11. June 20, 2024: Helsinki Day Before the Day Before Midnight Sun

Greetings from Helsinki: June 20, 2024

It was a positively beautiful sunny day in Helsinki… high 60s, blue sky, simply perfect.
We started out walking down the Esplanade to the “kauppatori” (market hall and outdoor marketplace) which is always delightful—filled with fruits and vegetables, and flower vendors, some crafts, and little places to eat. Inside the actual brick market hall (Vanha Kauppatori — old market hall) which opened in 1889, there are wonderful little places to eat and additional shops for some pretty high-end food.

From there we strolled to revisit the National Memorial to the Winter War, a sculpture that was the result of an international competition that had 258 entries. The winner was Pekka Kauhanen who designed a spherical reflective base on top of which stands a human figure—also in reflective steel. The figure is punctured with numerous ‘’bullet holes” and the base has a series of circular “windows.” Inside the base you can see more than one hundred photographs that highlight the events of the “Winter War” between Finland and the Soviet Union in the 1930s. The photos inside are difficult to see because the sculpture has developed moisture inside that sphere. It’s located in front of the army headquarters in downtown Helsinki and is a memorial to that Winter War.

The Winter War is a major historic event in Finnish history: In 1939 the Soviet Union attacked Finland and believed the invasion would be as easy as their invasions of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. This was the start of what was called the Winter War. Although the Soviet forces vastly outnumbered the Finns, the Finns managed to stop the attack and wound up retaining most of its territory when the Moscow Peace Treaty was signed a year later. When we lived here we heard many stories about the Finnish Army’s skills on skis and the fact that the Finnish soldiers wore white uniforms, so they blended into the snowy countryside and forest where the war was fought. But probably most important was the morale and united purpose of the Finns who understood they were fighting for their national society against a common enemy.

The memorial was designed to commemorate the more than 25,000 Finns who died during that war.
After a brief stop in the park, we hopped on a tram and headed to Hakeniemi to see the renovated Hakaniemi Market Hall. It’s 110 years old and I had visited it many times prior to this renovation. It’s one of three major market halls in Helsinki. But seeing it this time was an eye opener as it is now a very contemporary market inside that 110-year old building.

After having a wonderful smoothie, we hopped back on the tram and headed to the Arabia headquarters where we saw an interesting photography show and also stopped into the Iitala museum which houses a nice history of Iitala’s glass and porcelain products over the past 150 years.

And then we met up with Antti and Heidi again, for our last dinner in Helsinki. We started at a local bar for a bottle of champagne during which time we gave them funny gifts: pins that show Putin holding a miniature Trump in his hand and Trump is pictured as a baby and also a roll of Trump toilet paper. We had a good laugh.

We then walked to Natura, very small family-run restaurant that specializes in “modern, innovative food with a focus on Finnish game, vegetables, and sustainable seafood.” We started with venison tartare that was sitting on a wonderful wedge of bread that had been soaked in something and on top of the tartare there was finely shredded white cheese and some seaweed and herbs. Then we shared a beetroot risotto, and then very delicate fish with sauce and baby vegetables. Finally (again sharing) we had some kind of beef that just melted in your mouth. The portions were small so didn’t feel stuffed. We ended it all with a frozen yogurt dessert that sat on a bed of rhubarb and was topped with something that looked like snow, but was actually shavings of frozen yogurt. After taking a few group photos, we bid farewell to our dear friends and walked to our hotel at about midnight while it was still light out.. passing by that Runeberg statue with.. yes.. a seagull sitting on his head.

A few comments about statues and Finnish interest and respect for the arts. Many statues throughout Helsinki and the rest of Finland are of artists, poets, musicians. There really aren’t any statues of military people other than Mannerheim (who successfully defended Finland against those Soviet forces during World War II and afterward served as president.) Finland celebrates the arts in interesting ways, including through food. On the anniversary of their national poet’s (Runeberg) birthday, many restaurants and bakeries serve Runeberg-tart, supposedly a dessert that his mother made for him. The largest park in downtown Helsinki (actually in the neighborhood of Töölö) is named after Sibelius and has a huge sculpture honoring him.

Our dinner conversation focused on a lot of political issues—mostly in the US. And we also asked a lot of questions that had lingered from previous conversations—about healthcare and taxes and education and demographics and the rise (by Finnish standards) in the number of immigrants and treatment of the Sami people (Laps) and more.. And of course we also needed to get recent information on their two grown children and four grandchildren. The dinner needed to be a lot longer for us to finish all of these conversations. But there’s always next time (2029 if we keep to our 5-year schedule).

Tomorrow night we head to Frankfurt where we will spend one night and then head home on Saturday.
A good trip that is coming to a close.

Take care-
Fern