Helsinki Diary:
- Carina Campbell-Welsh
- Jul 2, 2019
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 20, 2019
Currently writing this blog in the centre of rainy Glasgow during a thunderstorm is really making me wish I could go back to Helsinki all over again. Helsinki for me has been one of the most cultural trips that I have been on, however that is only because I was visiting and staying with my university friend, Joanna who kindly let me stay with her and her dad during my stay. This allowed for me to get the full experience of what a typical Finnish family endures and experiences as opposed to a commercialised hotel (not that I'm dissing hotels by any means.) For me Helsinki excelled in its architecture, scenery, museums and hospitality. Here are just a few of my favourite parts and recommendations of my trip. Look out on the fashion section of my blog too as I will shortly be uploading the outfits that I choose to wear each day and their pro's and con's.
SIGHTS:
HELSINKI CATHEDRAL:
Well, nobody can argue the beauty of Helsinki's sights, the architecture in particular of the Cathedrals being a must for any tourist. The first cathedral which I came across whilst exploring was the main cathedral located in the heart of the city. The building is a beautiful dove white and is much larger in size that I first anticipated. Many of the cathedral's in Finland and the surrounding area don't allow photography on the inside as a mark or respect, however here you are able to go inside and take as many photos and video's as you please so long as you're quiet and respectful of course. The inside of this Cathedral is very minimalistic which I found very refreshing it different from so many of the other cathedral's that I have seen which are full of oak wood and paintings of various moments from the bible. Although traditional Cathedral's such as these still pose much beauty and awe I fell in love with the design of the cathedral and the minimalism on the inside made all the features such as the crucifix and organ stand out so much more with purpose. The colour scheme on the inside is white and gold two beautiful chandeliers hang you in the isle as you are walking through. Below I have listed a few photos to give you a taste of the interior of this master piece.
USPENSKI CATHEDRAL:
This gorgeous cathedral is located only around a ten minute walk from Helsinki's Cathedral (listed before on this blog.) This cathedral is perhaps more traditional in its take of architecture and interior design. The Russian architecture in not surprising considering its Russian heritage as Emperor Alexander II was in power during the time of the buildings construction. You are also able to pursue photography inside of this cathedral which has some very stunning traditional design located around the inside. I would personally spend some time just admiring the art work inside here as it is very beautiful.
NUUKSIO:
Nuuksio proved challenging for me as it is considered a proper hike and I am by no means some form of health guru. But the scenery that you can see here is simply stunning as you will see from the photograph below. However there are hike's catered for everyone from the red hike for experienced hikers or those who want to push themselves to one for those of us who are disabled or perhaps just wanting a easier stroll allowing them to be more up close and personal with the lakes and Lilly pads than Bears (not that I saw any on my journey.) We decided to follow the blue trial which is a medium hike in both difficulty and time of completion. This choice was based purely on time as I also had many other things that I wanted to cross off my list that day and to get from Nuuksio to Helsinki you will need to get a bus or car if you have one which takes around fifty minutes.
A word of warning though from one tourist to another, please wear insect repellent when visiting here. There are many more creepy crawlies than in the city and some that even my friend who lives there had never seen. I did end up getting stung by something which I didn't feel at the time, however it got so swollen and badly infected that I needed it checked by a doctor in Helsinki and again by a doctor in Edinburgh who prescribed me antibiotics and let me tell you, it's still not totally gone.
KAMPPI CHAPEL:
The Kamppi Chapel is one of the more abstract examples of Helsinki's architecture and also demonstrates the more 'artsy' side of the city in my opinion. Even if you don't manage to go inside I would still recommend going to see it as it is located in the heart of Helsinki and is not a far walk form any of the major sights located in the city. This however, is a chapel in which you are asked respectfully not to take photos in, I would also advise putting your phone on mute because due to once again the minimalistic architecture everything echos, yes even your phone vibrating (we learned that the hard way.) I would also advise trying to refrain from talking whilst inside as even whispers sound like shouts and there are usually people practicing prayer inside. In addition its primary function of being a chapel the building was actually created with the thought in mind that it would be somewhere people could go to calm down and be alone with their thoughts, this explains the extreme silence that you are faced with from when you first enter.
PARLIAMENT:
This was actually a sight that I never intended to see whilst on my travels, however it was on the way to the Sibellius Monument which we shall discuss later. The Parliament building in Helsinki is breath taking just due to the sheer size of it. I never actually took the time to see if you can go inside or what its like at the top of the stairs, however it is not too far from Helsinki's city centre (located right behind Kiasma.) This is something I would recommend seeing if you have the time even just to take a few photographs such as I done.
TEMPPEIAUKION KIRKKO:
This Chapel was actually one of the perhaps coolest that I saw during my travels. The Temppeliaukion Kirkko Chapel is a make in the side of a massive hill made of stone. This means that yep you guessed it the whole chapel is made from entirely stone. This in my opinion makes for the perfect tourist spot. This is another more abstract part of Helsinki and once again demonstrates the more 'artsy' aspect of the city. I spent half an hour in here just sitting on one of the seats taking it in and sitting in thought. This chapel once again although louder than Kamppi is still very peaceful. This was perhaps one of my favourite sights during my travel.
SIBELIUS MONUMENT:
I actually never thought that I would have time to visit this amazing monument as it is perhaps the furthest out with exception of Nuuksio and Suomenlinna. I walked there and back but if you are tired form the heat or just tired like myself I would recommend using one of Helsinki's many forms of public transport such as a bus or tram as I am told you will be able to get one easily enough here.
The monument itself located in Sibelius Park next to another beautiful lake has become quite the tourist spot. I found that this was a nice location to (once finished taking pictures) sit on one of the benches and read my book 'Normal People' as the sun began to set. I found this to be one of the most relaxing places in Helsinki due to it being far enough away from the business of the city. This gave me a lot of time to reflect upon my rip so far.
The actual monument is made from metal pipes which I can image are far more beautiful during the height of the sun as they will sparkle, however I still think I got some pretty good photos in the evening time.
SUOMENLINNA:
Suomenlinna is a small island located around twenty minutes away on boat from Helsinki city centre. You can get the boat next to Helsinki's market at the docs. We picked up some strawberries here which we took with us and had a picnic for lunch. We went here in the morning around 10am and I believe that this is actually the best option for those wanting to explore and get good photos as it is a lot quieter, whereas at lunch time it is almost packed with tourists.
Suomenlinna is an abandoned fortress which was used as protection during wartime. This explains the many canons situated around the island. There are museums here that you can go to however, I never actually went into any as we were quite happy just to stroll round the island due to its sheer beauty. I believe that you could spend an entire day here as the is enough to do with the mix of cafe's, museum's, sights and good sunbathing spots, however we only stayed the morning and I feel that we saw everything of the island that we wanted to. You'll want to make sure you have lots of battery in your phone for pictures here though.
DOG HOTEL:
Okay, so hands down the favourite part of the trip. Like I could have stayed here the whole trip and have been content. This experience came about as Joanna's sister Julia actually works at a dog hotel. Yeah she literally gets paid to sit and play/ look after dogs. Like honestly, I would pay someone to allow me to do that. She allowed us to see the dogs and play with a few of them for a short time. The dogs were the best and so well behaved. There were even puppies who had nappies on so they didn't pee themselves. I mean come on why do I work in a bakery.
SUMMER HOUSE:
If you've made it this far I mean go you, promise I'll be done in a second. This was the most cultural experience that I managed to gain during my travels here as we were able to stay with Joanna's grandparents in their summer house. The summer house was two gorgeous wooden cabins (with a sauna in each) situated right next to a lake. Here we were able to go rowing, surfing and have a beautiful dinner with her whole family outside looking on to the lake. I know that I was so fortunate in being able to have this experience, but I am always encouraging of other people to throw themselves into a culture as much as possible, even if that's just sitting in cafe's taking your surroundings in on your travels.
Comments