Something to Declare

What the Hel[sinki]….

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Finland was under Swedish rule until 1809, when the Swedes lost Finland to Russia. The Finns won their independence in 1917. But then they lost it again under the Nazi-Soviet pact of 1939, when they had to fight the Russians to a cease-fire in 1944. Nonetheless, Finland established its own post-war western identity (electronics, modern architecture and design). The Finns got free of Russian influence after the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. They are now members of the EU and NATO.

There’s a different feel to this city. Copenhagen and Stockholm have a “European” ambiance, a pre-19th century, constitutional-monarchy elegance (palaces, historical architecture, cobblestones, grand boulevards, ornate churches), juxtaposed with a festive atmosphere characterized by amusement parks (the Tivoli, and Skansen, e.g.).

Helsinki feels far more 20th century, utilitarian, no-nonsense, business-like. Also, Helsinki does not appear touristy. We haven’t observed tour groups, or even tourists, like we did in Copenhagen and Stockholm. Nor have we seen a single “I (heart) Helsinki” T-shirt or coffee mug. This could be because we haven’t yet visited areas of the city that are more likely to draw tourists (the South Harbor, e.g.). We’ll let you know about that.

As we approached our apartment in the Kamppi section of Helsinki, we noted an “institutional” feel (metal gate), which was consistent with the views from the windows.

Happily, the apartment itself is terrific.

As usual, we needed to do some grocery shopping. We walked to the nearby Kamppi Center, a bus terminal-cum-shopping mall (seven floors, 90 stores, and 50 cafés.)

Tomorrow, we’re going to take the 2-hour ferry to Tallinn in Estonia. In order to reduce the stress of finding our way in yet another new city, we made a dry run today to the ferry terminal. Along the way, there was some Art:

Bad Bad Boy is a 28-foot-tall pink concrete sculpture. In case you were wondering: the water flow in the sculpture is heated, so the boy can “urinate” all year round, even in winter. The sculpture was originally ordered as part of a public art festival in Sweden. Relocated to Finland in 2014, it is now one of Helsinki’s most photographed objects.