Experiencing the midnight sun from Helsinki

I felt in my element, that I was in my place during those four brief days. It was Utopia for me, and I would like to see if this environment is better suited to the ideal life I’m trying to craft.

Jul 24, 2022

∙ Paid

The main reason we went to Helsinki was to attend a friend’s wedding. They had it scheduled right in time for a French holiday, which meant we could take more days off and sightsee. We flew to Finland via Finnair in the summer of 2022 and braced ourselves for the higher cost of living that awaited us.

How we got there

Among the many airlines that fly from Paris to Helsinki, the one that best fit our preferences in terms of schedule and budget was Finnair. We thought flying the carrier airline would be the best choice, too, when it comes to service, comfort, and priority. As we will soon appreciate, it was indeed a better choice for what was to come months later, after booking our flights. Most airports and airline company employees went on strike for several reasons. I am not going to go into detail here. To cut a long story short: after-effects of Covid-19-related struggles, the war in Ukraine, increasing inflation rates, struggling purchasing power, and low manpower. These strikes led to either undelivered baggage, delayed flights, or last-minute cancellations.

Where we stayed

We booked a boutique hotel via Booking.com called Hotel Indigo, just a few strides from the city centre, for two reasons: its proximity to the wedding location and to sites, shops, and transportation. From the airport (Lentoasema in Finnish), take either line I or P to Helsinki central train station (Rautatieasema in Finnish). It’s a 20-minute walk from there, or accessible via trams 1, 3, and 6, and alight at Fredriksgatan stop.

How we got around

The Finnish public transport group and application is called HSL. We opted for day-trip passes for unlimited access to and from the airport and around the city, since we knew we would need to get around with the limited time we had. To get from the airport to the city centre of Helsinki, we needed a four-day pass for zones A, B, and C.

What I appreciate most about public transport, especially suburban trains, is the announcements that let passengers know we’re about to leave one zone and enter another, giving them a chance to double-check their transport ticket.

The pass is valid for all types of public transportation - bus, tram, metro, and even the commuter ferry that gets you to the island of Suomenlinna.

Compared to Amsterdam or Copenhagen, I saw few people riding bikes. I wasn’t able to pay much attention to the rental/commuter bikes either.

Where we went

My routine is to join a free city walking tour to get a glimpse of the city. We booked our English tour on this site, scheduled to start at 11:00 am. In two hours, we get to hear about Finland's history, stories about Helsinki, the Finnish people and customs, and food!

The tour starts at Havis Amanda, a fountain and a statue. After a two-minute walk, we entered the main streets of Helsinki that lead to Senate Square, which is surrounded by the city's oldest streets and buildings. It has an architecture akin to that of St Petersburg, Russia, given that Finland was under the rule of the Russian czar Aleksandr III Aleksandrovich for several years, from 13 March 1881 until his death in 1894. In fact, there’s a statue of him right in the middle of the square. Climbing up the stairs, we reached the Helsinki Cathedral, an Evangelical Lutheran house of worship. True to its Lutheran philosophy, everything was kept simple. B says the simplicity makes it look modern and therefore, timeless. I think the simplicity also allows the faithful to focus more on their faith than to get easily distracted by the ornaments usually found in Catholic churches.

A few blocks away, we stopped in front of a bronze statue of a young woman admiring the rising sun, protecting her eyes from its blinding rays, on Rauhankatu Street. This is one of the many statues throughout the capital. It’s supposed to symbolize simplicity and the feminist uprising of Finnish women. Finland, like its Nordic neighbours, is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world.

Further down the road, we stopped at The National Archives of Finland, where the guide showed us one of the many tiny sculptures to spot around Helsinki. Incidentally, this one is Helsinki’s smallest & cutest statue. The purpose of these tiny creations was for people to appreciate the beauty in the tiniest corners of the city, no matter how simple and ordinary they may seem.

We continue on down to the harbour with a good view of the Uspenski Cathedral, an Eastern Orthodox cathedral - visibly more ornate than Helsinki Cathedral. Along the way, we stopped on a corner of Kirkkokatu Street where our guide showed us an odd street sign. Street signs in Finland are often written in Finnish and Swedish. They are not usually the same name, which could freak out foreigners who think they made a mistake. We fell victim to this, too. But what’s unique about this street sign is that it also features a drawing of the street. The guide explained that many years back, some Finns were illiterate. To help them find their way and identify their location, they represented streets with animals. She mentioned a certain unicorn street. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to locate it for the time being.

We passed by Hivalakatu Street, which is hailed as the most Instagrammable street in Helsinki. We appreciated it from afar, but we personally didn’t have the time to actually go through it. The guide had some interesting stories to tell about the buildings along that street.

Storytime: The guide showed us a picture of the Moomins. Looking at the picture, which I took 11 years ago when I received a postcard from a random Postcrossing member in Tampere, Finland, of which I was a member too. To me back then, it was simply a cute picture of what I thought might be a local animation, but now it makes more sense when she talks about it, and I get to see it everywhere myself. They even showed a clip of this during the flight to Helsinki! End of storytime.

The tour ended at the marketplace, just behind the meet-up place of the tour, with a view of Helsinki’s big Ferris Wheel. One of the carriages is a sauna, actually! The actual spot where we parted ways was also the hub to get on a ferry to Suomenlinna - a Finnish military fortress classified under the UNESCO World Heritage site, which we would visit the next day. The tour ended at 1 pm, just in time for lunch. This leads us to…

What we ate

We were told that pastries like an almond cinnamon roll were a must-try. We tried those for the first time at Café Regatta. I had another breakfast bite at Ekberg 1852 Café, which was conveniently located across from our hotel. Research shows that this is Helsinki’s oldest-running café. It’s also worth noting that you can grab coffee or snacks at Robert’s Coffee.

We also had a go at our first reindeer meat (my pretentious vegetarian self wasn’t pleased) from a booth at the marketplace. It was good, a bit dry for my liking, and maybe too much serving, but it was worth a try!

It was quite remarkable to see so many cafés around town. The coffee enthusiast in me is happy! We were told that Finns are big coffee drinkers. According to our guide and this website, Finland is the world’s largest per-person coffee consumer. The average Finn drinks nearly four cups a day. Coffee is so popular in Finland that two 10-minute coffee breaks are legally mandated for Finnish workers.

During the wedding, the couple chose a well-thought-out mix of Asian and European cuisine.