Fern in Helsinki – päivä numero kaksi

Hei Hei!

Huomenta!

I wasn’t really planning on writing any kind of travelogue for this trip. First, it’s very very short (just 3 1/2 days on the ground.. and 2 days in the air). Second, I’ve been to Helsinki many times and most of you know that I lived here for a year.. many eons ago. Third, the trip was totally focused on seeing a friend who had a stroke and has lost her capacity to speak. So in other words, not much exciting stuff to report.

But here I am — exhausted at 11 pm after two very very long days — and I realized that if I didn’t write it out, I would never remember any of the activities. So here goes.

I arrived Sunday night after a 12 hour trip from SFO to Frankfurt, a 3 hour layover in Frankfurt, and a 3 1/2 hour flight to Helsinki. This after a very hectic and intense week, including 2.5 days at the University. Indeed, I flew back from Seattle Friday night with just enough time to pack at about midnight and then head to SFO in the morning. Given all of this I opted for a taxi (taksi); the airport is in Vantaa which is about 25 miles from downtown. While the taxi ride was comparable to the Oakland to SFO fare, I was beginning to realize just how pricey Helsinki has become.

I’ve been coming back to Helsinki every five years since 1990 and had made two or three trips prior to 1990, plus the year we lived here… so changes shouldn’t necessarily be shocking as I’ve seen the precursor. In some ways things are the same.. in many ways they aren’t. .. just over the past 4 years.

After settling into my hotel (the rather mediocre, but better than expected Radisson Blu Plaza) which is near the railroad station — a place I used to know very well, since it has a bunch of shops (food, newspapers, etc.) that stayed open really late… and I often found myself in great need of something at around 10 pm… I meandered around in the dark (sun sets at about 5:30 pm already) to find one of the few restaurants open on Sunday night: The Kamp — I had the crayfish soup which was great.. and cost about $10 per spoonful.. so I savored every taste.. and then walked back to the hotel. By the time I got back to my hotel it was around 11 pm and I had been up for more than 35 hours.

On Monday I was to connect with my friends..

Woke up fairly early Monday morning and after taking a brisk walk — walked around town — to the market located by the sea and at the foot of the Senate Building, a block or two from the University, and down at the end of the Esplanadi (one of the most chic streets in town) flanked by the famous Marimekko shop and Artek and Aarika and also international shops and the famous Stockmann’s Department Store (and adjacent to the Akademica Book Store, one of the world’s largest book stores — another interesting and unchanging feature of Helsinki and the rest of Finland.. they have lots of bookstores! People actually read here.). The market was fairly empty as most activity occurs pretty early in the morning.. It was also really cold.. It’s been about 30 degrees during the day and colder at night. (The cold weather is good prep for the crazy Christmas trip we’re taking — Beijing — Tibet — Kathmandu — Delhi..)

Took the Metro in the afternoon to see my friends .. they live in what I guess would be considered a suburb, although it’s part of the city of Helsinki (Finland really doesn’t have suburbs.. and there are pretty real urban boundaries). So it’s just a 15 minute metro ride, but Myllypuoro is surrounded forrest. Since Anne’s stroke, they moved from a house with many levels to a flat in the same neighborhood. Like all Finnish homes, the units are well designed, great built-ins, lots of glass to look at the forest, large spaces for living and dining, and fairly high ceilings.

It was really good to reconnect, to have a good lunch and lots of wine, and to remember old times and what good friends they were when we lived in Helsinki. Anne is an art historian and was the editor of the major art journal in Finland.. She also juried and curated many shows. Her expertise had been in contemporary Soviet art. Tapani is a sociologist (demographer), retired professor at the University of Helsinki, and the recipient of Finland’s equivalent to our MacArthur genius award. As a couple, Anne was the social one, the one who organized everything, the one who knew what was going on all over Helsinki, the one with all the friends, the chatty one. Now it is Tapani who must do all the talking as well as coordinating. So it was a very eye opening experience. Still — despite the loss of speech — Anne comprehends everything (and still can read and retain all information in 6 languages) and is really expressive as she follows every detail of every conversation. And the two of them seem to have developed an interesting kind of sign language and expressive notes from Anne that Tapani “gets.

I returned to the hotel in the early evening, did some work, and took another walk — this time ending up at a hip new restaurant about a mile from the hotel called Gaijin — small Asian inspired dishes.. I started with … a beef tartar on a shizo leef with some kind of dressing and Japanese pickles.. It was pretty tiny, but wonderful.. I also had a Chinese Pumpkin and hazelnut Shu Mai — a sort of dim sum bun filled with lamb and sesame seeds. These little bite-size starters were followed by a half order of “inked” whitefish tartar.. with wakame salad and some kind of avocado spread.. and a half order of baby back ribs.. with some kind of soy caramel marinade and another sauce.

So Finland has come a long way in the area of cuisine… When we lived here it was meat and boiled potatoes.. Even the “adventurous” cooks and the good restaurants were stuck on meat and boiled potatoes or fish and boiled potatoes. The city has changed; restaurants are packed; it’s a far more international city than it was a few decades ago. And it’s really expensive (especially given that this is definitely not the tourist season).

I walked home from dinner… about a mile to the hotel. It’s a safe city and though it was dark and on many streets I was all alone, I was never even the slightest bit concerned. This has not changed at all.

Today, Tuesday, Day Two and already next to the last day… I woke up early and after breakfast walked about a mile and a half to the street we had lived on.. Eerikinkatu 25B… (Erik’s Street “katu” means “street”– by the way, all signs in Finland are bilingual — Finnish and Swedish and the country is officially bilingual. The Swedes are only 12% of the population. Imagine if we acknowledged our minority populations that way. All Finns are required to learn Swedish in school and all government employees are required to make Swedish available for citizens who request it..The signage stuff is funny because in every city or town the majority population gets to have the town and street names in their language at the top and the other gets the name at the bottom.. So if Porvoo is predominantly Swedish then the street name is Swedish first.)

OK.. I’m fading.. I did a lot today (Tuesday).. but it’s midnight and I started really early. More tomorrow if I can find time.. I’m back Thursday night.

Take care.

Best… and Nakemiin

Fern