Helsinki and more old friends

Moi Moi –

So, I hear #45 is on this side of the ocean, trying to be presidential. The Finns find this simultaneously hysterical and scary. Set out this morning with a first stop at Fazer, the more than 100 year old bakery (with many locations) that probably exemplifies all the wonderful pastries and breads of Finland. I had my favorite breakfast pastry – from Northern Karelia region — oval-shaped and filled with some kind of rice and potato and topped with egg butter which is made from hard boiled eggs mashed with butter. The Finns have lots of pastries that are for special holidays and their holidays are often for poets (like Runeberg) or musicians or writers. The arts are an integral part of the culture. So, for example, on Runeberg’s birthday there is a special and quite wonderful raspberry and rum tart dessert that is popular – supposedly this was Runeberg’s favorite dessert as a child and it is prepared the way his mother made it. Not many war heroes here – but lots of heroes in the cultural world.

From there I strolled to the kauppatori (the marketplace located at the harbor); it’s changed a lot since we lived here and relied on it for our daily food purchases (since we didn’t have a freezer and only had a tiny refrigerator). Now there are a lot of stalls selling souvenirs and I suppose most Finns are shopping in the many wonderful supermarkets they now have – or in the more local markets instead of this main market. And when we lived here, there were dozens of little fishing boats lined up at the shore selling fish right from the boats; now that harbor gets a lot of cruise ships where passengers get off the boat for the day and “see” Finland. So it’s a different place. Still lovely and fun to walk. There’s also a great indoor market there.

I strolled down the Esplanade to reach the market area, passing the gallery where I had an exhibit of my work while living here. The gallery is no longer and is now some kind of upscale shop selling Finnish goods. I met up with Mike at the Design Museum which had 2 fantastic shows: a history of Finnish design through products (called Utopia Now) and an upstairs show with works by COMPANY. For more than a decade, Aamu Song and Johan Olin have travelled around the world, looking for traditional crafts to understand the techniques and manufacturing skills of these products. The duo has visited workshops and master craftspeople in many countries including Japan, Russia, and Mexico. They’ve collected all sorts of craft art pieces, clothing, accessories and furniture some of which they created together with masters of these crafts. Their goal is to bring attention to the endangered role of crafts and the skills needed to sustain them, as well as the unsustainability of today’s consumer culture. They are trying to show alternatives to this kind of consumerism.

Prior to going to the Design Museum, we stopped for a light lunch at Juuri which is about a block away on Korkeavankatu. Shared three “sapas” (what the Finns call their tapas): herring with crispy fried rye and marinated fennel; a lamb croquette with yogurt and mint; and a cucumber side dish that had some kind of creamy cheese. After the Design Museum we strolled back to the hotel on a lot of small streets, returning to streets we hadn’t seen during previous visits over the years. And we walked within the “design center” neighborhood (of which the street on which we lived is a part!) Reached the hotel just in the nick of time to meet Tatu, the son of some old friends when we were here in Helsinki, Anne and Tapani (who I mentioned in a previous note).

Together we went to visit Tapani, who was diagnosed with Altzheimers about 7 years ago. We were all running late, so we hopped into a taxi to get to the Verahamaki neighborhood which is about 20 miles from Helsinki. Tapani was clearly waiting for us, sitting on the outside deck of his first floor “apartment,” in the assisted living facility that he’s been in since his wife (Anne) passed away a few years ago. He’s gained weight, and he’s clearly forgetful, but he’s got incredible spirit and has maintained his same rye sense of humor that he had years ago – noting that he had completed all the important research in Finnish demographics so there is nothing left for anyone else to research (and therefore it’s ok that he’s not doing his work any more)… and then said that probably when he came to the university as a young faculty member some older faculty member who was retiring said the same thing! He showed us around and noted that we should order anything we want at the café/bar that is inside the facility. “Everything is free,” he stated. “I never have to pay.” Later he suggested we all get ice cream at the café and again reminded us that one cannot pay there – “It’s all free!” He most definitely remembered both of us, which was nice and he knew that we were friends for a long time. We reminded him that we had visited the family when he was a Fulbright professor at the University of Wisconsin. He seemed to recall something about it, but said it was hard to remember but he had happy memories with us. It was good to see him in good and happy spirits, but obviously sad knowing what a brilliant sociologist he had been. He mentioned that he still plays chess, so Mike took him up on it and that had a very intense game that ended in a draw. Mike said he was very alert for the game, but when it went on for a long time he began to get tired. We walked him back to his room, where he noted that he gets a delivery of three beers each night. True to form, the beers were sitting at his table. Once a Finn, always a Finn. He noted that he wouldn’t be driving so it was OK to have the beers!

Then Tatu, Mike, and I took the bus back to downtown and had dinner at Gaijin, an Asian-inspired Finnish restaurant. I’d been here twice before and it was as good as all prior times. For the foodies, I think we had 6 tiny starters: salmon tartar on a black squid cracker, with a tobiko dressing, baby shrimps, and marinated trout roe; an edamame and avocado taco, with dried tomatoes, and wasabi mayonnaise; three pieces of fantastic dim sum… followed by two main courses: a steak tartare with a miso dressing and pickled mushrooms; and baby back ribs with a great marinade. I think we had something else (beyond drinks and wine), but can’t remember. It was great to reconnect with Tatu, whom we hadn’t seen in about 20 years. He lives in Los Angeles having emigrated to the US about 30 years ago. He’s turned into an interesting adult with good politics, a healthy critique of the US, and lots of fun. He has been coming to visit his family in Helsinki annually, since he got his green card and was able to travel (no easy task).

Dinner ended at about midnight, and we strolled to the hotel. Tatu headed to the Metro to get to the apartment he is using for the month. Amazing! By the way, the weather has been fantastic (in the 60s and sunny).

Tomorrow we face our last day in Helsinki and then head out on a very very early morning flight on Wednesday morning – transferring planes in London (complicated because we will be changing terminals and won’t be able to check bags straight through —- yes, here we are actually checking bags. A new thing for us. We usually try to do just carry-on, but this time it’s not going to work)

I’ll try to write the final chapter tomorrow if I have time… Another hectic day, including dinner on Sirpilasaari Island (you take a five-minute boat), with Antti and Heidi.

All the best –

Fern