Baltic Boating Part 3: Helsinki

Helsinki was always going to struggle to make a big impression on us; its population is a tiny fraction of the previous cities', it has far fewer obvious must-see attractions, and the Finns have a reputation for being rather cold and detached. Or at least their racing-car drivers do - are there any other famous Finns?

Add to this the fact that in contrast to our previous stops, the weather was overcast and drizzly, things weren't really looking good for "The Sink". We kicked off our exploration by walking over to The Rock Church. Sadly, there was no sign of Jack Black or indeed any loud music at all, just a rather interesting church carved out of a natural stone crag. We had to generate our own rock:

Continuing our Scandi-coffee research tour, we headed through the middle of town, and noticed that Helsinki has trams very reminiscent of Melbourne's. We passed over the coffee made by Bec's dad, and instead went to the imposing Senate Square, Helsinki's finest. Perhaps in an attempt to give the town a grand meeting-point, the Government Palace, Cathedral, University and Library surround the square, with a monument to Alexander II in the centre. Fortunately Alexander I also paid a visit, allowing a rare photo opportunity.


As you can probably tell from the photos, the weather picked up slightly and our spirits were further improved by a visit to an excellent free museum of Helsinki's history, tucked away just off Senate Square. Helsinki has been a strategic stopping-place for Swedes and Russians for centuries and as such has changed hands several times in a Baltic tug-of-war, before finally establishing its independence from Russia in 1917.

Upon exiting the museum we were greeted by a fresh downpour, and soon after headed back to the comfort of the boat. We'd spent just five hours in Helsinki and that seemed to be sufficient. Our overall impression matched the stereotypical Finnish character - cool, reserved, orderly, and not given to great flourishes. As such we found it a little hard to warm to.