Helsinki was a short stop for us, just in case we didn’t get cold enough in Stockholm to properly appreciate the tropical temperatures in Hua Hin, Thailand, our next stop. We flew Finnair for the quick, one hour flight.After flying over the Baltic (above), we descended over the outskirts of Helsinki (below) and thought it looked even more frozen than Sweden. As it turned out, it was. Good thing they put big signs on airports, so you can tell you are actually at a different airport. Inside Helsinki Airport, however, it feels much more modern than Stockholm’s Arlanda, which means, essentially, it’s more like a shopping mall. Even more modern, still, were the giant pink cuckoo-bird ads pulsing on mega screens throughout baggage claim. Our flight was full, but none of them joined us at the luggage carousel. The fact that almost every other passenger on the plane chose not stay on in Helsinki should have told us something. We had a short wait to check into the Hotel St George in central Helsinki. This was our last stop with too much luggage. We only have one suitcase each for four month’s of travel, but we also have a safari duffel, each, jammed with bulky winter wear. The duffels go back to Seattle with UPS before we leave Finland. It was only a bit past 4:00 in the afternoon when we got to the hotel, but it looked like midnight. Helsinki is not above the arctic circle, but it’s as close as anyone probably needs to get. The quiet little park below our hotel room was quiet, not just because we had three panes of glass between us and it, but because it was stupid cold outside. I think the feels-like temperature was -20°F.Here’s the same park the next morning. This will likely be the pattern for this post, as the photographer is refusing to remove her gloves to take pictures out of doors. At least the snow is pretty. The hotel is just around a corner from Mannerheimintie, Helsinki’s main boulevard, with its major cultural elements, like the Swedish Theater, National Museum, Parliment buildings, and the like. After breakfast, we walked over to the frozen mall that parallels the Boulevard and found Stockmann’s, a massive, 10-level department store built in 1926. It’s really a shopping center in its own right – on the left in the photo above. Inside, we got lost. Several times. From windows on the top floor, we could take pictures without going outside. Looking north, here, the domed National Theater is visible. Looking west, trams – and frozen people – along Aleksanterinkatu, the boulevard that runs to the City Museum.Also on the top floor are some counter-service cafes, with familiar Nordic foods. We picked a table in the atrium area, in a vain attempt to see sunlight. No joy. On our way out, we toured a trendy grocery store named Herkku (above). Lots of prepared foods (below). We felt at home. The photographer didn’t want to leave the store and head back out into the cold. Nevertheless, we did, and walked past the Church Park and around the neighborhood a bit, stopping at a couple of stores. We headed back to the hotel when we lost all feeling in our faces. For dinner, we headed back to Stockmann’s. We’d found a laundry place that would wash and fold clothes and woolens, and get them back to us the same day. We jumped on it, as we wanted to ship clean woolens home. And the laundry rates at the hotel were hilarious. If we’d sent our laundry out there, we may as well just buy new clothes. $16 to launder a t-shirt? So we ate dinner at a place called BBQ Royale and then picked up our laundry. The burger was classic. The oat tabouli under the grilled cauliflower disappointed the photographer, as it was really a rich oat risotto. Nordic food leverages three primary taste enhancers: fat, vinegar, and dill. The next day, we packed up our duffels and got them to the reception desk so UPS could pick them up. Load lightened, we were ready to change climates. Before heading out, we had a bite at the street-level bakery downstairs. Above is a korvapuustit, the Finnish version of the cinnamon roll. Similar to, but not as flakey as its Swedish cousin. Bun in hand, we were lucky to find a seat where we could eat it. The tables were packed with remote workers and empty coffee cups. Laptops and USB cables everywhere. And piles of the outer layers needed to get one through the weather and in the front door. Our two days in Helsinki were a bust. Way too cold to get out and wander the streets like we wanted to. But we experienced cold as neither of us had before, and we learned much about the history and peoples of the country. The Swedish founded Helsinki, and ruled Finland for 700 years before it became a self-ruling duchy under Czarist Russia. The country declared full independence after the Bolshevik Revolution and has remained independent since. On our way to the airport, we passed the Opera House. This is as close as we got to Finnish culture. The view out our car window was a monochrome blur. Finland’s countryside is painted in grayscale in winter. Even the few evergreens we saw lost all color to the dim lightOur flight from Finland was on Turkish Airlines. Turkish flies virtually everywhere in the world, but to get from one everywhere to another, you go through Istanbul. On our approach, the first thing we noticed from the air was no snow. We had a long layover, so we got to enjoy Turkish Airline’s Business Class Lounge, and the best food we’ve had, so far. The number and kinds of foods they offer, prepared as you watch, exceeds that of any 10 other airlines’ signature lounges. Because Turkish Airlines flies everywhere, at any given moment, the Istanbul International Airport is likely the single, most diverse spot on Earth. The flight board, above, shows the Turkish Airlines flights departing over a four to five hour period. Belgrade, London, Madrid, Budapest, Tehran, Tashkent, Stuttgart, Tunis, Porto, Shanghai, San Francisco, Cairo, Sao Paolo, Moscow, Sarajevo, and there’s our flight to Bangkok.Then we were off on a nine-hour flight to Thailand. As we settled in, the photographer took a picture of the blogger’s sleeping-socks. Turkish Airlines is our favorite for long-haul flights …And their food is one of the big reasons (above and below).Ciao, ciao Helsinki. And Istanbul.
