While we walk through evening Helsinki, we find it astonishingly charming - despite the cold and humid weather that welcomes us in late January. We notice the many old and well preserved houses. Lucky for those countries who were not so heavily involved in the turmoil of the Second World War and therefore were able to preserve their architectural gems. In fact, there are several theories as to why Helsinki remained almost unscathed despite bombing - the most famous one assumes that fires were lit by the Finns on the offshore islands to distract the attackers. Thus it happened that a large part of the bombs sank in the Baltic Sea without causing any damage.

What is also striking: Not only do the streets have two names, one in Finnish and one in Swedish (this is because the Swedes ruled Finland for 600 years), they are also given images of animals. Sometimes it is a feline predator, then a donkey or a giraffe. Any guesses why the Finns used this kind of pictorial language? The answer is as simple as brilliant. Before the general population could read and write, the animal signs were used for orientation.

We stop at Dennis, an Italian restaurant, near the old church. Luck is on our side and we get a small table at the window. We order gluten free pizza, which is a bit peppery, but otherwise delicious. Perfect ending of our first day in Helsinki.

Day 2 - Castle of the Finns

Icy wind welcomes us on Suomenlinna (= castle of the Finns), which extends over four islands off Helsinki. In summer, the Finns come with picnic blankets and baskets. Today, it is only tourists who get off the ferry on Iso Mustasaari, the main island, and then flee like moths to the small cafés where it is warm and dry. We are not put off by the cold and humid weather, but sign up for a guided tour. To be on the safe side, we buy two thick bobble hats. Now, we are definitely prepared.

Suomenlinna is an 18th century bastion fortress built under the Swedish Field Marshal Augustin Ehrensvärd. Facilities are in extremely good condition which makes Suomenlinna a valuable testimony to European defenses. The reason for this is that the fortress was never taken in battle. According to the calculations of the Swedish Armed Forces, the island should be able to withstand a siege for twelve months. But the test of it in 1808 showed that it was all just hot air. After a hard winter, which lasted until May and cut off all access routes for supplies, the Swedes capitulated to the Russians in the summer of 1809, who were then able to take Finland quickly.

The sea is rough today and adds to the wild beauty of Suomenlinna. Despite the evidences of bygone days that can be seen everywhere, Suomenlinna has not missed the connection with modernity. After all, nearly eight hundred people live in Helsinki's smallest district. They got a small supermarket, the smallest school and the smallest kindergarten in town. And they even have an open prison, meaning that there are no serious criminals on the island. At least according to our tour guide.

It is interesting to note that the colors and shapes of the buildings show the influences of various occupying powers. The facilities under Swedish occupation have strict geometrical shapes, and buildings from that period are painted yellow. The Russian-occupied buildings (from 1808) are much softer, and the buildings are painted in a mixture of pink and coral. Tres chic.

Maria, our free-walking tour guide, is standing in front of Havis Amanda. With the big red umbrella in her hand she can hardly be overlooked. Maria was born in Finland, but has lived in Canada and Italy for many years and therefore speaks fluently English, Italian, and, of course, Finnish. She wants to become a teacher. Since PISA, the Finnish school system has been known worldwide. Students are only enrolled at the age of seven. They never need to repeat class, they get little homework if any, and everyone goes to school until the tenth grade. Those who graduate from high school can attend university. Then they receive a generous monthly financial aid from the state (as long as they can prove a minimum number of credits per semester). Those who move out for their studies receive housing benefit on top of that. Seems pretty amazing to me.

Most of the 5.4 million Finns live in the south of the country. In Helsinki alone there are 650,000 thousand, almost as many as in Frankfurt. If you want to get to know them properly, you can't get around a visit to the sauna. Sauna is by the way the only Finnish word that has been adopted all over the world. The Finns are the nation with the most saunas of all. It is estimated that there are about three million, but probably even more, Maria reports. There is even a sauna in parliament.

Apart from that, the Finns love good and simple design. And they are inventive. The dish drainer, for example, is a Finnish innovation. It hangs directly above the sink and holds the freshly washed dishes. Very practical.

A detour to the largest Finnish-Russian church (very pretty, very orthodox) on the former Katajanokka peninsula and the city walk comes to an end. Before we have to say goodbye, we treat ourselves to a huge gluten-free wafer at Happy Waffle and realize that for this alone we will miss Finland. 😉