FINLAND – Southern (Helsinki, Lahti, Kotka)

Finland – Southern (Helsinki, Lahti, Kotka)  July 9-15, 2019

OBSERVATIONS AND TIPS
1. MUSEUM CARDS
Finland Museum Card. Gives free entry to 280 museums throughout Finland plus 40 in Helsinki for 12 months. Available online and at all included museums. €69
This is an incredible deal for me as I see so many museums and don’t use the other attractions or restaurants. The only similar country with a museum card for the whole country is the Netherlands which I bought and got at least five times the value.
Theoretically, the real card is mailed to you so you would need an address where you could receive the card in 1-3 weeks. I used the temporary card and it worked fine.
Helsinki Card. Includes free admission to all Helsinki museums plus reduced prices at many attractions but I only use the museum part of the card and it works out to be not as good value for me. Pay more to include travel including to and from the airport (in brackets) – €42 (54) for 24 hours, €49 (61) for 48 hours, €55 (71) for 72  hours.
2. Finland is a very civilized country. Almost everyone speaks good English with only a slight accent. They were voted the happiest country in the world in 2018 replacing the Danes who don’t seem happy and certainly aren’t friendly. The few Finns I have met are friendly. Bicycles are common (most wearing helmets) as are people exercising. Garbage cans are rare – in this way they are very much like Japan where you never see a garbage can – they make people responsible for their own trash and keep the costs of garbage collection low, but they require a responsible public. Lidl stores (my favorite grocery store) are common. Wifi can often be found free and password-free. There are more blonds here than in any other country I have been to. The women are not the thin “fashionistas” seen in Eastern Europe where the men prefer very thin women.
3. Driving and Parking. In Helsinki, one must contend with 3 things: trams are everywhere and usually control the center lane of most roads; the many cyclists complicate driving as it is one more thing to look out for; there are also many battery-powered scooters but those are everywhere in Europe; many signs are on large concrete bases that make parking more hazardous. They are nice drivers, considerate, and relatively patient. Parking in Helsinki has been very easy. But secondary roads have multiple speed limits and many cameras (I have never seen a country that obeys speed limits like Fins)
4. Costs. It is certainly more expensive than where I have just come from, Eastern Europe but that is the cheapest part of Europe. Diesel is €135.9-143.9 (€133.9 in Tallinn and 125-126 in south Estonia and twice the price in Belarus). Restaurant food is out of sight (pizza is twice what it was in Tallinn). A soft ice cream cone is €4.50, a doughnut €3.50. Lidl food prices seem equal to elsewhere in Europe so I will be back to cooking my own meals.
But the Museum Card will balance everything out. I paid for it on my first day.

Currency: Euro €

FERRY – Tallinn, Estonia to Helsinki. Finland
There are three companies that provide ferry services across the Gulf of Finland. www.laevapiletid.ee is a great website that pools all three and provides easy comparison of times and costs for the particular day you want to cross. I used Eckero Line and booked the day before for travel on July 9. The 18:30 sailing was the cheapest one at €53 for a vehicle and one passenger. This was unbelievably cheap and a perfect time for me. Costs seem to go up the closer one is to your sailing date.
Another advantage of the VW California is ferry costs. At 4.9m long and slightly less than 1.9m high, it qualifies as a car and has the cheapest price. The most expensive cost was with Viking at 6 a.m. for €120.
There is no need to print your ticket. Simply write down your booking number and give it at the check-in booth at the Echero terminal. I had no wait at the booth and luckily moved past all the lines and boarded quickly.
The crossing takes 2½ hours. As nighttime is so short at this latitude, I arrived in Helsinki with a couple of hours of light.
The ferry has only lounge and restaurant seating. There were at least 3 bars and one restaurant (buffet €30). People board and run upstairs to get a seat. I ended up on a narrow stool directly over the stern (arguably the best view on the boat), but could have asked someone to share their table. I had bought a sandwich in town and avoided the ferry costs. There are several video gaming rooms and fast free Wi-Fi.

HELSINKI/ESPOO/VANTAA
I arrived late into Helsinki on the ferry from Tallinn, Estonia, and slept outside this museum complex with good free wifi. I bought the Finland Museum Card here.

Day 1
I spent most of the morning and early afternoon getting caught up on my web site and doing business. It was then a drive-about to see some of the museums and sights in south Helsinki.

Hotel and Restaurant Museum. In a complex of three museums (others were photography and theater), this is a clever museum with some interesting exhibits, especially the Scent bar – press a lever and guess the scent. The history of alcohol, hotels, restaurants, and entertainment are dealt with. €10, 5 reduced*
Finland Museum of Photography. I don’t know who picks the photography for these museums but it is universally mediocre at best. Subjects, composition, and use of light is poor. Some of the pictures were beautifully printed but otherwise indifferent. €10, 5 reduced*
Computer & Game Console Museum. On the 4^th and 5^th floors of the Verkkokauppa Building, there are two small rooms with glass cases of all the early gaming consoles. It all started in 1980 and mushroomed after the Commodore 64 came out. There was no fee to see this.
Bad Bad Boy. Just outside the main doors of Verkokkauppa, is this 8.5m tall, wide-eyed, almost alien-looking, nude boy with a penis that shoots a large spray of water out continuously. It was first unveiled in 2014 as part of the Mutatis Mutandis exhibition of the work of artist Tommi Toija, The statue originally stood adjacent to ferry terminals and waterfront tourist amusements. After the show closed in October 2016, the statue was moved to a permanent home in the city’s West Harbour. Some photo angles might make it look like the statue is now being used to water a landscaped area, but don’t worry: It’s just

Hietalahti Flea Market. Truly a very low-key market: completely open air, folding tables, clothes, and personal “junk”. It must operate only in good weather.
Sinebrychoff Art Museum. Blue and gold as pigments (lapis lazuli, cobalt blue, indigo. Prussian blue). Upstairs is the House collection of the 1700s and 1800s art, porcelain, and furniture. €15, 13 reduced*
Päivälehti Museum. This media and freedom of speech museum is excellent using interactive video in many languages. Free
Design Museum. Forest harvesters. Angry Birds and Clash of the Clans, Glass, Nokia and hundreds of other products have a Finnish origin. Song and Olin, two Finnish designers are profiled on the 2^nd floor. Brilliant museum. €12, 10 reduced*
Museum of Finnish Architecture. The temporary exhibit was on Suur-Merijoki Manor, one of the most famous of Finnish houses with drawings by one of the architects, Eliel Saarinen. Art nouveau in style, it was built in 1903. It had a large cross-vaulted hall and 30 rooms. It was destroyed in WW II in 1944 and that is why the beautiful drawings became so important. Also an exhibit on drawing and architecture, a travel sketchbook. The 2nd-floor permanent exhibition traces Finnish trends since 1900 as war, economics, availability of materials, and changes in styles dictated urban planning, housing, office buildings, and schools. €10. 8 reduced*
Ursa Observatory (Kaivopuisto Observatory). This is a tiny (3.5m diameter) yellow/white building on top of a tiny hill near the water in south Helsinki. Times of opening are only when the skies are clear. €4
Nighttime viewing: 7-9 pm – Oct 15-Dec 15 and Jan 15-March 15.
Sun viewing: 1-3 pm – March 15–June 15 and Aug 1-Oct 15.
I parked within meters of the water near the observatory. A waterside promenade was busy with people out for a stroll on a lovely July evening. Sailboats, speedboats, and jet skis entered the harbor. I don’t think electric scooters are an improvement in lifestyle – most everyone is young and healthy and not walking (if used to commute, they are a big asset). There is a lot of exposed rock in the park across the street, all of it heavily glacier-scoured.
As I parked here with my door wide open, there were two groups of people who stopped, a drunk older Norwegian couple from Tromso who gave me the advice to drive there and four drunk teenagers who I quite enjoyed talking to.

Day 2
I had a much-needed shower at the sea pool. Most expensive and longest shower of my life. Also had a sauna. €14
I parked on a side street across from the market just touching the crosswalk lines but behind the line of the buildings – and got a €80 parking ticket. 
Market Square. An open-air market with vendors under tents. Knick-knacks, clothes, little old ladies knitting caps and toques, food vendors. Supposedly opens at 11 but opens at 9 am. Cruise ships dock here and up to 12,000 visitors arrive on busy days.

FORTRESS OF SUOMENLINNA
Getting There: The only World Heritage Site in Helsinki, it is on six islands and was called Viaport until 1918. It is accessed only by ferry from Market Square year around. In the summer from May 1^st to September 30, a water taxi also operates. The trip takes 15-20 minutes and offers great views of Helsinki and the surroundings. Different boats stop off at Vallisaari and Lonna on either the outbound or return trip. It arrives at the pier on the north side of the island.
Part of the city transport system and all HSL tickets are accepted. Single tickets €2.80 one way. Leaves every 20 minutes
History. Sweden had lost its superpower status and its most important eastern fortresses in the wars with Russia in the first half of the 1700s. As a result, after the Russo-Swedish War of 1741-43, the maritime fortress and base for the Archipelago fleet was built on each of the liked islands beginning in 1748. A dry dock was included in the fortress for building warships for the fleet, the first in the world. 16 ships (specially designed for the shallow waters of the archipelago) were built. After WW II ships were built for the Soviet Union as war reparations. A windmill was used to drain the dry dock and saw lumber. Up to 7000 men were involved in the project in 1750 but because of lack of resources, only a sea fortress was built. The Bastion fortress was strongly influenced by the ideas of Vauban, the foremost military engineer of the time on the principles of a star fort style adapted to a group of rocky islands. It had 8kms or defensive walls, 7000 men, and over 600 canons. It was called Sveaborg, the fortress of Sweden”
Construction continued until 1808 when Viapori was besieged by Russian forces in the Russo-Swedish War. After minor skirmishes, the Swedish commander surrendered – why remains an unsolved mystery. The Russians took over Viaport and a new era began.
The Russians built more barracks, extended the dockyard and reinforced the fortification lines. The British, as part of the Crimean War (1853-56) badly damaged the fortress but were unable to knock out the Russian guns. New earthworks and artillery emplacements on the west and south were built after the war. Leading up to WW I, the fortress was an important safeguard for St Petersburg. It became part of Finland after 1917, the name was changed to Suomenlinna (“Castle of Finland”). and a prison camp with 260 executions, 69 at Suoenlinna. It ceased being a military base in 1973 but still has a Naval Academy of the Finnish Navy.
It is a very busy summer tourist spot with 713,000 visits in 2009. There are 900 permanent residents and 350 work there year-round. A service tunnel supplies heat, water, electricity, and emergency transport. The Nordic Arts Center with studios and a summer theatre operates. There are many cafes, restaurants, shops, a hotel, a church, a library, a grocery store, a hostel, and bars on the island. It is possible to sail on the Cannon Sloop Diana (€25) lasting for 1¾ hours.
There are 8 islands (total area 50 hectares) with 5 connected by bridges. Vallisaari and Lonna are two of the islands without a bridge connection.
The ferry docks at Iso Mustasaari Island. Follow the blue route through all the sights. I walked to the end at King’s Gate. The ferry doesn’t come here (only the water taxi) so I walked back, saw the submarine and went by the closed Customs Museum and then by the dry dock.
Church. Dating from 1854, now is Evangelical Lutheran. Has a lighthouse on the cupola and the most awesome fence of vertical canon connected by a huge chain.
Museums:
Suomenlinna Museum. 25 min film about the history of the fortress. €8, 5 reduced*
Manège of the Military Museum. Wars of Finland and Finnish Defense Forces, a good review for all the museums I eventually saw. €5, 3 reduction*
Ehrensvärd Museum. The first resident of the home museum was Field Marshall Augustin Ehrensvärd. Shows an officer’s home from the Swedish period. €5, no reduction*
Submarine Visikko. Restored Finnish submarine that served in WW II. €5*
Suomenlinna Toy Museum
Customs Museum. In a former prison gives a history of customs and smuggling in Finland. Closed when I came. Opens at 12.30

Uspenski Cathedral. This is an Eastern Orthodox cathedral, the main cathedral of the Orthodox Church of Finland, dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos (the Virgin Mary). Its name comes from the Old Church Slavonic word uspenie, which denotes the Dormition. The cathedral was built in 1862–1868.
The Cathedral is set upon a hillside on the Katajanokka peninsula overlooking the city. On the back of the cathedral, there is a plaque commemorating Russian Emperor Alexander II, who was the sovereign of the Grand Duchy of Finland during the cathedral’s construction. The main cathedral of the Finnish Orthodox Church in the Diocese of Helsinki, Uspenski Cathedral is claimed to be the largest Orthodox church in Western Europe. In 2006, about 516,500 tourists visited the church.
This grand red brick church has green conical roofs and many gilt domes. I came back after the fortress to see the inside. It is an Orthodox church with great geometric on the arches, sides of the dome (blue with gold stars), freat marble columns, many framed portraits and a gilt iconostasis.
Helsinki City Museum  4^th floor: Dissent in Finland. 36,600 Fins died in WWI and 26,600 in the Winter War of 1939-40 against the Russians (Finland won). Vignettes of objectors. 2^nd floor: Helsinki Bites – 1930, skateboarding, liberalization of drinking laws in 1969, Prohibition from 1919-32 was a violent time in Helsinki, panoramas 1866, 1906, 1930. Free
Children’s Town is part of the Helsinki City Museum and a family favourite. Play in an 18th-century shop, write on a blackboard, or examine everyday artifacts in the 1970s grandma’s house.
Bank of Finland Museum. Counterfeit money: Napoleon distributed large amounts of counterfeit money as part of the war. A monetary history of Finland.  Free
Helsinki Cathedral. This massive white edifice dominates the skyline of Helsinki with its 6 huge columns per side. Built on a Greek cross plan, it is plain white with some decoration on the 4 arches and Corinthian capitals.
Finnish National Gallery (Ateneum). Modern 50s-70s. 1^st floor: self-portraits, landscape, portraits, 2^nd floor: East Asian (much pottery) and Finnish connection. Liked Albert Edelfelt (1854-1905). Great building with grand double central staircase, €17, 15 reduced*
Helsinki Central Station. This has an impressive arched/glass entrance and a great stone clock tower with a green domed top. Inside mirror the outside with a huge barrel-vaulted hall and arch/glass to the side. Art Nouveau. Tracks on the same level, Metro downstairs.

Kaisaniemi Botanical Garden. Many trees in the arboretum, lichens, mosses, and several glass houses.  €8, 6 reduction*
Mannerheim Statue. Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (1867–1951) was a Finnish military leader and statesman. Mannerheim served as the military leader of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War, Regent of Finland (1918–1919), commander-in-chief of Finland’s defense forces during World War II, Marshal of Finland, and the sixth president of Finland (1944–1946).
Mannerheim made a career in the Imperial Russian Army where he served for 30 years, rising to the rank of lieutenant general. After the Bolshevik revolution, Finland declared its independence but was soon embroiled in a civil war between the pro-Bolshevik “Reds” and the “Whites”, who were the troops of the Senate of Finland, supported by troops of the German Empire. Mannerheim was appointed the military chief of the Whites. Twenty years later, when Finland was twice at war with the Soviet Union from November 1939 until September 1944, Mannerheim successfully led the defense of Finland as commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces. In 1944, when the prospect of Germany’s defeat in World War II became clear, Mannerheim was elected President of Finland and oversaw peace negotiations with the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom. He resigned the presidency in 1946 and died in 1951.
In a Finnish survey 53 years after his death, Mannerheim was voted the greatest Finn of all time. Given the broad recognition in Finland and elsewhere of his unparalleled role in establishing and later preserving Finland’s independence from Russia, Mannerheim has long been referred to as the father of modern Finland, and the Finnish capital Helsinki’s Mannerheim Museum memorializing the leader’s life and times has been called “the closest thing there is to a [Finnish] national shrine”. In addition, he is the only Finn to have held the rank of field marshal, an honorary rank bestowed upon especially distinguished generals. A copper statue of a man on a horse atop a large rectangular block of granite. Dated 1867-1951). Just outside the doors of the Contemptible Art Museum.
Museum of Contemporary Art, Kiasma. OMG, worse than the usual pile of crap – and 5 floors of it. Beautiful building. €15, 13 reduced*

The Music Center (Musiikkitalo). This is the main concert hall. In a gorgeous building, the main concert venue seats 1,704 with two philharmonic orchestras giving 3 shows per week. Seating is in angled seats, a balcony, and behind the orchestra. There is a small concert hall in the basement that surrounds the stage.

Hakasalmi Villa. This house was built in 1843 and is now a museum about Helsinki and how it evolved from the Civil War of 1918-19 through the 1920s and prohibition (1919-1934). Very well done. €12, 10 reduced*
Finlandia Hall. is a congress and event venue in the centre of Helsinki on the Töölönlahti Bay. The building designed by architect Alvar Aalto, was completed in 1971. The versatile and flexible meeting, exhibition, festival and concert facilities of the Finlandia Hall offer a setting for both large international congresses and small-scale meetings and for various entertainment and public events. The Finlandia Hall has proved its ability to serve as a venue for several world congresses and as a forum for the world’s top economic and political leaders. The building itself is a popular attraction visited by thousands of tourists from all over the world every year. The building is owned by the City of Helsinki.
The main feature of the Finlandia Hall building is a tower-like section with a sloping roof that creates a high empty space providing better acoustics. A lattice ceiling hides the space to the audience but it allows the creation of the same deep post-echo as tall church towers. Marble in both indoor and outdoor surfaces was used instead of black granite.
The interior design of the building is a tribute to detail. The design of each lamp, piece of furniture, panel, flooring material and decorative board reflects the language of nature.
The main building houses the Main Auditorium (seats 1700), Helsinki Hall (seats 340), Terrace Hall (seats 250), Elissa Hall (seats 130), Aurora Hall (seats 894), Veranda (seats 1700), and Finlandia Restaurant, as well as Cafe Veranda (open to the public) and Galleria
This large conference centre was holding an EU conference and was blocked off.
National Museum of Finland. In “Inherit the Dust”, great panoramic photos are taken on black and white film by the medium format of Africa at its worst with wild African animal photos and large 10m high panels of wild animals. Africa is now developing economically and the animals suffer. He compares the extinction of the giant mammals roaming the earth prior to the arrival of man. History of Finland from the Middle Ages. €12, 9 reduced*
Helsinki Art Museum (HAM). Two Finnish women: Tove Jansson (creator of the Moomin comics – very good), and Ellen Thesleff who I didn’t. The White Room: Dress in white overalls and enter a white room with no external stimulation and “discover” yourself. Old people. €12, 10 reduced*
Tavastia. A rock music club, it features live music on Friday and Saturday nights costing anywhere from €12-24.
Forum. This shopping mall has about 340 shops and stores in 4 levels and a parkade. The highlight is the large glass skylight over the main escalator area.
Stockmann. Stockmann plc is a Finnish retailer established in 1862. Stockmann’s 8 company-owned department stores are in Finland (6), Estonia (1), and Latvia (1). There are an additional 9 Stockmann-branded department stores in Russia owned and operated by Reviva Holdings, with a license to use the Stockmann name until 2023.
The Stockmann, Helsinki centre flagship store covers 50,000 square metres (540,000 sq ft) of retail space and welcomes more than 17 million visitors every year. It is the largest department store in the Nordic countries.
Stockmann owns and manages 5 shopping malls with 142,000 square metres (1,530,000 sq ft) of gross leasable area, of which half is occupied by Stockmann. Lindex, owned by Stockmann, has 475 stores in 16 countries, including 39 franchised stores.
History. Stockmann was established by Georg Franz Stockmann, a merchant from Lübeck, Germany who took a job as a bookkeeper at a Nuutajärvi Glassworks store in Helsinki Senate Square. In 1859, Stockmann became the manager of the store. In 1862, Stockmann took control of the store and the Stockmann department store was officially established. In 1902, the company was renamed G.F. Stockmann Aktiebolag. The shareholders were Stockmann and his two sons, Karl and Frans. Stockmann died in 1906. In 1930, the Stockmann, Helsinki centre store was finished, complete with revolving doors, a soda fountain, and escalators. Also in 1930, Stockmann bought a neighbouring book store, Akateeminen kirjakauppa (Swedish: Akademiska bokhandeln, lit. Academic Bookstore). The first television transmission in Finland was broadcast from the department store in 1950.
In the 1950s, Stockmann opened a department store in Tampere. Stockmann opened department stores in Tapiola in 1981 and Turku in 1982. In 1986, the first “Hullut Päivät” (lit. crazy days) sales were held. The sales proved extremely popular and became a biannual event. The first Stockmann stores outside of Finland opened in Moscow in 1989, and in Tallinn in 1993. The northernmost department store, in Oulu, opened in 2001 and closed in 2017. In 1989, Stockmann began operations in Russia, with the opening of a small stand in the GUM department store in Moscow.
In December 2007, Stockmann acquired Lindex, a Swedish clothing retailer with 331 outlets in the Nordic region and the Baltic states. In February 2016, Stockmann sold its operations in Russia to Reviva Holdings. Stockmann continued to own and operate Nevsky Centre in Saint Petersburg until it was sold in January 2019.or on the outskirts of the city. I can’t remember a day when I saw so many awesome places. 

Kunsthalle. Susan Gottberg: wow, she paints with oil paint or colored pencil directly onto laminated wood so that the grain shows through like a transparency – fabrics, glass objects. All is for sale in the €3000-18,000 range.  One room also has her and Markus Karhe who collaborated on large 3x2m pieces painted on both sides and hanging from the ceiling. Meant to be sold together as an installation of €100,000. €12, 8 reduced*

Kaisa Talo is the library of the University of Helsinki built in 2012. From the 3^rd floor is a decreasing in size oval atrium that ascends to a smaller skylight above the 7^th floor that gives this library a spectacular look inside. A spiral staircase likewise is open and has a skylight. On the third floor of the building is the artwork Small Worlds. Free

Helsinki Telephone Company Building. The stone palace at Korkeavuorenkatu 35 is representative of granite buildings in the National Romantic style, which reached the peak of its popularity around the turn of the 20th century. Built for the Helsinki Telephone Company, it was finished in 1904. The exterior is covered with cut granite stones of many different shades, as well as smoothed soapstone of a light colour. The noteworthy features of the building include its magnificent staircase and the facade’s granite coating of stones of various colours and columns incised with decorative patterns. The main entrance is framed by a triangle. The exterior and interior of the stone palace were renovated and converted into modern office facilities in 2012.
Mannerheim Museum. Refer to the Mannerheim statue for a history of Gustav Mannerheim, possibly the main hero of the people of Finland. He rented this house for 26 years. I took a great tour that showed the house and much about his life as a military man and politician. He was a great hunter and there are critters from all over the world, several thankas from Nepal and all his military orders. His bed was as small military cot. €12, 10 reduced*
Ympyrätalo. (Swedish “Circle House”) is a 9-story circle-shaped office building located in the Hakaniemi district. The building is a local landmark. The building’s architecture has been seen as a high point in 1960s Finnish office building architecture. It is currently owned by the insurance company Ilmarine and tenants include an S-Market grocery store, an Alko liquor store, a Mehiläinen private clinic, the restaurant Rosso and a pharmacy.
Kallio Church. An Evangelical Lutheran church, the architecture is virtually identical to the Post Office building – cut granite stone façade with art deco decorated columns and features, and wood doors. Double curving stairs lead up to it. The bell tower is huge. Inside it is a grand barrel vault with geometrics decorating the arches and ribs of the vault. A woodcut sits behind the altar. I was all alone in this wonderful church. Free

Kulosaari. (pop 3,700)
This is an island and a suburb in Helsinki that is only 1.81 square kilometres.  Construction of villas on the island started in the beginning of the 20th century, and a bridge was opened in 1919. In 1982 Kulosaari got its own subway station, an original station of the Helsinki Metro. An important highway called Itäväylä, serving Helsinki’s eastern suburbs, goes through the island, cutting it in two halves. The area is still rather secluded and wealthy having mostly free-standing villas.

Helsinki Zoo, Korkeasaari: Located on an island, it was established in 1889, making it one of the earliest zoos in the world. Critters include all the usual with the only African animals, the big cats. One I haven’t seen in a zoo so far in Europe was a musk ox (which I have seen in the wild outside Cambridge Bay on Victoria Island in Arctic Canada.
Day tickets before 4 pm €18 (16 online), 12 reduced; after 4 pm €12, 8 reduced. Get there by car, bus or ferry from Market Square or Hakaniemi.
From the parking lot, it is about 1km to the zoo on a forest path, Buy tickets and then cross a pedestrian bridge. High-quality enclosures.
Korkee. Right at the parking lot is this amazing obstacle course/zip line mostly for kids. There is an obstacle course for little kids. Looked like great fun and a good way to lose fear of heights, and learn agility and balance.
Linnanmäki. A theme park in north Helsinki, I found the prices spectacularly expensive, especially for the short duration of the rides. One ride cost €9 and 6 rides €42. The most spectacular ride was a small roller coaster loop with a twist at the top – the ride went through the twist once. Another tower that accelerated to the top had one acceleration. Food was as expensive as elsewhere in Finland. A soft ice cream was €4. There are 11 restaurants and 10 small food kiosks.
SEA LIFE Aquarium. In the Linnanmäki theme park, admission to this was separate. There are 7 themed zones and a tunnel, but nothing spectacular. €16.50, no reduction. Not on the Museum Card but on the Helsinki Card.
Söderskär Lighthouse. Built during the Russian era in 1862, it is hexagonal, 6-storey, and 40m tall. It had 4 light keepers whose families all lived here but was automated in 1957, and has not been in service since 1989. It had a Fresnel lens and a stone bottom and brick upper. Way out on an island in the middle of the harbor, trips depart at 9 from the Central Market and 10:30 from Aurinkolahti in Vuosaar arriving at 11:45 and returning at 13:00. Only goes May to September. €75
I didn’t go here – it was an all-day trip and very expensive.

Day 4
My last day in Helsinki was another drive-about day.
Helsinki Tram Museum. Starting with horse-drawn trams in 1891, this small museum has 6 trams and discusses all the controversy of trams over their history. In the war with scarce petrol, trams were popular and received little competition from buses until the 1960s. Free
Sibelius Monument. Dedicated to the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865–1957), the monument is located at the Sibelius Park on the river. It consists of a series of more than 600 hollow and etched steel pipes welded together in a wave-like pattern. It is elevated off the bedrock base. A small metal sculpture of Sibelius sits next to it. The monument weighs 24 tonnes.  There were 13 tour buses here, almost all oriental.
Sibelius was a Finnish composer and violinist widely recognized as his country’s greatest composer and, through his music, is often credited with having helped Finland to develop a national identity during its struggle for independence from Russia.
The core of his oeuvre is his set of seven symphonies, which, like his other major works, are regularly performed and recorded in his home country and internationally. His other best-known compositions are Finlandia, the Karelia Suite, Valse triste, the Violin Concerto, the choral symphony Kullervo, and The Swan of Tuonela (from the Lemminkäinen Suite). Other works include pieces inspired by nature, Nordic mythology, and the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, over a hundred songs for voice and piano, incidental music for numerous plays, the opera Jungfrun i tornet (The Maiden in the Tower), chamber music, piano music, Masonic ritual music, and 21 publications of choral music.
Sibelius composed prolifically until the mid-1920s, but after completing his Seventh Symphony (1924), the incidental music for The Tempest (1926) and the tone poem Tapiola (1926), he stopped producing major works in his last thirty years, a stunning and perplexing decline commonly referred to as “The Silence of Järvenpää”, the location of his home.

The Aalto House. This was the architectural office of Alvar Aalto from 1954-55 and 1962-63. Seen by guided tour only. This is a big white house with a sloping roof in a residential neighborhood of north Helsinki. €18, 9 reduced. Not part of the Museum Card
Times of tours: May – Sept. Tuesday to Sunday tours at 11:30, 12:30 and 13:30. Open every day in August. Book tickets at www.shop.alvaraalto.fi
Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (1898-1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings, though he never regarded himself as an artist, seeing painting and sculpture as “branches of the tree whose trunk is architecture.” Aalto’s early career runs in parallel with the rapid economic growth and industrialization of Finland during the first half of the twentieth century and many of his clients were industrialists; among these were the Ahlström-Gullichsen family. The span of his career, from the 1920s to the 1970s, is reflected in the styles of his work, ranging from Nordic Classicism of the early work, to a rational International Style of Modernism during the 1930s to a more organic modernist style from the 1940s onwards.
What is typical for his entire career, however, is a concern for design as a Gesamtkunstwerk, a total work of art; whereby he – together with his first wife Aino Aalto – would design not just the building, but give special treatment to the interior surfaces and design furniture, lamps, and furnishings and glassware. His furniture designs are considered Scandinavian Modern using wood, and simplification. He held patents for various manufacturing processes, such as bentwood. The Alvar Aalto Museum, designed by Aalto himself, is located in what is regarded as his home city Jyväskylä.
In Helsinki, his most famous work is Finlandia Hall.

Museum of Technology (Tekniikan Museo). On an island in the middle of a river, presents the history of technology and industry in Finland from the late 19th century to the present day. It shows the history of various branches of industry (metal, chemical, wood-processing, mining, building) communications, computer technology, domestic appliances and electric power technology, printing and surveying. The numerous permanent and special exhibitions are held in a delightful old industrial milieu on a beautiful stretch of river. The Power Station Museum located in the area is  open from spring to autumn according to the Technical Museum opening hours. €8, 6 reduced*

Central Park. Covering a thousand hectares, Central Park runs ten kilometres from Töölönlahti Bay in the centre to Haltiala on the northern outskirts of the city. In the city centre, it consists of urban cultural parks, its extensive central section is mainly recreational forests, while in Haltiala there are primeval forests and agricultural landscapes. There are four nature reserves in the park: the deciduous forests in Pitkäkoski and Ruutinkoski, Haltiala primeval forest and Niskala arboretum. The part I saw was a mature forest with walking trails. Free

SEURASAARI
Once belonging to the Hindernas estate, the city purchased the island in 1871. It had excellent clay and had a brickworks in the early 19^th century. It was a people’s park in from 1898-1918 and had two dance pavilions and other buildings. A bridge was built in 1892 to provide access. The island is lovely with a seaside walk.
Seurasaari Open Air Museum. Established in 1909, it covers ⅓ of the island. 87 buildings typical of Finland’s traditional architecture were moved here from all over the country. Most are log-on stone foundations with shingled roofs, and all have traditional furniture and equipment. Many have extendable beds. Enter the Halle (Lapland), the 1830 Manor House, water-driven saw mill, the Karuna Church from 1685-6 (the candle holders were extended arms, an unusual sundial over the front door, and pine tar roof) with its 1750s bell tower, a tenant farm, the Ivar’s farm, and a bear cache. All buildings have a sign with the providence of the building. €10, 7 reduced*
Seurasaari Open Air Museum Windmills. The Ladies Mill resembles a woman’s dress (conical with triangular windows) dates from 1894 and was operational until 1940. The top was able to rotate into the wind with a gearing mechanism inside. It was closed.
The Magpie Mill had an extended beam used to rotate the tiny top over a larger log building.

Tamminniemi (Urho Kekkonen House). Built in 1904 as a residence, from 1940, this was the official residence of several presidents of Finland (Risto Ryti, CGE Mannerhiem, and Urho Kekkonen -1956-81 who also retired to the house and died in 1986 – and decorated in his style). I arrived for a guided tour, including the famous sauna. €10, 7 reduced

Didrichsen Art Museum. Exhibition by Marita Liulia (musterium”, abstracts about climate change. Photographs and women’s gowns. Not great.
Downstairs some pre-Columbian Meso-American art with some interesting pieces. Good sculpture outside with pieces by Henry Moor. €10, 8 reduced*

ESPOO (pop 285,000)
is the second largest city in Finland, part of the Finnish Capital Region bordering Helsinki to the east. along with Vantaa to the northeast, and Kauniainen to the west. The national park of Nuuksio is situated in northwestern Espoo. Espoo does not have a traditional city center, having instead several local regional centers.
The name Espoo comes from the Swedish name for the River Espoo, a “river bordered by aspen”.
In 1920, Espoo was only a rural agricultural municipality of about 9,000 inhabitants, of whom 70% were Swedish-speaking. Espoo started to grow rapidly in the 1940s and ’50s as industry moved in. Due to its proximity to Helsinki, Espoo soon became popular amongst people working in the capital. In the fifty years from 1950 to 2000, the population of Espoo grew from 22,000 to 210,000. In 2006, the Swedish-speaking inhabitants represented barely 9% of the total population.
Demographics. The population by citizenship in 2017 was 89.5% Finnish and 10.5% other nationalities. Religious affiliation was 53.6% Lutheran, 4.3% other, and 42.1% no religious affiliation. Espoo contains many high-income suburbs, and six out of the ten highest average income postal code areas in Finland are in Espoo.
Immigrants and language. In 2017, there were 44,935 residents with a foreign background. The largest groups are from Estonia, Russia Iraq, Somalia, China, India, Yugoslavia, Sweden, and Iran.
Public transport. Espoo is well-served by public transport, through the Helsinki commuter rail network, the Helsinki Metro’s Länsimetro extension opened in November 2017, and buses provided by Helsingin seudun liikenne. In 2024 the orbital Jokeri light rail line will connect Espoo to eastern Helsinki.
WeeGee House (Espoo Cultural Centre). This renovated old print house was named after book print company Weilin & Göös. It houses is a complex of 4 museums of which EMMA is the biggest, a clock museum, a toy museum, and the City Museum of Espoo. €10, 8 reduced for all 4 museums*
EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art. Players is a documentary about a group of five high-stakes Finnish, Swedish, and American poker players who live in Bangkok. They live in Scandi Tower and talk about lifestyle, Thai women, and how everything depends on gambling and betting.
The rest of the art was typical – some good and most bad.
Sello. This modern 4-story shopping mall in NE Espoo has a glass roof over the central atrium and moving walkways instead of escalators. All the usual stores.
Gallen-Kallela Museum. In the NM House Museums/Plantations series, Akseli Gallen-Kallela was a Finnish artist (1865-1931) who produced ryijy rugs, paintings, stained glass, sculpture and prints. The house was finished in 1913 and he lived here at various times. A lot of his art had to do with mysticism, spirits, and automatic writing, Besides living in many places in Finland, he lived in Taos, Chicago, Barcelona, Cairo, Nairobi, Madagasgar, Venice, and Budapest. Berlin, Copenhagen. London and Paris. Upstairs are some of his personal effects. Exhibit on Kirilian photography. Climb up to the 3^rd and 4^th floors of the “tower”. Outside may be the best – stick sculptures by Jenni Tieaho of horses and Viking ships. €9, 7 reduced*

VANTAA (pop 229,000)
The fourth most populated city of Finland, it is part of the inner core of the Finnish Capital Region along with Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen. Helsinki is to the south; Espoo to the southwest; Nurmijärvi to the northwest; Kerava and Tuusula to the north; and Sipoo to the east. The city encompasses 240.35 km2.
Heureka is the Finnish Science Center also with exhibits on giant dinosaurs, looking after your brain, the best of Heureka over the years, electricity, and the Planetarium. With a 17.5m dome and 3 projector systems, this is a state-of-the-art planetarium. The shows are in Finnish but headphones provide 3 other languages. €10, 8 reduced*

Day 5
PORVOO
Provoo s a city and a municipality situated on the southern coast of Finland approximately 50 kilometres east of Helsinki. It is one of the six medieval towns in Finland, first mentioned as a city in texts from the 14th century. Porvoo is the seat of the Swedish-speaking Diocese of Borgå of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.

The municipality’s official languages are Finnish and Swedish. In 2014, 64.6% of the population spoke Finnish as their native language, while 30.1% were Swedish speakers. 5.4% had a different native language.
Old Porvoo. The Porvoo Old Town is a popular tourist destination, known for its well-preserved 18th and 19th-century buildings and 15th-century cathedral, the Porvoo Cathedral. The Old Town is recognized as historically and culturally significant as one of the National landscapes of Finland.
This is quite a large area of Porvoo with pedestrianized narrow cobbled streets and one and two-storied houses, most painted red or yellow with white trim.
Porvoo Doll and Toy Museum. On 2 floors in a tiny house, this has glass cases crammed with toys and dolls. Private €4, 2 reduced.
Porvoo Museum. In two separate buildings. Holmin talo (house) has local art by Valle Rosenberg and a furnished house upstairs. The Old Town Hall has archaeology, natural history, glass, jewelry, and more art upstairs by Valle Rosenberg (who died when he was 29) and ethnography with dollhouses and toys. €8, 6 reduced
Runeberg Museum. This has a play area for kids and a lovely garden full of crabapple trees, ferns and flowers. This house was owned by Johan Runeberg (1807-77) who raised his family of 6 sons here. The house has 10 rooms and a kitchen. It has been a museum since 1882 making it the oldest museum in Finland. It contains art, artifacts, his library and manuscripts. Runeberg’s poetry is old-fashioned and not read much, but one is the national anthem of Finland and he helped forge a national identity. €8, 6 reduced*
Postimäki. This open-air museum has 16 log and framed buildings, most moved here from nearby and dating from as early as the 1760s. Many houses had crafts (blacksmith, straw braiding, weaving, shoemaking). On stone foundations, most have sheet asphalt roofs. Most were heated by wood-burning stoves or ovens, got water from a well and did laundry in the river. The theatre has open sides and is used for productions in the summer. All have great providences telling the building’s history. It is about 8kms NE of Porvoo. €5, 2 reduced*

Loviisa Windmill, Loviisa. This is not easy to find and I had to ask directions twice to find it. I sits on the highest hill around directly above the collection of restaurants and shops on the lake. Drive up a few streets and go to the highest point, then walk through the woods. In a small park, it is big, red with black vanes, and sits on a stone base. The top rotates. There are no signs or information and the door was locked.

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Strömfors (Stromfors is Swedish, Ruotsinpyhtää is Finnish).
This village is located in the province of Southern Finland. The municipality has a population of 2,893 and covers an area of 470.03kms2 of which 193.36 km2 is water. The population density is 10.46 inhabitants per km2. The municipality was bilingual, with the majority being Finnish and the minority Swedish speakers.
After the Treaty of Åbo in 1743 the border between Sweden and the Russian Empire was drawn on the Ahvenkoski rapid, dividing Pyhtää between the two states. Due to this the western side became known as Ruotsinpyhtää (Swedish Pyhtää). In 1744 Jakob Forsell and Anders Nohrström bought the local ironworks, which was renamed Strömfors after their surnames. In 1817 Strömfors became the official Swedish name for the municipality.
The Ruotsinpyhtää church was built in 1771 from wood. The church was renovated in 1898 to its current gothic revival appearance.
This small town full of cute red buildings is centered around the Stromfors Iron Works and forge.

Iitti. In the NM “small town” series, it is a municipality in southern Finland, apart of the Kymenlaakso region. The municipality has a population of 6,756  and covers an area of 687.09 km2 of which 97.27 km2 is water. The population density is 11.45 inhabitants per square kilometre. The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Neighbour municipalities are Heinola, Kouvola, Lapinjärvi, Lahti, and Orimattila.
In 1990, the center of Iitti, which surrounds the old parish church, was voted the most attractive kirkonkylä (“church village”) in Finland.

Verla Groundwood and Board Mill.
In 1872, on the Manyharju River in Verla, a small groundwood and board mill was built. It was enlarged in 1882, a fire destroyed it in the 1880s and it was reconstructed in brick. Horses were used to bring the logs up from the river, they were cut into ½m lengths, barked, and then went to the grinders that could handle 17 cubic meters of wood per day. Water was added and the pulp entered “wet lap” machines that used screens and produced 70x100cm sheets. The sheets were pressed using rollers and 78° heat – this energy consumed 8X as much wood as that used to make the pulp. They were then dried for 3 weeks in a drying loft, a job done by women. Calendar machines rolled the sheets flat and produced a glazed surface. Each sheet was sorted individually and eventually exported to Russia, Great Britain, and Europe. 5 tonnes of pulpwood were produced daily and used hand labour throughout.
Of the 100 employees, 40% were women. Employees lived in mill housing, there was an elementary school and progressively for 1890, a social program.
The mill was probably outdated in 1922 when new owners bought the mill as the entire process was very labour-intensive. The mill closed in 1964, long after it was economically viable. The last shift had only 8 employees, all over 70. It was turned into a museum in 1992 and declared a WHS in 1996.
This can only be seen by guided tour, there were no English tours available so I joined the Finnish tour, followed along with a summary card and watched the video with subtitles. After seeing the video with people running the machines, the tour was quite boring as not one word was said in English, but the ancient machinery was interesting as the mill is completely intact. €10, 8 reduced*

Repovesi National Park. Formerly a site for intensive commercial forestry, the Repovesi area successfully transformed into a pristine national park. Pine and birch trees dominate the park. Repovesi abounds with wildlife including bear, deer and various birds. The River Koukunjoki flows through the park. Other streams and lakes are also situated within the boundaries of the park.
Attractions include the Olhavanvuori Hill, popular among climbers, and the Kultareitti water taxi route. Also located in the park are the Kuutinlahti bay with its restored timber rafting channels, the Lapinsalmi suspension bridge, and many observation towers.
The common fauna of the park include the red-throated diver, the Eurasian lynx, the moose, many owls, and several galliformes.

KOUVOLA
Tykkimäki Theme Park. This amusement park has 3 adult rides, 11 teen rides, and 5 rides for small kids, along with 11 food venues and games. €35 for all the rides, €25 for 6 rides, €26 after 4pm, €6 for individual ride.
Has an associated Aquapark and campground (2 nights with 2 bracelets €155).

LAPPEENRANTA
Lapeenranta Art Museum. Almost all local art, especially Vaino Rautio (1894-1974), is not that great. Liisa Laari more interesting. €10, 8 reduced*
South Karelia Museum. Basically an ethnography museum but also some archaeology, and natural history with a great stuffed brown bear. All labels in Finnish but some English cards. In an old fort in the north end of the city.
The other side has local history and a spectacular 1:500-scale replica of Vyborg that took 12 years to construct. €10, 8 reduced*
Calvary Musuem. Finland fought with Sweden from 1555 to 1720 against Poland, Lithuania and Russia in several wars, The Battle of Poltava in 1720 ended the Swedish empire. Starting in 1797, Finnland fought with Russia. The exhibits end with the 1939-40 Winter War against Russia which Finland won. €10, 8 reduced*
Karelia Aviation Museum (Ilmailumuseo). This quaint museum has 4 Finnish Air Force jets, 2 small private jets, and a helicopter outside and 4 small quansit huts with odd paraphernalia. All labels are in Finnish. Private €5

Imatran Taidermuseum. This is an art museum with mostly Finnish artists with some nice abstracts but also my favourite Eduard Wilraut?. Free.
The drive to the sculpture garden was in SE Finland right next to the Russian border.
Nummi: Kovelan traktorimuseo

Rönkkönen Sculpture Garden (Parikkala Sculpture Park), Parikkala. Vejo Rönkkönen (1944-2010) was a recluse artist who did his first cement sculpture in 1961 and then did them full-time after his mother died, all here in the home he lived in since birth. There are 560 life-size sculptures, all painted and all unusual. The most special are the 200 or so men doing yoga poses and the 100 children doing gymnastics and lining the area around the house. The children’s parade and 30 line the driveway entering from the highway. There are animals, people flower pots, and many other unusual creations. The sculptures are not particularly lifelike but have an otherworldly quality with blank, sunken glass eyes and real teeth. Nonhuman figures include large treelike structures with cone-shaped branches. The gardens themselves are quite beautiful.
While he lived, Rönkkönen was known as something of a recluse. Despite his status as a small-town paper mill worker, however, he was incredibly well-read and was said to have experienced the world through the page, and the many ethnicities of his statues suggest this. Though he never discouraged visitors, he remained aloof from the tourism activities that cropped up in response to the public’s interest in his unusual collection. Despite requests, he refused to showcase his work outside his private residence.
Following the artist’s death, the sculpture garden and accompanying property was purchased by Finnish businessman Reino Uusitalo who visits about once a year and maintained by a pleasant fellow who sells art, books, and T-shirts and had a donation box (€2-5 suggested). In the NM “Bizzarium” series, this is one place not to miss and is right on the main highway with picnic tables and lots of parking.

GO TO FINLAND North and East