Helsinki in (Less Than) a Day

We arrived in Helsinki about 10AM Friday, in more rain. We decided to forego the bus tours, etc., and just did it ourselves, buying a day-pass on the local public transportation, about 14 euros for the two of us. Helsinki's major sites are pretty close together; and, given a few more hours, we could have done it all on foot. By noon it had cleared, and we visited the harbor, the harbor produce market, the Senate area, all the neo-classical buildings, the Protestant Dom, lunch at Kapelli's, then the Parliament buildings, the music center Finlandia, the Church in the Rock, the Oopera (stet), the Sibelius monument, and then the Orthodox church, hopping on buses and trams when needed. The tram drivers spoke superb English and gave us helpful advice. In view of the holiday (see below), most everything commercial, except the market, was closed...a good thing for us.

It was an interesting place, almost exotically different, Russian, sort of, and we are pleased we made the trip. (We are not going to St. Petersburg, since the Ruskies seem not to really welcome independent tourists; visas are time-consuming, expensive, etc.). Helsinki was founded in the 17th century and, unlike most European sites, has no Medieval nor earlier past.

We are even more pleased that we didn't drive. It would have taken days and days and cost hundreds and hundreds.

We got back to the Gabriella in time get a window table for two for the buffet/smorgasbord, for which we had been preparing (fasting) all day. I am sure we have had better meals, but few more memorable. See illustration for the menu. I am sure I tried each and every seafood items and all the Scandinavian items, plus much more, the Mediterranean and Asian. And cheese. And desserts. I actually liked the herring, in all its varieties of preparation. There were four varieties of caviar. And free beer and wine. Only the cheese course was lacking in variety.

We spent the next few hours digesting. About 11 we went up to the band/dance area and spent a few hours there. All this was occurring on midsummer eve, a high Scandinavian holiday, and these people know how to party. The ship was all decked out in greenery, and at midnight there was a special live performance, American discotheque from the 70s. Sort of. But it was entertaining.

We were back in Stockholm by 10 the next morning, the rain ended, a beautiful mostly clear mid-summer day on which we simply lazed about the campground, reading, puttering, exploring the island of Langholmen, and planning our next travels.

Arriving in Helsinki harbor

The (Protestant) Dom; the interior very sparse, except for statues of Luther,
Melancthon, et al.

The Senate Square statue of Czar Alexander II, who was
nice to Finland (no statue of Stalin)

The blue building in all the travel guides...city hall

National art museum

National theater

Details from the 1931 Helsinki train station, said, by
Michelin,  to be of "National Romantic" style

Just about everything was closed for Midsummer Eve, but, thank god,
Kapelli's was open

In Kapelli's, Rodin's very famous "Young Girl Dribbling an
Imaginary Basketball"

National history museum

Parliament

Finlandia Hall, part of the national music complex

Interior of Church in the Rock; it would make a great Unitarian church

ACeiling of Church in the Rock; 14 miles (or was it light-years?) of copper tubing

Sibelius monument; he did play organ, right?

The Russian Orthodox Dom

Ditto

Cruisin' the Baltic

Our ship, the Viking Lines' Gabriella, left Stockholm in rain about 5PM. Our stateroom, on deck 2, was actually fairly nice, for the price...larger than many guest-house rooms we stayed in in Nepal, with private bath, hot and cold water, heat, etc. Luxury for $26 a night, including the trip. Thanks, Vicki.

It's not exactly a cruise...the travelers are about 55% Finnish, shopping in Stockholm and duty-free, 40% Swedes, partying, gambling, and shopping duty-free, and 5% actual tourists like us. The ship stops briefly in the Aland islands, an “autonomous” province of Finland, and that makes it an international (as opposed to inter-EU) voyage. The duty-free prices were only a little better than Stockholm, IMHO.

The Stockholm archipelago runs for more than 100 miles and contains some 24,000 islands and skerries. All of them are glacially-polished metamorphic rock masses, most large enough to accommodate forests, most with summer and other homes, but few permanently inhabited. The cruise-ship/ferry route runs up through these islands, staying fairly close to the mainland for a couple hours. Then it enters open sea for a bit, and, then, the Aland islands, another archipelago, this time with even more islands. Fly-over in Google Earth and you will get some appreciation of the matter. I had no idea there was any topography on earth like this. Then some more open sea, and you enter the archipelago around Helsinki, more islands, more forests and red-painted houses and buildings. The cruise/ferry route is pretty well established and marked, and there is radar and GPS, etc. Some of the islands we passed were scarcely 100 feet away, really close for a 50,000 ton ship moving at 20 knots. It's hard to imagine doing this 100 years ago, or 200, or 1000. Little wonder the Vikings became such proficient sailors.

Our ship, the M/S Gabriella

A tall ship entering Stockholm harbor as we leave

In Helsinki old harbor

Skerries in the rain

More islands, now near Helsinki

The buffet menu (see next entry)

Midsummer's eve sunset

Us ringing in the new...wait a second...summer solstice

The Gabriella's midsummer's eve entertainment extravaganza

Midnight sun...well, not quite at this latitude...it just never gets very dark

Skansen

Wednesday was part work, part sight-seeing. Early in the AM, we drove over to Viking Cruise Lines, looking into the over-nighter to Helsinki (farther than we want to drive). Vicki accomplished her usual feat: trip to Helsinki and back for two, cabin (not steerage) for two nights, $53. Total. Meals extra. After more camper maintenance, we took the subway and bus to Skansen, spending the rest of the day there.

Skansen is billed as the world's largest outdoor museum, and it must be that. Perhaps a square mile. It is part natural history, part Swedish/Scandinavian history, part zoo, part aquarium, part performances and re-enactments. We took in what we could in 8 hours, and enjoyed it thoroughly.



A Sami hut in the Lappland sector of Skansen; the whole thing is arranged to reflect Sweden's geogrpahy

Interior of a (wealthy) 19th century farm house

Peacocks were everywhere

Folk music performance on a hurdy-gurdy, an instrument I'd never seen before

Folk dancing

Kalmar to Stockholm; and the Ikea Mother Store

The next day we visited Kalmar and its castle, then drove on 240km to Stockholm. The terrain was gorgeous, bucolic, much of it reminiscent of the Wisconsin Dells. After visiting the Mother Ikea store, just south of Stockholm, we camped, more or less downtown, at Langholmens Husbilcamping, on the island of Langholmen. Stockholm is situated on dozens of islands, with canals, bridges, etc. A beautiful city we'll see more of this weekend.

In Kalmar, a land whale

Kalmar Slott (castle), moat, etc.

Very old cannon at the Slott

Stockholm: Ikea Mother Store

Five floors

The canal we are camped on in Langholmen

Oland

Monday the 15th we drove from Bromsehus, near Kalmar, to the island of Oland. Oland is a large island, perhaps 75 miles long, about 4-5 miles off the main coast of Sweden, connected by an enormous bridge. We thought it would be largely resorts and condos, given its position, but it was almost entirely agricultural. It is literally littered with megaliths, most bronze age or later, but still impressive. The island itself is a large limestone uplift, and its middle ridge is much like the Burren in Ireland, although not quite so desolate. The east coast of Oland is especially interesting where you can see the uplifted limestone plates right out of the sea. Oland has some 400 windmills; in the 19th century, there were 2000. And linear villages (all buildings in a line along the road); and tons of megaliths.

400 windmills, many in rows like this

Typical Oland megaliths; they were everywhere

Oland east coast; almost completely deserted

A re-built iron/stone-age fort; we thought it looked too much like Medieval Times and so didn't go in

Another day, another ship-shaped stone circle, one of four we counted in the immediate vicinity

Vicki by the ship circle

Tall Oland menhir

A real bronze/iron-age fort, un-reconstructed

Driving the Southeast Coast of Sweden

Sunday the 14th we drove from Kaseberga, leisurely, to Bromsehus, up the coast a bit, stopping for lunch in the fishing village of Skillinge, grocery shopping in Rimrashamn, and more megalithic sites. The weather was beautiful, the terrain alternating coast and fields of wheat, occasional woods. Denmark is said to be 85% tilled. This part of Sweden is even more so. We stopped for the night near the old medieval fort of Bromsehus, now a complete ruins except for the raised area and enormous ditch, all right by an inlet from the sea.

Part of the harbor at Skillinge

A dolmen and stone circle on the sea

Me by the sea

A fierce-looking cow near Bromsehus

To Helsinki, Briefly

It is Thursday, June 18, and we have been in Stockholm a couple days. (Free) internet connections are lacking, and this afternoon we are taking the over-night cruise to Helsinki, Finland, returning Saturday. I hope to post some blog entries by the weekend.

Update: Well, I did find an internet cafe for a while...but we'll be in Finland Friday, back to Stockholm Saturday.

Ship Shape: Ales Stenar

It finally stopped raining, and we had a chance, Saturday afternoon, to go and look at Ales Stenar, the largest of the Swedish ship-shaped standing stone circles. There are dozens of them, mostly in southern Sweden. Ales Stenar is in the 4,000-6,000 year-old range. Some argue it is merely a ship-cult site; some argue for a solar orientation/observatory. It is impressive in any case. Only one stone is missing, possibly, and its absence may simply have marked an entrance.

Ales Stenar stands on a beautiful grassy bluff above the tiny fishing hamlet of Kaseberga, overlooking the Baltic. It is late spring, and already the place is crowded. Walking around, I quickly figured out that as many are here for the fish market as for the megalithic site. I am savoring both!

Ales Stenar, about 200 feet long and 60 feet wide

Ship-shape; ship cult, millennia before the Vikings

One side

Backpackers at the site; we're glad we're not backpacking in this weather

The tiny harbor of Kaseberga

Tiny, but it supports a fish market well known for smoked salmon, eel, etc. The line was nearly out the door. I think the sign says "fish for sale." Note smoke coming from the smoke-house behind the building. I love smoked fish.

Until coming here, I had always associated swans with fresh water; the Baltic coast we have seen is loaded with them.


Vicki adds:

June 13, 2009 Southern Sweden

We have spent two days in a very nice parking lot about 200 yds from the Baltic Sea. We came to see the megalithic standing stones in a “ring” in the shape of a ship. However the weather was so bad yesterday with gale force winds, rain, high of 55, that we just stayed in the camper and enjoyed being couch potatoes. Today was just misty and this evening it has cleared up completely. Being Saturday, the parking lot has been quite busy with about 200-300 cars and campers coming and going. About 6 of us are spending the night again. There are restrooms-which we actually don’t need- and free wifi and it is quiet and free. A great combination. Mark and I walked up to the stones on the cliff over the sea earlier and then through the small fishing village. I am sure it will all be posted on his blog. I have been catching up on email and researching Stockholm. It is supposed to be raining hard there for the next two days so we will take our time getting there. We wanted to fly from there to St. Petersburg in Russia but it is very complicated to get a visa and the whole trip of 3-4 days would probably cost about 2 grand so I think we will skip it.

I realize that as of yesterday I have been retired one year. I must admit that it seems much longer what with all we have done, and yet I only have to start to think about it and it feels like yesterday. Memory is such a completely strange thing. Retirement is a marvelous thing but I do miss all my family and friends. Please write as you have time. Vicki