Baltics Part 1: Helsinki and Suomenlinna
I had never even thought that I would ever go to Finland in this lifetime. But I did!
However, my trip to Finland kind of felt like a fever dream, and that was mostly my fault :)
We flew to Helsinki on December 24th, which turned out to be a bad idea because literally 98% of everything was closed (yes, I'm talking about the big mall and shops).
We went to the city center area, which was around Kamppi, which we thought would be the center of Helsinki's hustle and bustle, only to find everything was closed and we ended up having dinner in a middle eastern fast food chain.
That was 100% sad, not because of the food, but because... what was that supposed to mean, eating a middle eastern fast food in Helsinky city center? lol
Everyone was enjoying the peaceful Christmas eve, I assumed. And we were in a Scandinavian country, so of course no one should be working on Christmas eve, right?
 |
Fun fact, the most popular show that night was a fireplace recording.
Coming from Indonesia, that was pretty strange for me. I thought to myself, maybe that's what happens when you live in a prosper, cold nation. You watch fireplace recording on Christmas eve.
---
On December 25th, we left our place at around 10AM (sunrise time).
We went to Helsinki's landmarks: Helsinki Cathedral, Senate Square, and we just walked around that area up to Uspenski Cathedral.
I did not get into the cathedral, but there was a Christmas service going on inside.
It was very peaceful, I barely heard any sound outside, and it was in the city center. Hence my fever dream imagery. Especially because it was cold and cloudy. Everything looked like when you edit a picture and you lower the temp, it had a bluish tone.
Only that it's real, unfiltered sights from your bare eyes.
However, we went to the Market Square to then get to Suomenlinna, a sea fortress accessible by ferry from Helsinki. That's probably the highlight of our trip to Finland.
We got a 24-hour public transportation pass in Helsinki from the airport train station. We got the 24-hour pass which covers area A-C range. And that includes the ferry ride to Suomenlinna.
It was really exciting for me to go across a frozen water. Well I come from a tropical country.
The Suomenlinna Sveabord is supposed to be a popular destination during summer, since it's basically a sea fortress. However, coming there during snowy christmas really felt magical.
Everything was also closed that day, they have several cafes and all but that added to the magic of it.
It was very tranquil, very serene, and very cold. Everything was covered in snow and ice. It was magic. I felt like the view was filtered with a blue tone.
We went around for about 2 hours. We took pics and everywhere was slippery. But it felt like a dream.
Luckily, after lunch time some food and souvenirs stalls began to appear in the Market Square area.
Then, the feeling of being a tourist started to kick in (which was amazing btw).We went back to the market square, and we ate a Finnish dish: salmon soup with Scandinavian specialty: rye bread.
What added to my clumsiness during this trip is the fact that I was not aware that the sun set at around 3 PM.
Helsinki only got around 5 hours of sun (which was also cloudy by the way), and I was just exhausted fighting the cold, keeping my balance on the slippery surface everywhere, not to say the multi layers of clothes and the heavy coat that I was wearing. They did wear me out. So we went home before sunset and we just spent our afternoon watching Netflix and cooking dinner.
I swear, with the sunset timing and all, I got sleepy real fast too.
Tbh, I know how the Finnish love a good sauna. They even have ferris wheel with sauna too! I understand why. It must've felt really comfy.
We went to Tallinn, Estonia the next day, and I will tell you in the next post!
PS: We were actually hoping to visit Lapland but it was not affordable for us then lol. Hopefully, finger crossed, I hope one day I can have the proper Finnish holiday!
Comments
Post a Comment