We are on a 6-month road trip around north-eastern Europe in our motorhome Vanni, and recently drove from Narva to Tallinn in Estonia. In Tallinn, we found secure parking for Vanni then took a ferry across the Gulf of Finland to Helsinki, the capital of Finland, arriving just in time to see to an array of beautiful Tall Ships in the harbour.
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| Marg and tall ships at Helsinki Harbour, Finland |
The annual Tall Ships Race in the Baltic Sea was being held in Helsinki while we were there, hence the forest of tall masts and spars.
The ferry ride over to Helsinki took about 1.5-hours, and as we approached the Tall Ships and the port, we began to see the grandeur of the city and it buildings.
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| Some of the grand buildings in Helsinki, Finland |
Helsinki was founded in 1550 and had become Finland’s capital by 1812 when it was rebuilt by the Tsars of Russia in the grand style of St Petersburg. These days, it is a big city with a population of about 600,000 and some wonderful architecture.
The city is centred on the bustling port, and when we docked, we navigated our way through the boats, bicycles, trams, cars, people, and grand buildings to marvel at the colourful, vibrant and exciting scene before us.
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| Leigh at the market square in Helsinki, Finland |
We wandered through the market square which was full of tourist goodies, and lots of food stalls. While there, we bought a huge plate of Lapland food consisting of little fresh-water fish and potatoes which was delicious.
After that, we found our way to our hotel which was nearby, dropped our bags, and set off to explore further.
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| Uspenski Cathedral, Helsinki, Finland |
We were first drawn to the red brick Uspenski Cathedral which we’d seen from the port area. It is the largest Orthodox Church in Western Europe. Built in the 19th century, its lovely domes are reminiscent of the churches we’d seen a few weeks ago when we drove through Russia.
Wandering on, we discovered the Presidential Palace, and the Helsinki City Museum, before arriving at the large Senate Square.
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| Marg in front of Helsinki Cathedral, Finland |
In the Square, we couldn’t help but notice the extraordinarily imposing Helsinki Cathedral, which is an Evangelical Lutheran church built in the 19th century to honour the Russian Tsar Nicolas I.
It sits atop a hill on Senate Square, reached via a giant staircase. Around the Square, we saw the Government Palace, the University, and the National Library of Finland, all grand and impressive buildings.
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| Marg at Esplanade Park, Helsinki, Finland |
We loved walking round this wonderfully vibrant city, and after passing more architecturally grand buildings and squares, we found the Esplanade Park which is a promenade through the city centre. It is an attractive greenspace and we rested a briefly, doing some people watching before moving on.
After following the Esplanade for a while, we wandered south of the city centre, and came across Kasarmitori Square, and some architectural delights.
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| Art Nouveau buildings Kasarmitori square |
These were three attractive Art Nouveau buildings huddled together, and dating back to the early 1900’s. In our later wanderings, we discovered that Helsinki has a lot of Art Nouveau architecture - it really adds character to the city.
The rest of Kasarmitori Square is flanked by the imposing Ministry of Defence building, and other Art Nouveau buildings which are now used as offices and restaurants.
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| The Finish Parliament Building, Helsinki, Finland |
Leaving Kasarmitori, we walked along the main street of Helsinki, called Mannerheimintie. It is lined with interesting shops, and imposing places such as the Finnish Parliament Building, the National Museum, and the Helsinki Music Center.
We walked for ages, seeing and visiting many more interesting places. Then when it was time to return to the centre we took a different route, which led us to the Töölö area.
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| Marg outside the Temppeliaukio Church |
A highlight in Töölö was the Temppeliaukio Church. This amazing church was built in 1969 deep into solid rock. It is round with a beautiful curved copper roof, and seen from the outside, it looks a bit like a spaceship that has landed. The inside is spectacular, with wonderful acoustics.
In the Töölö area, we also visited the Kristuskyrkan Swedish church, the Museum of Natural History which was very interesting, and several other places.
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| The Design Museum, Helsinki, Finland |
Then we continued on to the Design Museum where we saw some fabulous furniture designs. The museum has exhibitions on the history of Finnish design from the 1800’s to today. It was so interesting.
From there, we wandered on to the Huvilakatu area where we saw more Art Nouveau architecture with whole streets showing their curved facades, stained glass, and interesting ornamentation. It was lovely. Leaving there, we headed back to our hotel and a meal, tired but happy after a wonderful day.
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| Marg at Kinig’s Gate, Suomenlinna Maritime Fortress (UNESCO), Helsinki |
The next morning, we caught a small ferry to Suomenlinna Island which contains the remains of a fortress built in the 1700’s. We entered through the impressive King’s Gate, to learn that the fortress was Finland’s and Sweden’s eastern-most place of defence.
The fortress is one of the largest sea forts in the world, and as a unique monument to European military architecture, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Island it sits on, is full of caves, old cannons, a church, village buildings, cafes, and even a submarine.
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| Submarine Vesikko on Suomenlinna Island, Helsinki, Finland |
Called Vesikko, the submarine served the Finnish Navy during the war of 1939-44. It is the only surviving German Type II submarine in the world, and we were able to go inside it and experience what it was like living and working in a submarine's confined space.
Later, relaxing on the Suomenlinna ferry back to Helsinki, we saw islands of the Gulf slip by, and admired the Gulf’s many leisure craft, and shipping life in general. It had been another wonderful day.
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| House on a small island in the Gulf of Finland near Helsinki |
This blog describes part of our 6-month motorhome trip around north-eastern Europe, which began in Prague.