men's World Cup quarter-final here...

I wouldn’t suggest to an Estonian that they are Danish. But it is a nod to the smallest Baltic country’s history that they have been externally influenced over the centuries. A big influence, which I feel differs from Riga and Vilnius, is that Tallinn is a truly coastal city.

Beach on the eastern side of Tallinn

A lovely skyline sunset - this was after 10pm

Tallinn is the red dot, Parnu is the blue dot

It may be small, but Estonia does have the longest coastline of the three Baltic nations. All of them sit on the Baltic Sea, a key feature which has forged alliances, forced wars and developed trade and identity in the region. I had my first proper view of this when we made a brief stop at the beach town of Pӓrnu.

The main street of Pӓrnu

The Baltic Sea has only existed for around
8000 years, making it a very young sea!

The sea here was less a sea, and more a lake. Technically it is the Gulf of Riga, and it had very little ripple in its shallow waters. On possibly the first truly warm day I’ve had in the Baltics, it was nice to dip my feet in. No time for any more to be submerged, so I can’t see how truly ‘Baltic’ the water was!

The water has a very low salt percentage, so
freshwater fish from rivers dip in and out of it

I imagine this is very busy on weekends

Pӓrnu itself is an interesting place, a mixture of beaches, little elephants and impressive churches. The Russian Orthodox church is particularly grand, and feeds into my instinct that there is a bit more of a Russian influence here. I’ve certainly heard more Russian than I did in Lithuania, for example.

The elephants are a city symbol, emanating from Estonia's first independence
when there were 2 wooden elephant structures in the sea at Pӓrnu

A Russian Orthodox church in Pӓrnu

Like the other two Baltic States, Estonia was part of the Russian Empire in the 19th century, and was a Soviet state for 46 years of the 20th century. I found it interesting to learn at the Estonian History Museum that many Estonians fought with the Germans against the Soviets during WW2.

Russian sub-machine guns used in WW2

Like the other Baltic countries, there is a strong
pro-Ukraine and anti-Russian feeling here

During the Cold War, Estonia was part of the USSR. Relics remain: one that I did not know was that Tallinn hosted part of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, as this was where the sailing events happened. The legacy lives in some respects, but not others, like the abandoned ziggurat complex.

Linnahall was originally called the "V. I. Lenin Palace of
Culture and Sport". Because, you know, Soviet...

There were many people sailing when I walked along the coast

Not that you could invoke the Olympic spirit and fully forget where you were during that regatta. On the edge of the water lies a fortress called Patarei, built by Nicholas I and then used as a Soviet prison. It’s currently closed as they prepare to reopen it to the public - not that there was a lack of people in the area, as a maritime festival was being held. They like a festival in Tallinn.

Patarei Fortress was built in the early 19th century

A kebab stall in front of a large ship. Standard weekend in Tallinn?

What I found interesting about Tallinn is that, rather than focusing on this era of history like Latvia, Lithuania and Poland do, Estonia’s capital commemorates its earlier history. It really leans into the medieval period.

The city walls

Part of the Dominican friar building

There is a folk festival of sorts here this weekend, which obviously amplifies the effect. But seeing many people dressed in Middle Ages gear as they walk through narrow alleys near domineering castle walls helps to add to the medieval vibe.

Not the only costumes I saw on the weekend

Town Hall Square

Though a 17th century fire damaged many buildings in the Old Town, the UNESCO protected area of the city houses many elements from a previous era. Its town hall, looming high above the square, dates from 1402. Heading up the narrow spiralling tower, you can imagine the power felt by the bell ringer as they lay eyes upon the settlement far below.

These stalls were part of the medieval weekend festival 

The view from the Town Hall tower

A nearby pharmacy lays claim to be the oldest continually functioning pharmacy in Europe, having started selling ‘medicine’ in 1422. Whether you see things such as novacaine and arsenic as treating or exacerbating an ailment is up to you.

It actually was on its third owner by 1422,
so must have been open before that

It made me thankful for advances in modern medicine

Near that pharmacy are some narrow alleys that again evoke images of a medieval era. St Catherine’s Passage is a great example of this. The monk statues found elsewhere in the city, in the Danish King’s Garden, could also bring that feeling. There is a ghost story connected with them - if you’ve read the previous blogs, you’ll know that Baltic countries love a legend or ghost story. 

This area was in a state of disrepair until independence in 1991

Murdered monk?

Another medieval story passed down through time is linked to two passageways, which are dubbed ‘Long Leg’ and ‘Short Leg’. The gates within separated the upper town (aristocrats) and lower town (the rest). Love story between a man from high and a woman from low, man being told not to marry by family, woman gets sad and cries at the sea - usual stuff. Less usual is that the woman was referred to as Fat Margaret, and has a tower named after her.

The gate in question is now a popular photo spot

Tallinn: city of love?

There are also tales about a water well (in which locals sacrificed animals such as sheep and cats to ward off evil spirits - good thing they were drinking beer rather than water) and a nearby building which now has an artificial window. Once upon a time, the owner of this house was short of money, so rented a room to a stranger with a black cloak. During the night, he peeked through the keyhole as there was a lot of commotion. What he saw was a wedding…with the groom having devil horns…

Tallinn's Cat's Well

The artificial window is in the top left of this picture

All of these strange and spooky stories took place within the walls of the city, which were recognised as one of the strongest defensive structures in Europe in the Middle Ages. Towers rising even higher from it, such as the Hellemann Tower, would have been very imposing for any visitor or prospective invader.

Long Leg street - not the high walls either side 

There are 26 defensive towers in total

Tallinn is much more welcoming now. It has redefined itself as a tech hub - Skype and Bolt were created here. Based on the amount of support for Norway at a large screening of their World Cup match with England, it seems that Estonians are getting on well with all but one of their neighbours. Not that anyone seemed anti-English - it was a very friendly atmosphere.

Modern buildings like this are numerous outside the centre

At one point a man tried to initiate the 'Norway Row' by banging on
the metal fence. He banged with a glass bottle. The row didn't last long...

It also has lovely areas outside of the Old Town, particularly to the east. It was in this area that I was able to run right in from of the Estonian President’s residence, find a beautiful palace called Kadriorg complete with stunning garden, stop at a house belonging to Peter the Great, circle possibly one of the world’s smaller Japanese gardens, find a monument to a sunken Russian warship, and the beach. As it was a sunny afternoon, this green and fresh area of town was pretty popular. 

Kadriorg Palace was commissioned by Peter the Great for his wife  

Not much Japanese about this garden, I feel...

The "Russalka" memorial for the eponymous ship that sank in 1893

I enjoyed my time in Tallinn, and it is different to the other cities that I have visited on this trip. Maybe it’s the Baltic Sea air, maybe it’s the focus on all things medieval rather than 20th century brutality and repression. Maybe it’s writing this after returning to my hotel at almost 3am with the city never having truly gotten dark…

Standing in the Baltic! Well, kind of...

Tallinn: touristy but cute

Kadriorg Palace gardens

View of Old Town from the Town Hall tower

Love you all,

Matt