Woolly says – We’d arrived in Helsinki, Finland late in the afternoon after a short flight from Stockholm. Having lost an hour, it was starting to get dark in the city so having found our hostel the only think we could do was find some food and settle in for the night.

Helsinki is the capital and most populated city in Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, located 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Tallinn, Estonia, 400 km (250 mi) east of Stockholm, Sweden, and 300 km (190 mi) west of Saint Petersburg, Russia. It has close historical ties with all three cities.

We were up and out early and had planned to buy croissants from the nearby supermarket for a walking breakfast, we had however not realised that it was Sunday, and the shops door was firmly closed. We set of to see the capital and hopefully find fuel before I expired from lack of nourishment.

With a handy map in paw, we wandered along the Esplanadi colloquially known as Espa, an esplanade and urban park, designed by the architect Carl Ludwig Engel, the park was originally opened in 1818. It was built as a fire break after a disastrous fire in 1808 nearly wiped out the city and today it proved a pleasant walk allowing us to admire the fine buildings on either side.

A large statue sat in centre stage in celebration of Johan Ludvig Runeberg, the national poet of Finland, whilst at the far end we found a wonderful water feature known as Havis Amanda which was added to the park in 1908, we admired the four sea lions surrounding it.  

Arriving in Market Square where the stall holders were setting up their wares, we looked out over the water which is never far away in the Baltic countries. Turning our backs to the sea we headed through one of the smaller roads into Senate Square.

Senate Square and its surrounding area make up the oldest part of central Helsinki and is most famous for the neoclassical architecture of the Cathedral. The church was originally built between 1830 and 1852 as a tribute to the Grand Duke of Finland, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia.

We climbed the steep steps and took time to admire the friezes that decorated the top of the building as we walked around the incredibly white building.

Climbing back down we stood and admired the large statue of Alexander II which depicts the former Grand Duke of Finland giving a speech at the 1863 Diet of Finland that he had assembled, wearing the uniform of an officer of the Finnish Guards’ Rifle Battalion. Each side of the statue had some impressive statues representing four different virtues – Law, work, Peace and Light. We both agreed that it was a fine piece of work as did the people of Helsinki when it was revealed in April 1894. The revelation was a great patriotic demonstration in his memory, who the Finns saw as a noble ruler who had sought to limit the autocracy of the Mother Russia.

Knowing that we would be back in the area later in the day we ambled along the roads which were still quiet and peaceful at this time in the morning with only an odd tram rattling by.

We passed the train station where we had pulled into yesterday and paused to admire its architecture, designed by Eliel Saarinen and inaugurated in 1919, Helsinki Central was chosen as one of the world’s most beautiful railway stations by BBC in 2013, and I could only agree with their assessment. Just at that moment my tummy let out a loud groan as did Jo’s and luckily for both of us a warm looking café was opening its doors and the smell of fresh baking seeped into my nostrils.

With coffee, juices and croissants consumed Jo put on the twenty layers required for the outside and we set off to find our next destination. Old and new buildings living side by side as the city continued to grow together although with a rather strange looking rolls Royce that was parked nearby. Passing a building with a large seagull on its foyer roof we debated what the company using the building did, bird seed maybe or signs to warn you not to feed the gulls.

We seemed to be passing through a more touristy area given the number of souvenir shops and as we passed each one my small friend would rush up to the windows and peer through before shouting ‘Moomin’. I began to wish I hadn’t told hi about the Moomins of my childhood, The Moomins are a family of white and roundish trolls with large snouts, they live an adventurous life in the idyllic and peaceful Moominvalley in harmony with nature. The Moomins are the central characters in a series of novels, short stories, and a comic strip by Finnish writer and illustrator Tove Jansson, which were books that my Father had read to me as a young child. Hearing the cry of ‘Moomin’ for the tenth time I took the mammoth by the paw and led up the steps and into the grounds of The National Museum of Finland.

Woolly says – As the human took pictures of the outside of the museum, I considered how many Moomins we might get into our baggage before being rudely interrupted in my thoughts by the need to go inside and discover something more about the country. The building of the National Museum reflects Finland’s medieval churches and castles. The architecture belongs to national romanticism period and was constructed from 1905 to 1910 and opening to the public in 1916.

As Jo paid for her ticket, I heard her splutter in disbelieve at the fifteen euro fee and mutter that it had better be worth it as I admired the artwork on the domed ceiling.

With a map in hand we headed downstairs to start our tour, a golden tore which had been found in 1770 dated back to the iron age looked most impressive, as we moved into the area providing information on the stone age a lady approached and told my carer that she could leave her bags and coats in the cloakroom, ‘thank you’ said my girl ‘I’m fine’ before moving off, this didn’t appear to satisfy the lady who then told her to put her bag on her front and make sure that her sticky label which the ticket office had given her was visible at all times. Jo smiled and nodded and moved on.

Several minutes passed and we were both engrossed in the large collection of iron age gadgets and pots when ‘Karen’ arrived back, ‘you can take picture here’ she informed my human who nodded politely and led me into a small area with a number of skulls. Karen came back, ‘these were found in a cemetery in Levanluhta’ she told us, ‘Thank you’ said my human and led me towards some iron age jewellery that had been put into graves for the afterlife.

Karen came back, I looked up at Jo and could see that her jaw was locked in a smiling mode but that her eyes were saying something very different, not a look I ever like to have pointed my way. We ignored Karen who was stood next to us and shuffled towards some wonderful swords that showed real craftmanship when Karen piped up again, ‘I can’t see your badge’, Jo moved her pack from her front to reveal the sticker, removed it from her jacket put it onto the bag, put the bag back on her front and turned to Karen, ‘is that ok?’ her voice was frosty. Karen nodded and followed us into the next section of the exhibits.

This area was dedicated to the medieval times in Finland and held some beautiful carved statues, as we turned away from admiring one of Olaf, Karen was hot on our heels, ‘you can take a picture of each statue’ she said, I ran, as Jo turned and stared at Karen, ‘I’m sorry’ she said ‘do I need to be escorted? Am I not able to look at the museum in peace and quiet? Is my sticker not on display?’ Karen opened her mouth, but Jo continued ‘please leave us alone and go and annoy someone else before I feel the need to find your manager and make a complaint which would certainly take a long time and spoil my time in what could be a great museum if I WAS ALLOWED TO SEE IT’. At this my human turned and walked away leaving Karen to debate her next actions, I just hoped for Karen’s sake she got the message.

A few deep breathes and I joined Woolly who had found a stone eye god hoping that the women would go away.

Woolly says – We looked at a beautiful pulpit carved from wood and beautifully decorated and some more lovely statues; Karen hovered at a distance.

A huge golden frieze told us the tale of Barbara who had converted to Christianity and had all manner of awful things done to her in her quest of faith, it was wonderful, the frieze that is not what they did to her.

We mounted the stairs to the next floor and I looked behind to see if Karen would dare to follow us, she stood at the bottom of the steps looking up, but it appeared that she was remaining there, we speeded up and headed into to area that contained a large suit of armour very unlike the silver ones I have seen previously and a wonderful ceiling painting which had been rescued from a house that was being demolished.

A room completely covered in painting of the rich and famous from Finland greeted us with a small annexe displaying the throne used by Alexander I.

Next came some lovely stoves that would have once warmed a Finnish home.

With no sign of our Karen we started to look at Finland’s more modern history, the poor country has really gone through a lot from being owned by Sweden and fighting to become a separate country in its own right to being run by Russia and then very nearly going bankrupt in 1993, strangely it was the invention of the Nokia phone that stopped this and the country started to thrive.

Passing through a mock up of a sauna, the Finns favourite thing to do apparently, and the ladles used in it, we arrived at a small display with…..

….Moomins, it made my day.

Heading back out into the cold we headed uphill to the Temppeliaukion Church or the Rock Church as it is known, a1960s church excavated into rock. A Lutheran church, plans had begun as early as the 1930s when a plot of land was selected for the building and a competition for the design was held. The plan by J. S. Siren, the winner of the second competition to design the architecture of the church, was interrupted in its early stages when World War II began in 1939. After the war, there was another architectural competition, subsequently won by Timo Suomalainen and Tuomo Suomalainen in 1961. For economic reasons, the suggested plan was scaled back, and the interior space of the church then reduced to about one-quarter of its original plan. Construction finally began in February 1968, and the rock-temple was completed for consecration in September 1969.

From the outside it didn’t really look like much but entering the building and paying over another load of euro’s I found it to be a beautifully serene place with a bronze roof and a large organ. The rock face was clearly visible, and we sat for a while enjoying the quietness of the place. With nothing more to see we headed back down the hill.

Passing the Parliament building, I decided that it was time for a drink and a break and knew just the place.

Opened in 1971 it was one of the oldest of this worldwide franchise and a place that we loved to stop in on all of our travels. Having admired the memorabilia, we found a seat under the band Kiss and sat back for a well-deserved drink.

Feeling much revived we headed off for our last port of call, walking back along the esplanade and through the market which was selling tourist souvenirs of Finland.

Woolly says – Uspenski Cathedral or the Russian Orthodox cathedral, sat high above us on a rock with its green domes and golden globes it looked rather good.

The cathedral was designed by the Russian architect Aleksey Gornostayev (1808 to1862) and was built after his death between 1862 and 1868 and was inaugurated on 25 October 1868.

Climbing up the steps we headed inside, it was stunning. Its high centre dome was beautifully painted as was the arched roof.

The walls showed us pictures of saints and of chapters from the bible.

The altar a work of art decorated with gold set off by a huge chandelier, it was much smaller than I expected but wonderful all the same.

With everything done and countless miles walked it seemed like a good idea to find somewhere to eat and enjoy the last few hours in the lovely city of Helsinki.