Travels with Kathryn

My train to Helsinki did eventually “fill-up,” so there were 2 of us in the carriage. If only travelling by train in the UK on Christmas Eve was like this… Anyway, I arrived at Helsinki station on time and walked the 10 minutes to my AirBnB, collected the key from the lockbox, and then the fun began. So, I accidentally inserted the key into the wrong door (appartment B, rather than appartment C), and it got stuck! It turns out that these are special keys with a safety mechanism that can only be extracted by a locksmith. By now, it is 6.30pm on Christmas Eve, and the AirBnB host was attempting to find a locksmith who would come out. He also sent me a Youtube video of how the key works, but this enabled me to find a guide of how to extract the key, so I unravelled the keyring and used this to pick the key out of the lock – hurrah! A Christmas miracle! I am genuinely considering a future career as a safe cracker.

Having now made it into the apartment, I almost immediately left again in search of provisions. Whilst many shops were closed, there were at least 2 supermarkets open in walking distance and it was fully stocked other than the fresh fish couter. I therefore managed to buy the makings of Christmas dinner (not to mention breakfast, snacks etc) and returned to the appartment to do multiple loads of laundry (this is my first washing machine since Sarajevo!) and get to sleep before Santa Claus arrived in Helsinki:

I woke up on Christmas day, and having done a little research, I had a plan for activities. Turns out I am not the only tourist in Helsinki today, so things are open and tours running. For example, I could have joined a free walking tour of all things!Also, Helsinki is a small place, and evidently, there were also Finns out and about. I have always enjoyed the Christmas morning viewing of children trying out their new bikes. In Helsinki, it was more a case of sleigh testing.

I took the ferry over to Suomenlinna which is a sea fortress of a 8 islands and as well as being a UNESCO World Heritage site, also a popular place for a Christmas walk so the ferry over was relatively busy (for Finland):

Building on the islands began in 1748 by the Swedish crown (which ruled Finland) as protection against Russian expansionism. The first structure was a bastion star fort, which stretches along the edges of the rocky coastline. In 1808, the fortress was surrendered to the Russians, paving the way for the way for the Russian occupation of Finland from 1809 until 1917. During WW1, the islands were used as a base for the Russian Baltic fleat, but after their departure, it was controlled by the Finnish military before de-militeraisation in 1971. As well as the fortesses, there are a number of museums (closed today) but also residential properties and people do live here. Whilst it’s a beautiful place, it seems rather un-Finnish to want to live where you may get invaded by tourists…

I had a delightful circuit walk following the tourist route (including some tricky downhill parts with the compacted ice – but I managed to not fall over!) including along the fortres walls fitted with canons facing the direction towards Russia…

I took the ferry back to Helsinki to visit the Allas Sea Pool. This is a sauna, outdoor pool (heated!), and Baltic Sea swimming access point (very much not heated). I am pleased to report that, yes, I did make it into the Baltic Sea on Christmas day (not full immersion but up to my neck, which 100% counts). I also felt (having been taught by our Intrepid expert Katti) something of a master when it came to the sauna in terms of getting it properly hot (it was decidedly tepid when I first got in) and I was all about more water being needed on the stones to heat and steam it to an acceptable level i.e. really, really hot, and then I talked a couple of fellow tourists into the freezing water – lots of deep breathing.

I returned to my apartment and cooked my version of a 1 person Christmas dinner (chicken pot roast with brocolli, followed by chocolate cake with sprinkles) whilst enjoying some very cheesy Christmas movies. All in all, an excellent day:

Today (Tuesday), I took a train (2 hours) to Turku (on an actually busy train). Turku is the oldest city in Finland and its former capital (hence my visit). Excitingly, on the journey, I saw my first actual sunshine in days:

Having arrived on time and checking into my hotel which is conveniently located actually in the station. I am a fan.

Unfortunately, there was no official walking tour today, but obviously, I did my research in advance, so we shall start with a little history of Turku. It is not clear when the city was founded, and although there was a settlement daing back to the Iron Age, Turku was not granted city status until 1229 (by Pope Gregory IX). Whilst under Swedish rule, it was the most important city and de facto capital of Finland being the seat of the Archbishopric as well as being an important shiping and trade port. It was also the only city in Finland where “lawspeakers” (lawyers) operated and the highest cout in Finland. However, it only remained the (by then) official capital whilst under Russian rule until 1812 when the capital was moved to Helsinki. Emperor Alexander I felt that Turku was too far from Russia and too aligned to Sweden and wanted to build a more “Russian” capital. The city of Turku today actually closely resembles Helsinki as after a devastating fire in Turku in 1827, the city was rebuilt by the same architect and based on a regular grid plan. This means that today, Turku is one of the best examples of unified 19th-century architecture in Europe.

My first port of call was Turku’s castle. Now, I did think about getting the bus, but as this would have required standing around for 30 minutes and changing buses, I TMaP’d and got a taxi. The castle dates back to 1280 and is the largest surviving medevial building in Finland. Throughout the Middle Ages, the fortified camp of wooden structures grew into a stone castle intended to guard the sea route to Turku. The lower floors of the castle have been given a feel of the Middle Ages, whereas the top floor was added during the Renaisance in the 1500s. It is an excellent museum (albiet with a few too much up and down-ing), but I am also going to give the castle additional points for an exhibition aimed at children, but also interesting for adults, about one of the castle’s occupants, Princess Catherine Jagiellon who was a resident here before ultimately becoming Queen of Sweden. Learning is fun at any age!

There was also a particularly interesting collection of “stuff” from the 19th century, clothes, fans, jewellery, tablewear, dollshouses, and something I have never seen before – hand embroidered wallet liners. Apparently, these were created as gifts from a bride to her groom, and usually, they stitched in a value of the banknote sky high. It’s worth a try!

I then decided to walk into town along the river, which was lovely, but rather cold. Unfortunately, the main market square is not particularly attractive as it may have been a couple of days ago as the Christmas market is very closed and is being cleared away. However, the blue sky was lovely:

My final stop was Turku Cathedral. This is the only medieval basillica in Finland and the Mother Church of Finland’s Lutheran church. Originally built of wood in the 13th century, it was extended in the 14th and 15th centuries. Unfortunately, it was also a victim of the 1827 fire and then needed to be rebuilt. I was not able to go inside unless I wanted to come back for services – which I did not, but it was lovely from the outside:

I then managed a bus back to my hotel, and a takeaway pizza from the hotel restaurant which I ate whilst watching the snow begin to blizzard around the hotel so I am glad I returned when I did! Tonight I shall have a nice relaxing evening in my pyjamas, it is Christmas after all.

Tomorrow I am leaving Finland and travelling to Tallinn, Estonia. My time to Finland has been magical, and I am so pleased I booked this trip even if it’s not a traditional stop on the Silk Road. I have already recommended that people should book trips to Lapland (do), but I am definately inspired to spend more time north of the Arctic Circle – its really not that cold, and it is so beautiful. I can also now mush dog sledges so can put these skills into practice in other countries…