Not Leaving Helsinki - Exploring the Design District

Before we get on with my adventures for the day, I'd like to talk a little about Finnish food.  I can't eat a bunch of it because it contains stuff like reindeer (I don't eat anything with four legs...especially those that would rather be pulling Santa's sled) and other red meats.  Yes, fish and shellfish do play a major role in the Finns' diet (like herring, salmon, and crayfish) but there are a lot of four legged critters in there.

Yesterday, I tried salmon soup, which is now one of my favorite foods.  I also had Tippaleipä, Finnish funnel cakes after mistakenly thinking they were an Easter treat (hey, they look like little bird's nests, which led me to think of eggs....).

So today, I did a bit of research and headed out to get some more traditionally Finnish foods that I can eat.

This is a traditional Easter treat - Mämmi.  Made with water, rye flour, and powdered malted rye, seasoned salt, and dried powdered Seville orange zest it's an odd kind of bread pudding.  It was marked down as Easter is over, so I thought I'd give it a try.  According to my research, it usually develops a sweetness while being chilled 3-4 days after it's made.  When made commercially, it's usually sweetened with molasses...and this certainly tastes of molasses.  Kind of a weird combination of rye and molasses.  Not a bad weird, but just unusual.  I'll try it with milk poured over it, which is one of the traditional ways to eat it.

This is a Finnish cinnamon bun, Korvapuusti.  It will be my breakfast tomorrow. With coffee, because the Finns drink the most coffee of any European nation.  And eat the most cinnamon buns

These are Karjalanpiirakka, well mini ones actually.  They generally will fit in the palm of your hand and these are about half the size of traditionally prepared ones.  The pastry is made with a rye crust and filled with either potatoes, rice, or carrots (these are rice filled). I nibbled the edge of one and they're not sweet at all...kinda bread-y and starchy.  Different, but not in a bad way.

I'll keep searching for more fun foods, but I'm doing pretty well I think :).

OK, so I couldn't sleep last night and decided not to stress myself out by trying to get up early.  If I don't go to Tallinn, I don't go to Tallinn.  It would be cool to go to Estonia, but I won't cry if I spend the whole time here in Finland.

So, I decided to explore the Design District.  My apartment is on the edge of it and I see a lot of home shops and clothing stores all around here.  I also wanted to check out another market that I figured out was closer to me than Market Square: Hietalahden kauppahalli.

So I set off with a map and my backpack.  Google maps had let me down yesterday, so I decided to try old school navigation.  I only got turned around a couple of times (thanks to my directional disfunctionalism) but I eventually got there...

There is a building and a big lot in front of it.  Only one thing was missing...

Vendors in front of the building.  Well, there were a couple of brave souls, but it's too early in the season for the flea market that exists in warmer weather. Inside are just bars and restaurants for the most part.

I decided to go exploring.  This city appeals to me because it's full of cool buildings...a lot of them Art Nouveau.

And a lot of buildings with turrets.

And Art Nouveau turrets.

This is a hotel...almost makes me want to switch to staying in hotels.  Doubt I could afford it though...

This one is cool too...

And I think I found the most awesome door EVER.

I believe I've discovered that I am drawn to the Art Nouveau.  In Vienna, it was the Secessionsstil, in Glasgow, it was Mackintosh, and here it is the Jugendstil (word stolen from the Germans).  Yesterday, we saw the awesome train station and today

I spied this little beauty. I am sure the building has a name and a famous architect...I need to keep looking.  This was directly behind

St. John's Church is in the middle of the Design District.  It is a lovely brick Neogothic church on the top of another hill

This is the back side.  I did go inside and lit a candle for my Nana...but no photos.

I did find the vintage shop I had been looking for, which was cool.  rooms and rooms of glass, crystal, china and furniture.  I picked up a couple of small, local, vintage items.

Tomorrow will be a surprise!

Easter Monday and All is Quiet

So, it was pretty quiet today.  I couldn't do much of anything as all museums are closed here on Mondays as are the Cathedrals.  I decided I would take a tram tour of the city that is described in a Rick Steves' guidebook I bought.

Before I start, I decided to try some Finnish treats.  I bought something at the grocery store that I thought was an Easter treat, but I fell a little short.

Tippaleipä is not served at Easter, but is a May Day treat.  Also, it's a version of a funnel cake.  Little more compact, a little crispier, but your average funnel cake.  It was good (notice one is missing) but not exactly exotic. 

So, headed out around lunchtime planning to try the Russian boat at South Harbor that I saw yesterday.  Alas, Nickolai II was not open today either.  So, it was Plan B.

The long orange tents you see along the waterfront are small, portable restaurants.  I remembered seeing signs for creamy salmon soup with bread and coffee for 7.50 Euro and it sounded yummy.

Everything has an orange glow as I was inside one of those tents.  The bread is crispbread, which was cool because it makes for good dipping in hot soup.  The soup was blazing hot and topped with fresh dill.  I am gonna learn how to make that shit because it ROCKS!  Everything comes with coffee here and much of it is mediocre...like this coffee.  But the soup was amazing enough to make it not matter at all.  

After lunch, I headed over to the ticket machine and got a day ticket for public transport, which ended up being unnecessary.  I should have just gotten the 2 hour ticket, but I thought I'd be getting off the tram once or twice.  However, the things I thought about seeing close up were either closed (Hakaniemem Market and Rock Church) or not as interesting as I thought they would be (Olympic Park), so I stayed on the tram the whole time.  I'm glad I did it so I have a good handle on where things are that I want to see later. 

I got off of the 2/3 tram (it starts out as 2 but switches to 3 halfway through) after doing a full circuit (it's kind of a figure 8) and was back at the market.  So I decided to just wander around and check out the sights.  First stop:

 

Helsinki Cathedral.  First Lutheran cathedral I've ever visited.  As you can see, it's high, high up on a hill with a very steep set of stairs facing Senate Square. 

More of a side view.  There was a wedding going on today.  The bride was outside getting photos taken in her strapless gown.  God bless her, the temps were in the 20's...

More detail on the distinctive green domes and statues of the apostles. 

Statue of Alexander II in front of the Cathedral in the middle of Senate Square.  'Cuz you know...this place was once a part of Russia.  On and off...

This was a cute little orthodox church next to Helsinki Cathedral.  There are bunches of churches here.

Headed back to the shopping district to find the most famous sculpture in Helsinki

The Three Blacksmiths (or just Smiths), by Felix Nylund.  Apparently, it is a tribute to hard work.

Um...does anyone else have a problem with the fact that they're doing black-smithy things naked and without the proper protective clothing?  That is some artistic license my friends...

This is the awesome Helsinki Train Station.  Designed by Eliel Saarinen it's in the National Romanticist design (considered to be a form of Art Nouveau).  It's pretty spectacular and was chosen by the BBC in 2013 as one of the World's most beautiful railway stations.

The entrance is flanked on each side by a pair of these Granite Men.  Apparently, they are often parodied by the Finns, but I think they're lovely.  Hopefully, I'll get over there one evening when it's all lit up. 

Next to the station is this statue of Aleksis Kivi, who wrote the first significant novel in the Finnish Language.  "The Seven Brothers" was originally panned by many critics as unfortunate Aleksis had the bad luck to be a realist when romanticism was in vogue.  Poor guy died a penniless alcoholic, the fate of many literary greats. 

It was getting late, so I headed back to my apartment.  Luckily, I wasn't far as Google Maps decided to throw a fit.

If I can figure out the damn ferry time table, I may go to Tallinn tomorrow...we'll see.

Easter in Helsinki

Today is kind of a bonus day.  Usually, I fly out on Saturday and arrive on Sunday.  This time, I got a cheaper flight flying out on Friday so my first full day is Sunday.  Easter Sunday, so I didn't expect to do much today.  I ended up doing more than I thought I could.

Woke up around 9am.  I hadn't figured out how to adjust the thermostat yet, so I was overheated all night.  Whoever stayed here before me liked the temperature oven like.  I had been forewarned that buildings in Helsinki are exceptionally insulated so I wasn't worried about being cold inside...but I wasn't ready for hot.  I've since figured it out.  What we have here is an old hot water radiator system with dials on each individual radiator.  Only one I haven't turned WAY down is in the shower room.

Bathroom situation is interesting and, I've been told, traditional.  Separate toilet room and shower room, which is not unusual in all of Europe.  However, the shower room is one room with a drain in the middle and the sink, mirror, etc on the other side of a half glass wall.  The washing machine is under the sink.  There is no door on the shower room...the doorway is a shower curtain.  The toilet room is so tiny that the door would hit your knees while using it.  Luckily, I don't have a roommate....

So, I puttered around, had breakfast, took my shower, and looked at the temperature.  Puttered around some more because it was 27 degrees out.  It ended up not getting much warmer, so I bit the bullet, layered on the clothes and headed out.   My destination: Market Square.

I started off not wearing my hat, but I ended up putting it on less than 15 minutes out the door.  I am destined to have hat head for this entire week.  It was actually a pretty nice walk with a few snow flurries along the way.  Streets were quiet, but not deserted.

I did make it to Market Square with no mishaps.  There were actually stalls set up too but, I think, not as many as would usually be there.

This is a fountain that is right before you get to the market itself.  The statue is named "Havis Amanda" and was sculpted in France by Ville Valgren. I told you it was cold!  The fountain is still running but there is plenty of ice there.

This is my first view of the Market.  Helsinki also has a giant ferris wheel, which seems to be a new trend in capital cities.

The stalls that were there today were full of local crafts and tourist goods.  I can do most of my shopping here.  I did hold off to wait to see if there are more vendors that show up on days that aren't holidays.

I also spent some time walking around the South Harbor area.

I watched one of the ferries head out for one of the islands off the coast.

I also saw this misleadingly Russian looking boat, which used to have the name "Nautilus" when it was used for fishing and marine research.  Renamed the "Nikolai II" is is a restaurant, but didn't look too open for business.  I think they must have been closed for Easter.  I did later find lots of good reviews, so I will have to check it out when I go back to the market.

Seen from the far side of the Market, this is Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral.  On my list of places to visit while I'm here.

After wandering around, peering in stalls, and freezing my butt off, I decided to leave the market.  I accidentally found the tourist information center, grabbed a bunch of brochures, and bought my Helsinki card.  It includes public transportation for 3 days and free admission to a buttload of museums (along with some other stuff).  Helpful guy in the tourist center advised me to wait until Tuesday to activate it as Museums are closed on Mondays.

I decided to wander around a bit and ended up in what appeared to be the shopping district.  Shocking, I know. However, I find a bit of interesting architecture.

This was a building I found particularly interesting.  

Especially this bit to the left of the doors

This is from a different part of the same building

Cool statues on a different building across the street.

I ended up finding a large department store so I could use the WC.  This was on the level with the grocery store area, so I ended up getting something for lunch along with some more cheese and Easter candy (cuz...it's Easter!).

I ended up back in my rental and have been drinking a buttload of hot tea.

Television here is an interesting mix of original Finnish programming or English language stuff (British or American) with Subtitles.  I'm watching some Michael Fassbender right now...

Unfortuately, I could not find Dr. Who...so I will suffer....

Surprise! Finland

I didn't do my usual nonsense warning anyone about where I was going for my birthday in advance. Honestly, Helsinki was almost a last minute decision after the first two contenders ended up having big ticket flights (Bali and Dubrovnik).

So, here I am.  Cute little vacation rental flat in central Helsinki, pretty much in the middle of almost everything.  Trip getting here was pretty smooth.  Flight from Austin to London was not fully booked, so I moved to an empty row and spread myself out...Lovely.  Napped further on the two hour flight from London to Helsinki.

Exiting the plane in Finland, I was greeted by snowflakes.  Yay!  They were the good kind, lazily floating through the air between breaks of sunlight, but not sticking to anything.   Visa checkpoint was super easy.

I got a shuttle all to myself and chatted with the driver, who was very friendly and shared some information about stuff to do here.  At the end of the trip, I found out he was from Morocco.

Found the building ok, but didn't realize it has 3 entrances.  Although I like this rental, the owners aren't the greatest.  I didn't get the check in information until today and it wasn't as helpful as it could have been.  Who knows that 46 C meant the door around the corner from where it says "46?"  It took me a few freezing minutes to notice "A&D" next to the door under the 46 and I eventually wandered around the corner to see a "B" and thought I'd check the door down a few feet.  Sure enough, it had "C" on it and my code worked.

There is an elevator, but the rental is on the second floor and it seems like the Finnish people don't use the weird convention of the "Ground, First, Second" like so many do in Europe.  So, second floor is the second story up.  Elevator was handy for luggage, but I'll be ok with the stairs otherwise.

Anyway, got all settled in, walked 5 minutes to the grocery store and shopped by photo because I can't read the labels.  Yogurt and museli for breakfast, grilled cheese and pasta for dinners.

No photos today.  I'm about to head to bed and get some much needed rest.

Two State Parks in One Day

One thing ya gotta give El Paso is the number of nearby state parks.  I only visited two today, but remember that I drive through another when I drove along the Transmountain Drive on Monday.

I had been interested in checking out the Wyler Aerial Tramway since discovering it existed earlier this week.  However, it's only open Friday through Sunday so I had to wait until today and I had to wait until noon (which is when it opens on Fridays).  So, what to do...

Go to Hueco Tanks and take a hike!  The Tanks are large depressions in the rocks of three small mountains where rainwater collected in the middle of the desert. Also, there are pictographs and petroglyphs and a rich history associated to this site.  It's considered to be very sacred to indigenous peoples and you know how I love to visit religious sites.  This was right up my alley.

Because of how special this site is, you have to watch a video before you can explore the area.  Only about half of the park is open to self-guided tours and they're very clear about making sure you know to stay to the marked paths.  I hiked to try to find five different pictograph sites and only managed to find two.  It was still a beautiful site and I got a workout.

There are some ruins there that I believe are an old stage coach stop.  The Butterfield Stage used to stop at the tanks for watering.

 These are all from the same area.  Some are hard to make out...there is a green horse and some geometric designs, but others are kind of obscured or worn out.  Unfortunately, there has been a lot of graffiti over the years and you can see where some of it has been cleared in the last photo there.

I then went on another trail that was supposed to yield more pictographs, which I could not find.  However it was lovely...

And I found one of the larger tanks still filled with water.  

Proof I was there :)

I then circled around to the other side of the park where two large herds of school children were roaming.  I did pretty well at avoiding them as it was easy to hear them coming.  I also found another set of rock paintings that were not nearly so ancient

Unfortunately, a lot of this was is obscured by graffiti.  It's thought that this painting is from the 19th century.  There is a story and, luckily, someone made a painting of the original mural that the State Park Service put on a nearby sign.

It must have been quite the sight back in the day. 

I searched around for more paintings, but only fell on my butt a few times and got stuck by a cactus once.  It was still a gorgeous day for a hike and I got a few scenic photos...

This not the cactus that got me...but I thought it was cool. 

I then hit the road for the tram.  it was about a 40 minute ride as it's a park within a park...and Franklin Mountain State Park is actually within the city limits of El Paso and the tram is within Franklin Mountain State Park...

Anyway, I got lucky and it was fairly deserted.  Got my ticket and got on the tram.  Went up the mountain...where it was COLD.  

This is the counterweight at the bottom

Top of the mountain looking across El Paso to Mexico.  The red X status kind of at the center right is in Juarez.  You can see the Rio Grand bisecting the landscape.  It's actually easiest to see to the left as a squiggly line with a clear bit of land on either side.

Looking toward home...east to Texas.

Looking across the mountains and west to New Mexico.

It was crazy windy up there...

This is where the cables are bolted into the top of the mountain. 

This is one of the cars heading down the mountain. 

There are actually two trams here they both are...one heading down, the other heading up.

I was pretty beat by the time I got back to the apartment.  Lots of time in the sun again today, I've been getting ready to leave tomorrow morning.  Another interesting vacation exploring National (and State) Parks.