EUROPE 2018 - HELSINKI

Here we are in Helsinki in the northern summer, with a very short night. We fell into bed after midnight, after the very long journey from Chile. Even so I took a while to get to sleep with a seven hour time change. A good breakfast set us up for a day visiting the city. We started in the old centre round the original port, where the traditional market on the quayside has been tarted up into “boutiquey” little shops. Helsinki was founded further west by the King of Sweden in 1550, but moved to its present location a few years later. ‘Finland’ did not exist when the Swedes took control of this sparsely inhabited coastal area around the 13th century; they held it until the Russians attacked (not for the first time) in 1808. It then remained Russian - as a semi-autonomous Imperial Grand Duchy - until 1917, when the Finns took advantage of the Revolutionary chaos to declare independence. Around 1812, the Russians built a monumental square to form the administrative heart of their new city, still called Senate Square. On a mound overlooking the square, but built only in 1852, stands the sober, white, classical Lutheran cathedral; it is light and airy, and boasts a splendid organ. On another hill half a mile further east is the Orthodox Uspensky cathedral; brick outside with shining onion domes, dark grey marble within, it forms a heavy contrast. By chance, when we visited on 15th August (Assumption of the BVM - surely not a coincidence), we found it full of Russians, many in traditional costume, for the 150th anniversary of its inauguration in 1868. Priests were chanting, everyone crossing themselves, some of the women in headscarves - back to Russia, which after all is not far away. We saw the lights of Petersburg in the distance as our flight approached Helsinki. We went next to a midday concert of Sibelius’ music - piano and violin. It was organised by an ex professional horn-player, full of information and stories in at least four languages. The final piece was Finlandia, which he analysed as having 5 “Leitmotifs”: evil, prayer, aggression, battle and freedom. He claimed that the idea is original and becoming accepted in Finland... The concert was given in the (ex-?) Kamp Hotel with stone carvings on the facade and wood carving inside representing elements of Finnish folklore. In the afternoon we went to an open air museum on Seurasaari (island) with over 80 houses and other structures brought from all over Finland. All of wood, naturally. In the sea were a pair of great crested grebes... On the way home we stopped at the Sibelius monument, a structure of pipes with a metal mould of the composer’s face. Before dinner we went to the roof-top bar of the 1930s Torni Hotel for the view over the city. The second day in Helsinki we visitedthe excellent City Museum andthe Ateneum art gallery. No photos until I solve the technological difficulties!