Finnished With a Picnic
July 6th, 2016
We woke up today to notice that there were Finnish flags hanging right outside our window and all along the streets. As we walked around we noticed so many we decided to look up the date and saw that today is one of Finland’s Flag Days which we assume are like national holidays for us. Today they are celebrating the birthday of Eino Leino, a Finnish poet. We have noticed that Helsinki is very proud of their literary history and most of the statues we look up are of writers as well.
The Finnish flags flying high in from of the Helsinki Cathedral
Martin Luther overlooking the awesome organ at Helsinki Cathedral
It was a gorgeous day and we decided to spend the day exploring. The city is fairly small and between walking and tram we have gotten around very easily. The day quickly became a day for us to visit all the churches of Helsinki. We walked over to the Helsinki Cathedral. We walked up a massive set of stairs into the church which is all white with green domes. It is a Lutheran cathedral and was very simple and peaceful, especially compared to the ornate churches of St. Petersburg.
They were about to begin an organ recital so we took a seat and enjoyed the music. Next, we walked over to the Upsenky Cathedral which was nearby and a drastic difference in style. This church apparently used to be more Russian style, with the onion domes, but they changed the look of the church after their independence from Russia. This one was much more elaborate and full of gold, statues, and chandeliers. Apparently it is also the largest Orthodox church in Western Europe, which is surprising as it was very small.
We walked through Market Square’s outdoor market and decided to try reindeer for the first time since it was on every menu. We found a stand and ordered reindeer meatballs and took a seat in their cafe area. The meatballs were very good and tasted like smoked sausage that were fried. We made our way to the indoor section of the market in Old Market Hall and on the way even saw a woman selling fish right out of the back of her boat. Inside the market, we noticed it was the cleanest more organized market we have visited. All the food looked incredible so we loaded up for lunch and dinner.
Our first sight of people selling fish right off the boats!
We headed to Sibelius Park, where we saw the monument in Jean Sibelius’ name as well. We enjoyed a picnic of some of the items we had bought from the market including, smoked reindeer, salt cured salmon with pepper, and some pastries.
Yes it's a picture of food, but it reflects the people, and it was delicious (a little salty too).
Next, we resumed our church tour by going to the Temppeliasukio Church, or the Church of the Rock. The architecture was stunning and is all surrounded by the natural rock of the area. The dome is covered in copper and the natural light streaming added to the natural feel of the whole church. There was a choir practicing while we were there so we got to hear how incredible the acoustics were in the space.
Temppeliasukio Church, just stunning!
For our final church stop, we went to the Kamppi or Silent Chapel. The outside of the building definitely stood out right in the center of the main section of the city. The entire structure is made out of wood and is meant to be a place for silent reflection and a spot to calm down in the busiest area of the city.
Kamppi. It was amazing how silent it was for how much was going on outside.
For dinner, we headed back to our AirBNB where we have a kitchen so we decided to cook some of the food we had bought at the market earlier. Really, Anna cooked while Chuck worked on pictures. We made salmon, chanterelle mushrooms and white asparagus. The food was all incredibly fresh and while it was interesting to cook in a kitchen where you know where nothing is, everything came out great!
Overall it was a lovely day in Helsinki! The weather could not have been any nicer andwe have enjoyed such a relaxing time.
