Finland
After a restful couple of weeks in Amsterdam, we hopped on a flight over to Finland. Having taken nothing but buses for the past two months, it was a pleasant change to travel one thousand miles over just a couple of hours (and with no cigarette breaks).
Finland wasn’t originally high on the must-see list of the year-long world trip. But at the invitation of our friend, Max, we couldn’t resist. We’re thrilled to have visited and after getting a brief sense of the place, only wish we could have stayed longer!
Helsinki, Finland is the new home of Max Stobbe, my (Chris’) old roommate from Oakland, CA. Max is German and has lived/worked in many cities in Germany, Spain, Canada, Switzerland, and now Finland. The origin of our friendship is on the unconventional side. In 2016, after graduating from PT school in Denver and moving to California for an orthopedic residency program, I needed housing and turned to Craigslist. I responded to several ads (including Max’) in the process. He was scheming to convert the living room of his place into a third bedroom to save on rent (average rent in the Bay Area is over $3000 for a 1 bedroom apartment). I ultimately settled for another place. I emailed Max to let him know, and his response was to ask me if I wanted to go for a few beers anyhow. We met up for beers and ramen (Marlene reminding me that meeting up with someone on Craigslist for beers and ramen is a great way to get murdered) and hit it off. I bailed on my other spot, we converted the living room for cheap(er) rent, and have been good friends ever since. Max was just in San Francisco at our wedding!
To note, this post was also a Chris and Marlene colab.
Day 1
After the packed narrow streets and canals of Amsterdam, Helsinki felt large and spacious, with wide streets, impressive buildings, and a more sparse population. The architecture and layout were somewhat reminiscent of Tbilisi, Georgia, and the city center is evidently quite similar to St. Petersburg, Russia.
In the early 19th century, German architect Carl Engel designed many of the public buildings of the city center. Finland was a Grand Duchy of Russia (a semi-autonomous state under Russia’s authority) at the time and architectural plans required approval of Czar Alexander I. Thus, the Neoclassical style of St. Petersburg, the capital of the Russian empire at the time, is also evident in Helsinki. Russian style is also noted in some ornate Orthodox churches with classic domes and gold.
We got a bit more context for Helsinki in a walking tour that covered history, conflicts, current events, and national identity.
Up until the 12th century, Finland was in a bit of a political vacuum. The Catholic Church spread to the western region of Finland from Sweden and the Orthodox Church spread to the east from Russia. (Lutheranism, now predominant, came in the 16th century). The two countries fought for control over the years with Finland largely under Swedish rule until 1809 and subsequently under Russian rule until 1917 when Finland became an independent nation. There were subsequent conflicts surrounding WWII and involving Germany and the USSR which ultimately resulted in some Finnish territorial losses never regained. Finns have maintained a distinct language and culture despite centuries of Swedish and Russian interference!
On a more modern cultural note, we were surprised to learn of Finland’s obsession with heavy metal music (there are over 50 metal bands for every 100,000 citizens, the highest rate in the world). Lordi, a Finnish heavy metal band, even won Eurovision in 2006 (Finland’s only win)!
Other cultural touchstones in Finland that we were unaware of are the Kalevala and Moomins. The Kalevala is the Finnish national epic. It was compiled by Elias Lönnrot who, in the 19th century, developed the writing from historic folklore, songs, and legends. This epic has since inspired many artists including JRR Tolkien’s writing.
The Moomins are children’s book creatures created by Finnish author Tove Jannson. Since their first appearance in the 1940’s, they’ve become immensely popular and have inspired TV shows, and video games, and are seen in Moomin-specific cafes, theme parks, and on paraphernalia like mugs, lunchboxes, etc. A few of you might have received a Moomin postcard from us!
After noting animal graphics on street corners, we learned that the practice of labeling a block with an animal or plant (often a foreign one…as camels are not typical in Finland) originated in the 1820s, for purposes of assisting city navigation for the illiterate. You can see the camel block below. Eventually, animals were replaced with names and numbers (you can see the Finnish word on top, and the Swedish word below- Finland is an officially bilingual country). The practice of using animal graphics was revived in recent years. Supposedly there is a unicorn block as well….
Saunas are big in Finland. There are over 3 million saunas in the country (for a population that is only 5.5 million). There are saunas in most apartment complexes, saunas in the middle of the woods, and saunas in the airports. In the picture below you can see that one of the Ferris wheel cars was replaced with a sauna.
After our walking tour, we enjoyed a classic Finnish lunch! Salmon soup and a Karelian pastry (a thin rye pastry filled with a savory rice pudding and topped with egg butter).
Later, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset walk around the city and along the coast.
And finally, we capped off the day by meeting up with Max at a neat bar downtown, Gate A21, which has an old Cessna tied to the ceiling and cheap happy-hour “lonkeros”. Lonkeros, Finnish long drinks, date back to the 1952 Summer Olympics in Finland. Being concerned about how to serve drinks quickly to the numerous visitors, the government commissioned the creation of a new pre-mixed low-ABV liquor drink in a can. You can now find it all across Finland, both in cans and on tap. It’s typically Finnish gin with grapefruit soda but now comes in a variety of flavors.
Day 2
On day 2, we caught a short ferry over to Suomenlinna, 8 small islands with a sea fortress. Also a Unesco World Heritage site. In 1748, while Finland was under Swedish rule, the fortress was built for its protection against Russian expansion. During the Finnish war, the fortress was eventually surrendered to Russia which held it until Finnish independence in 1917. Today, the islands have 900 permanent residents and the fortress has been preserved as a historical site. We enjoyed the afternoon hiking the perimeter of the islands.
Day 3
With the weather turning a bit rainy, we walked north of Helsinki towards Seurasaari Bay. We stopped at this small hut on the water for coffee and a cinnamon roll. The hut also provides sausages and fire pits for roasting! A great place to hang out for a couple of hours.
In the evening, we celebrated Max’s birthday. It was a great opportunity to meet and chat with many Finnish people our age (especially Max’s lovely girlfriend, Anniina!). We’d be idiots to solely trust Lonely Planet and travel blogs to sum up the personality of a nation but from such sources, we’d been informed of the Finns’ propensity toward humility, self-deprecating humor, and their comfort with silence in social situations. What contrast to US verbosity on accomplishment and status! I wonder what the Lonely Planet book has to say about us... The crew we hung out with included one ex-pat from Azerbaijan but otherwise was largely young Finns from the Helsinki area or further north. Everyone was kind, engaging, and interesting. Also, folks did seem to be quite genuine and humble, though this might have just as much to do with the company Max prefers to keep! Interestingly, at one point, we looked around the crowded restaurant and noticed that no one was on their phones. A scene now hard to imagine in the US. In the vein of varying levels of comfort with silence (and not needing phones as a crutch), Max relayed experiences where he was out to dinner next to a group of young Finns who were sitting together in utter silence for long enough that it made HIM feel uncomfortable.
Also impressive, but with each country we visit, more unsurprising and yet no less humbling; the Finns we met spoke English fluently. They were able to grace us by conversing largely in English for the night. Regardless of the complicated politics of the benefits of speaking English, fluency in any two languages is an enviable feat we’ve yet to accomplish.
Back at the party…While we did drink Lagunitas (a California beer that Max and I drank a lot of while in Oakland…brewed 5,500 miles away from where we were sitting), you can see that plenty of Finnish Lonkeros were also enjoyed! We also tried a licorice liqueur called Salmiakki Koskenkorva!
After shutting down the bar Max, Anniina, Marlene, and I finished the night at a trendy techno club around the corner. (Let the record show Chris wrote the previous sentence. You can probably tell how well we fit in by Chris’ description of the place as “trendy”). On Gen Z- Helsinki’s pitch-black dance floor with sternum vibrating music, we busted only the coolest of moves in our hiking pants and running shoes. Somehow we were not invited (read: turned away from) any VIP areas!
Day 4
Our short but very enjoyable stay in Finland had unfortunately come to an end. We met up with Max for one more coffee before jumping on a light rail to the airport for our flight to Istanbul!
A huge “thank you” to Max for hosting us in Finland-it would take a German to keep us out till 4 AM! The long weekend made for an incredibly fun introduction to Finland and we hope to return soon and explore northern Lapland!
Other Finland trivia:
Sauna is pronounced Sa-oo-nah in Finland!
Finland is considered a Nordic country but not part of Scandinavia
Suomi is the Finnish name for Finland
