I took a flight to Helsinki in the evening on Christmas Eve 2006, via Finnair. By the time we left our stopover in Bangkok everyone on board had an entire row to stretch out and sleep.
Helsinki-Vantaa airport on Christmas morning was a ghost town - I waited 3 hours (until 10am) to get onto the bus to the Helsinki city centre. Amazingly there was no snow - it was an unusually warm season.
The Rautatientori (railway station square). All journeys lead unto here.
Time for everything on the city map to come alive. Uspenski Cathedral, which was near our Eurohostel on Katajanokka.
Uspenski with Tuomiokirkko (a Lutheran Cathedral) in the distance
Sunset on Katajanokka Bay, at 3 in the afternoon, with an empty Kauppatori market square in the foreground.
A moving doll display at Stockmann departmental store.
The landmark Tuomiokirkko
Met a nervous kikq at the West Ferry Terminal that evening, and had our first real lip balm-coated kiss. We continued exploring the next day (no I'm not going to insert any of the saucy details here).
We walked west of out hostel again. Here's the Amanda Harvis fountain.
Strangers feeding swans in the sea.
And we headed further north. Now at the Kansallismuseo (National Museum which was closed that day).
And the view from the top of Temppeliaukio, a church hewn from solid rock in the nearby neighbourhood. So nearly killed myself doing this climb on the icy rock.
We took a bus to the old capital of Turku on the West Coast on Wednesday.
Kamppi bus station in Helsinki (for the bus freaks). There was a stall selling Singaporean food for 10 Euros per huge plate, but I didn't come all the way here to eat food from home.
We spent a couple of days in Turku, where there was no snow either. I learnt not to try to flag down a taxi by the roadside. This was their Kauppatori - life had returned after Christmas. We bought a pink rose from the florist.
And the Kauppahalli (market hall). Everything from candy to kebabs to pizza to sushi to cheese, mustard and reindeer meat is available here.
The Aurajoki that runs through the city.
The oldest surviving part of Turku, dating from the 1700s, now a UNESCO heritage site and a handicrafts market. (Closed on that day unfortunately)
The magnificent Turun cathedral.
We spent Friday afternoon back in Helsinki eating and catching up with friends on the Internet before heading to Rovaniemi on the overnight train. Our cabin was very cosy, ideal for intimacy even with a noisy young Russian family next door. There were great views of the widerness of the Lake Region from the window but it would have been easier to see in the daytime.
Rovaniemi, the wee town that is the gateway to Lapland. Snow at last! Scenery around the station on Saturday morning:
We put up at Guesthouse Borealis, which is a short walk from the station. Took a longer walk north to the Martiini Knife Gallery and the Arktikum (Arctic Museum). One of the galleries at the latterwas under renovation, and we were charged a cheaper admission fee!
New Year's Eve was spent at Santa Claus Village just within the Arctic Circle. The circle is marked by the electric blue line in the first photo.
Long queues to see an imposter.
Huskies and wolfdogs!
Entrance to the village, taken just before we left.
Snowfall!
The world's northernmost McCrapper, in the Rovaniemi town centre (with a sign proclaiming so)
People set off their own fireworks, in addition to the "official" pyrotechnics at midnight. I was too drunk to take any photos of those. Well, here's the Christmas market on New Year's Day.
Is that an aurora, or just a reflection?
We took another overnight train back to Helsinki, and I reluctantly sent kikq on her way back to Estonia at the ferry terminal. After that I did more walking of my own.
The Espanadi (Statues of Johann Runeberg and Maid of Finland)
Fazer - a chocolate lover's heaven.
Shelves and shelves of porn in R-Kiosk (convenience store chain).
Sculpture of The Three Smiths by Felix Nylund.
At the far end of the city, the Jean Sibelius monument.
Ducks in a puddle.
Kansallismuseo was open this time. Here's one-quarter of the ceiling fresco, depicting a scene from the Kalevala epic poem.
After that it was farewell to the nuclear-powered lights of Helsinki, and welcome back to the sticky tropical humidity, via Finnair.
A lengthier write-up (still with no saucy details) can be found at
http://5709miles.blogspot.com/Written by: Kuali Baba
