Helsinki - Travel Guide to Finland's Cool Capital (Art, Architecture and Great Coffee)
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- Опубліковано 8 січ 2021
- Filmed in January 2020, enjoy the cultural highlights of a two day visit to this stylish city on the Baltic Sea.
Arriving by boat the Finnish capital welcomes you with a skyline of two fabulous cathedrals that appear more Russian than Nordic. However, the architecture of the Lutheran and Orthodox cathedrals makes perfect sense as the two edifices were built during the time that the Grand Duchy of Finland was part of the Russian empire. However, magnificent though they are, for me the attraction of Helsinki is the cool retro-vibe supplied by the integration of 50’s styled neon, flourishes of art nouveau, and striking contemporary architecture; not to mention the effortless style of the Finns themselves. The compact size of the city centre promotes walking and there are visual delights to be had at every street corner. When the cold bites, or the rain becomes too intense then the artwork continues in the numerous galleries. I was delighted to recognise some of the Finnish masterpieces in the Ateneum that I had bought postcards of during my first visit almost 30 years previously. However, it was a tiny self-portrait that took my breath away with its intensity. I knew nothing of the artist Ellen Thesleff at the time. I now know that she is recognised as one of Finland’s foremost modernist painters. I was able to satisfy more of my curiosity at the gallery’s gift shop and was then fortunate enough to see a further retrospective later that day at the Helsinki Art Museum.
My post gallery treat was the Fazer cafe. Fazer chocolate is ubiquitous in Finland and an art deco facade ushers you into the original cafe opened by Karl Fazer in 1891. It would be hard to imagine that a more tempting array of open sandwiches or cakes could be found in the entire country. However, the most memorable aspect of the cafe is perhaps its ceiling. I had read previously that it had a cupola that reflected back people’s conversations and was, accordingly, not the place for idle gossip. At that moment I was simply in need of a rest and had entirely forgotten this curious anecdote. However, after my first mouthful of my salmon and avocado rye bread sandwich I heard a loud conversation in German emanating from above my head. Stupidly I looked up half expecting to see a speaker. The reality was that I was receiving a crystal clear communication of a conversation between two ladies about four tables away at the edge of the room. Happily for them my German is rustier than the Titanic.
On this trip I was determined to make it out to the island fortress that I had seen all those years ago. The Finns know it as Suomenlinna but it was originally called Sveaborg when the Swedish Crown constructed it in the mid 18th century in an ill-fated attempt to keep Russia at bay. The island is inhabited and, in the warmer summer months, is a hugely popular destination with a raft of visitor attractions and cafes. By contrast, I was visiting in January. Not only that, I was still jet-lagged from my flight from Tokyo and, having been awake for hours, resolved to take an early ferry and see the sun rise from this rocky outcrop. Sadly for me there was to be no sunrise that day. It was replaced by a ferocious blast of sleet from the icy Baltic. The fortress surprised me with its scale and the combination of the adverse weather and the complete lack of tourists meant that I felt more in tune with its original purpose and could imagine the Swedish forces hunkering down before their eventual surrender, or the Russian soldiers who armed the multitude of cannons in an effort to fend off the French and English navies during the Napoleonic wars. Atmospheric though that was, as I became colder and wetter the call of a strong coffee back across the harbour became over-whelming. I look forward to returning and enjoying this unique place with the crowds on a long mid-summer day.
The least known of the Nordic capitals is well worth a visit!
Filmed in January 2020
www.travelobscurer.com
This is by far the best guide for Helsinki
Thank you. Really appreciate the feedback.
the metal is a nice touch. refreshing!
Absolutely excellent! Thank you so much. I've been to Helsinki four times and I have learnt a lot thanks to your video. I'm taking my students there in 2 weeks and they will watch your travel guide a couple of times before going there, believe me! Have a nice day and thanks a lot... again.
Thank you so much for the great feedback! My visit to Helsinki in January 2020 seems a long time ago! Enjoy your trip and I hope you enjoy the latest films on the channel too.
Another lovely video about a great city - well done.
Thank you!!
Thank you Jean for making this video in a bitterly cold winter.
You definitely put a lot of efforts in filming, editing and adding subtitles.
I like the history of Helsinki/Finland you talked about, especially the Ingrains.
Hope that you can visit Oslo, Norway after all the dusts settle!
Thanks Aidan. If you go to the Norway playlist you'll find a short film about Oslo made before the pandemic. Best, Jonathan
I thank you so much for visiting Ateneum! I don't think I've seen a video before where some one has taken the trouble to see our artistic treasures.
Thank you! The Ateneum is undoubtedly one of my favourite European art museums.
Great tour. I can’t wait to get back.
Thanks!
I know little of Helsinki and Finland, but you've really whet my appetite. Loved your video
Thanks Adrian. Much appreciated!
This was actually a really good video, Helsinki exactly as it is in winter. Cold, dark, but with good cafes and a lot to see, and quite ok even on an ordinary day.
Thank you Sampo.
"Finland is a relatively new country", uhm... has been called Finland for over 5000 years.
But only a truly independent nation since 1917, surprisingly.
Viking Japanese
"Arriving by boat the Finnish capital welcomes you with a skyline of two fabulous cathedrals that appear more Russian than Nordic" Are you kidding me?
To be more precise Finland was not 'ruled by Sweden', it was Sweden. A part of it. You don't say that in the 1880's, the State of New York was ruled by the United States. It simply was a part of it. But later Finland was ruled by Russia, and it is a very common interpretation that somehow the relation with Sweden had been similar. But it really was not.
In both cases the area of modern Finland belonged to outsiders. In that sense it was the very same situation both times.
@@northstar2621 However, in the case of Sweden the law was the same in Sweden and the part of it that forms the modern Finland. In the case of Russia, Finland still was ruled by the Swedish law and even had a customs border towards Russia. Therefore in the first case Finland was ultimately ruled by insiders, in the latter case by outsiders. And the position within the Russian empire was less stable; attempts of making it an integral part of Russia led to the full independence of Finland.
@@sampohonkala4195 Your argument implies that Finnish was ~originally~ Swedish land out of which Finland was born - when the truth is that the lands have been Finnish and Finnic for thousands of years. This is my problem. Swedes have never been insiders here, even if they ruled over these areas.
@@northstar2621 That is a nationalist way of thinking of it; every nation should form a state. Sweden in ancient times never was a nation state. Right from the beginning of the real kingdom with a central government in the 1200's Sweden had two nations, Swedes and Finns. It was one solid kingdom with a Swedish majority and a Finnish minority. Both had the right to take part in the election of the king as long as Sweden had elected kings. The idea of a nation state developed fully as late as the 1800's.
@@sampohonkala4195 Nothing wrong with thinking that each nation should rule over and decide about things in their own lands and not some outsiders who have their own interest in mind first and foremost. A state is the construct that serves this so called nationalist purpose the best in practice and is, most of the time, very much necessary for guaranteeing people rights and authority as nations and peoples. Voting for things in a state of foreigners doesn't guarantee one real authority in their own land, and it isn't a justification of taking over other people's lands.
Oh, a small addition - Finns definitely believed in defending their lands from outsiders, Swedes included, from the very beginning. Nothing supports the idea that Sweden just was there from the very beginning, was received with no resistance and that there was nothing but peace because they were "good lords". Everyone always thinks good about themselves - meanwhile those who don't get to have a say in what is written down in the pages of history might - and often do - disagree.