After a much needed night of rest in our tight ships
quarters, the group was ready to hit Helsinki and see what Finland had to
offer. Breakfast was provided to those who were up early enough on the ship
while others enjoyed a few more minutes of floating shut eye. The morning began
with a bus tour of the city organized by the cruise line which allowed us to
gather some background information and knowledge about several key places
around town. The gorgeous weather seems to have followed us from Stockholm since
we found ourselves rolling our jeans up and soaking up the rare Finnish sun.
After beginning our urban hiking explorations through the city center, we
decided that Helsinki seemed much more like a conglomerate of architectural
styles and languages than the cities we’ve already visited. The conclusion was
reached as a group that the geographical location of the city in relation to
the rest of many European and Western Asian cultures led to this. It wasn’t
necessarily a bad thing, but it did provide a certain amount of visual
confusion.
One thing that Helsinki is known for is its expansive
markets along the waterfront. According to several shop owners, these tents are
set up nearly every day offering a diverse range of fruits, vegetables, meats,
and other hand crafted items. The amount of character and life that was added
to what would have otherwise been a dull underutilized space was incredible.
Locals and tourists alike intermingled and shared stories giving the waterfront
a strong and very personal identity. Many strawberries, cherries, flowers, and
euros later we headed out to check out the park system downtown.
One banded linear park ran perpendicular to the waterfront,
slicing through downtown and providing an enjoyable promenade type atmosphere.
The park was set up to allow many functions ranging from concerts to café
seating to lawn lounging. This combination of uses made the space feel
comfortable and safe whether there were 10 or 1000 people occupying it. The
park had one 40’ wide path bisecting it across its axis (hot dog style for you
non designers) which had benches set up along either side facing each other.
This created an almost red carpet like atmosphere which promoted people
watching. To say we saw some interesting characters would be an understatement.
After receiving some architectural and structural lessons from Kristy on some
of the new buildings in the area we were ready to call it a day and get back on
the cruise ship before dinner. Our travels to Helsinki may have been short, but
the memories we made along the way will last a long time.
Ross
