When my work colleagues found out that we were going to Helsinki for the
weekend, they were really curious WHY you’d want to go there. Upon reflection,
it’s probably a pretty good question. I can’t exactly remember why we chose
Helsinki as a destination, but I think it had to do with being the Scandinavian
country that I had yet to see. Plus, of course, there is the proximity of
Estonia which makes it an attractive long weekend.

Helsinki in early September is a very pleasant place but not a particularly
special city. It has the feel of a big Scandinavian capitol – big wide
boulevards and a modern feel that isn’t present in places like Amsterdam or
Utrecht. Don’t get me wrong, Helsinki definitely feels European, but with a
unique intangible (and apparently indescribable) Scandinavian attribute.

We had several good long wanders around the city. One resulted from getting lost
while looking for Santorini Square. This ended up being a positive experience as
we ran into the “Rock church” which we never would have intentionally set out to
see. This modern architecture church was built into the rock side of a cliff and
is absolutely beautiful. The pictures won’t do it justice. It’s one of the most
unique churches we’ve seen in Europe. We did eventually make it to Santorini
Square which is marketed as having a ”Russian feel.” To be honest, I didn’t
particularly “feel” Russian to me, but it is beautiful.

Helsinki’s charm is in it’s public spaces. The promenade, a big strip of a park
running parallel to one of the city’s main boulevard is a great space to spend a
few hours. The flowers were in bloom and what a great place to enjoy a coffee
and people watch! Another of our favorite places was the waterfront and market
area. Travelers coming and going on the cities ferries, cruise ships in arriving
in port and sales of everything from pickled herring to flowers and vegetables
make this one of our favorite Helsinki places.

But more than anything else in Helsinki, our best experiences were enjoying some
city’s Saunas! Most Finns enjoy a daily Sauna – either at home or in a club or
bar somewhere. Yes, that’s right… saunas are often located in bars and will be
visited in conjunction with a night out at the pub. The Finns apparently also
have a tradition of being hit with a birch branch after or during a sauna to
clean the pores, but we didn’t experience this firsthand. Mark and I agree, we
could easily get into the habit of “sauna-ing”  -- it’s just oh-so relaxing!