Tue. July 19: A Beautiful Day in Helsinki, Finland

Day three began with a 4:31 AM Helsinki sunrise. This Finnish capital is considered the Design Capital of the World and it's easy to see why with its beautiful architecture, both old and modern, and gorgeous textile patterns. Finland's world-renowned modern design heritage is a part of everyday life- minimalist, functional, and colorful! We passed a park with trees wrapped in bright red and white polka dotted fabric. 

We searched for and found the Marimekko store and admired the beautifully designed clothes and household goods. Design is everywhere in Helsinki!

  Some interesting facts about Helsinki: There are over 300 islands and 130 km of shoreline; parks and green areas make up 1/3 of Helsinki; there are over 3 million saunas in Finland (3 for each person!); and over 750 miles of cycle paths.  Helsinki is definitely urban chic and very technologically oriented. Lots of tech start-ups- it's where two creative Finnish guys invented the Angry Birds app! It is a very progressive city (and country) with a top rated education system, health care for all, and one of the highest standards of living in the world. Certainly there is something to be said for democratic socialism when you see the quality of life in Helsinki.

Another interesting fact is there are 2 official languages in Finland- Finnish and Swedish. All street signs have two words, One in Finnish and one in Swedish.  And everyone speaks English since it is compulsory in school. They are also the second biggest elevator manufacturer in the world, after Otis. 

Black licorice is a favorite candy in Finland. Our guide distributed a popular licorice brand for us to sample. Even the candy wrapper reflects the Marimekko-type design!

In one of the parks, we stopped to see the Sibelius Monument, dedicated to Jean Sibelius, a Finnish composer. This national monument is constructed of about 600 hollow steel pipes welded together in a wave-like pattern. One can interact with the design and create sounds and echoes in the pipes. Off to the side, along the rock wall, is the face of Sibelius.

Next we stopped at the Temppeliaukio "Rock" Church. This unique Lutheran Church is underground, circular, and built from a hole blasted in the rock. It is covered with a copper dome and surrounded by a circular band of slatted windows that let in the natural light. We walked up the rocky hill to look at it from the top down. Quite unique. 

  Time for some people-watching! Across the street we saw a nice young Finnish man selling homemade Finnish pastries from his bike and a local girl, with an interesting fashion style, walking her dogs.

Helsinki's shipyard is famous for building ice breakers. They have eight mighty ice breakers and two of them can be seen moored at the end of the peninsula when not in use. As global interest in the Arctic increases, there is great demand for Finnish icebreakers and the Finnish fleet is used to guide merchant ships through ice packed waters.

In addition to the Peugeots, Volvos, BMW's, Mercedes, and other popular car models in Finland, we saw some very tiny cars!

Before heading back to the ship, we walked through the Market Square. There were a lot of stalls selling fresh berries and other local foods. We left port to cruise to St Petersburg, Russia. It was an interesting and long day, especially with a sunset at 10:20 PM!