We arrive in Helsinki glad to have left the rain in Germany and see blue skies. It takes us quite a while to get off the docks then it's around a 20 min drive to a place next to Helsinki Central Park where we can easily get a bus into the centre and also stay overnight.
By the time we are ready to leave it's almost lunchtime in Finland but as we're trying to stay on UK time we just grab a small bite to eat to keep us going until we can find some Finnish snacks. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to keep the gas running on the boat so we decide against finishing off the illegal British meat so it's a variety of cucumber, cream cheese and crisp sandwiches. We hop on the bus just a short walk away and head to the rock church, locally known as Temppeliaukio Church.
Some liken the church to that of a secret bond villain lair. Carved straight into solid granite in the heart of Helsinki, it’s very dramatic especially with the contrasting copper roof.
It was designed by two Finnish brothers who won a competition with their idea to preserve the natural rock instead of covering it up, it almost didn't get built however and took over thirty years to get construction going due to delays caused by the second World War and lack of funding. The kids lit a candle then it was on a tram to Helsinki Cathedral. Also a Lutheran church this lacked the stain glass and grandeur of other cathedrals but still had a magnificence about it. We happened to enter just as an English tour was starting so after telling us a bit about the building we were also lucky enough to visit the organ upstairs that is closed to regular visitors.
After that we visited the crypt which currently housed an art exhibition and in true team SM fashion we set the kids the challenge of finding their favourite piece.
Having spent a fair chunk of change on two churches it was nice to visit the Helsinki city museum which is free.
Housed within five interconnected historic buildings dating from the 1750s to the 1920s, the museum offers an immersive experience into the city's past. Inside there is the children's museum, the history of Helsinki and a temporary exhibition which is currently about Trash.
Robert is just on the edge of child like and pre teen. Sometimes he's happy to play shops and dress up other times he'd rather the earth swallow him up. We did manage to get a picture of him in a costume even though he wasn't impressed but then later on he was happy to get involved interacting with the exhibits.
It was a fun way to learn a bit about Finland and Helsinki and they even had a book corner where I read the only English book to them about a dog who visits the city telling us where all his favourite places are.
The trash exhibit was interesting, showing the children behind the scenes of recycling, art work made from junk and how poo gets blocked in the sewers from things that are incorrectly flushed down the toilet. They had examples of several things that had been found in the Helsinki sewers ranging from cameras to butt plugs (which the children thankfully didn't question!)
Next we headed out to the docks to visit the open air market where we just had to try a reindeer hot dog, much to Robert's disgust (although we all have our limits, I wasn't keen to try bear meat that was also on offer in the old market).
We treated ourselves to ice cream, with the warning from the vendors that we had to keep ours eyes peeled due to the very brazen seagulls that would steal them if given half the chance. Liliya of course went for a classic chocolate, Robert had a unicorn sundae, Al the cherry and chocolate sundae and I tried something a bit more local, vanilla with cloudberries.
In the old market we then shared a weird but tasty fried jumble of curly donut mixture called Tippaleipa which is only made in Finland.
Tummies topped up we decided to get the ferry to Suomenlinna, although the museums would be closed as it was almost 6pm we got free travel with our 2 day pass and I heard it was nice to walk around.
As always the children managed to make friends with a dog so rather than enjoying the view across the water they sat and gave the dog lots of attention.
We weren't disappointed, the weather was so lovely many people had brought over picnics which would have been a great plan. People still live on the island and there are various signs up saying residents only down certain streets.
Suomenlinna is actually a group of islands and an historic sea fortress now classed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, it was originally built in the mid-18th century by the Swedish as a defense against Russian expansion. We were able to explore a couple of the tunnels, and see plenty of cannons while also enjoying the scenic walks along the rocks and through the parks. People had even come to go swimming in the sea which of course the children wanted to do but with no change of clothing and we still had to go to a restaurant afterwards we gave it a miss.
We got back on the boat and found a tram to take us to a sushi restaurant. It had high ratings online but seemed to be in a pretty dodgy part of the city. There were only 5 tables in the place and to start with we had it all to ourselves. What the area itself lacked in looks this place certainly made up for it in taste. The sushi was delicious, the only problem was the kids weren't content sticking to what they had ordered and they were happily munching through ours as well!
We paid up and headed to the bus stop, a few minutes after the bus was supposed to arrive but hadn't Al found a different stop so we headed over only to then have the delayed bus we needed drive straight past us. It turns out however that was a blessing and just as we were approaching the next stop I noticed Al wasn't carrying the art work we'd bought from a local artist at the open air market. A few choice words from Al, a quick call to the restaurant who thankfully found it in the table and we headed back to collect it by which time the original bus we were due to catch was coming again so at least we didn't need to do any more walking. The bus dropped us at the edge of the park so we had a half mile walk back to the van.
Rather later than originally planned I then managed a quick wardrobe change and reran the route there and back to log a Finnish mile.
My plan to keep us all on UK timezone worked, possibly too well as we didn't get up and out until after 10am local time but we're feeling rather chilled and Finnish about things. For a capital city it's one of the quietest places we've been, perhaps it's the weather that's also helping but we're in love with the place and the vibes. We've not seen any graffiti and everyone we meet greets us with a smile. We don't even freak out as the bus comes flying past us as we're seconds too late. We made a family decision to visit both the sports museum and the architecture and design museum then we'd see what time we had left to do anything else. The sports museum was at the site of the Olympics in 1952 and we were concerned for a while the place was closed as we didn't see another person from leaving the bus to the entrance.
The museum tells the story of Finnish sports through exhibits, interactive games, real life video footage and was much better than I had anticipated. A big section was dedicated to the 1952 Olympics and given we'd all been to Paris last year the kids could really get a feel for what it was all about and made references to our trip last year which was great to hear (they are actually taking things in and not just being dragged round on these adventures).
We got to see medals, outfits, and even a ski that’s over 2,000 years old. One of the reasons we'd chosen to come was also the interactive play area where the kids (and us) got to try various activities from running, wheelchair basketball, skipping, cycling, parcour, climbing, air hockey, football, throwing and golf.
After a good couple of hours it was back on the amazing public transport and closer to the centre to visit the design district, first we found a grassy spot for our lunch then finished it off with a trip to a bakery (at the kids request). Of course Robert and Al chose the largest items in the shop and Robert was defeated, luckily Al was on hand to make sure nothing went to waste.
The architecture and design museum is actually two separate buildings and we went into the design section first. At reception the kids were straight into the interactive art where they could try weaving a communal project.
The first exhibit, Utopia Now, was the Story of Finnish Design and Architecture and again the Team SM challenge was to find the piece they liked most in each room and why. Liliya is clearly a forward thinker and says mummy will this go into the blog, I said yes probably to which she replied OK then you must write this is Liliya's favourite because it's a bum sink! Robert on the other hand chose the neck brace that became an airbag on impact for cyclists.
Another favourite for them both was getting to play Angry birds and learn about the game's design and early prototypes. The museum did a really good job of getting the kids involved by having open ended questions dotted around the exhibits.
Upstairs was a temporary exhibit by artist Maija Lavonen: Quietly Monumental. She was inspired by nature and her art form was textiles. She used her childhood memories of the rugged northern landscape, sea, stones, and shifting light to define much of her art work. Later on she hand-wove optical fibres alongside linen and steel to create glowing installations. We also got to watch a video where she carefully put some of her work in nature to blend in with the surroundings.
In the basement there was a fully interactive area designed for kids. Everything could be touched and tried out, perfect for these little hands. Apparently by 2030 they want to merge the design and architecture areas of the museum in a new building so they had questions around the exhibit asking the kids' opinions on what should be included.
A few minutes away was the architecture museum, the building itself was beautiful but the content rather underwhelming. There was just one room with content from a female Belgium architect and mainly showed her drawings. It was OK but the highlight here for the children was the creation zone where Liliya drew a room and Robert used the construction blocks to build then the larger blocks to make a den. Liliya had the choice of taking her picture or displaying it at the museum and she chose the latter.
By this time there wasn't any time left to really do much but we still had to buy a bauble and we'd seen a moomin one yesterday so headed back to the docks to get that then really wanted to enjoy a picnic in the sunshine so popped into a local market to get freshly squeezed orange juice, meats, cheese and made our own salad (which the kids found amazing 😂).
We found a sheltered spot under a tree and everyone just seemed to have a calm sense about them, until the seagulls stole some cucumber and it was back to the usual chaos.
We caught the bus back to Central Park and all agreed we'd come back here again. Walking back to the moho we even managed to find Liliya's pinecone that she'd picked up earlier but we'd not let get carry all around the city so she was a happy bunny.
Right behind our parking there was a little pet cemetery which should sound creepy but with the beauty of the sun shining through the trees even that was calm and peaceful.
We made it to the docks with plenty of time to spare and I had completely forgotten I had booked us a cabin.
The crossing was only 2.5hrs but I've been on enough if these to realise it can be carnage on the public areas. I wanted to make sure the kids burnt off any excess energy even though it was now 9.30/7.30pm and so we left Al to get some peace and quiet and I took the kids to explore the ship.
Yes it was busy but there were plenty of seats and a gorgeous outside space. We found the kids play area and as I suspected they wanted to stay a while rather than retreat to the cabin even when the offer of a movie was there. What's even better about the cabin is we have our own bathroom so we can all get a roomy hot shower before arriving in Tallinn. I definitely felt like we could have stayed a few more days here and soaked up the laid back, friendly vibes. Let's hope Tallinn offers us more of the same, until next time Finland, we love you x