…not so cold. No snow, just a chilly wind off the sea.
I love the trams in Helsinki - frequent, modern, clean and warm. Gorgeously, smooth-ridingly warm. Not cheap. But in winter they are really comfortably warm.
Cobbled street next to the cathedral with a No. 4 approaching.
I have my favourite Mexican restaurant and my favourite Italian restaurant and my favourite coffee shops and my favourite tram routes and my favourite ferry trip - and every time I’m there I will not be denied the experience of any of these. Unfortunately, every time I’m there I have to achieve each and every one of these targets and so there’s an element of the route march about it.
Heated pavements - so cool (or not as the case may be).
As of this year I also love Finnish trains. I travelled on one last year that was effin’ freezing but this time they were modern, cosy and incredibly cheap. It was lovely to see my dear friends in Hämeenlinna, a quiet city about 80 min. up the line towards Tampere.
We took Saku for a walk by the lake. Here’s Saku:
Cute huh?
So, the next day I caught the bus to Porvoo. I always go to Porvoo. I know. Whilst I love the trams and trains, the buses are just meh. But they get me there, so I can walk by the river and saunter through the old part of town and exhaust myself climbing the steep cobbled street to the church that has been so lovingly restored after the dreadful fire a while back. All this as a prelude to having tea at the finest cafe in the whole of Finland - Cafe Helmi.
Then I came back and caught the ferry to the island of Suomenlinna. I always go to Suomenlinna. I know. It’s a magical place as night falls, when all the tourists have gone back to the city, and I love wandering around the islands in the early evening. I swear if you listen really hard you can hear the history.
The pink buildings are gorgeous.
Looking west at sunset, one ferry heading to Sweden, one heading to Helsinki.
Back in Helsinki, here’s one of my favourite cafès; Kappeli. It almost doesn’t matter what the coffee tastes like - but it’s good.
I realised this time that I’ve been a frequent visitor to Helsinki for over 20 years now. One day I’ll write something about how things have changed. I really like it here in Finland - it feels quite different to the UK…always has I suppose. But I notice it particularly nowadays. Maybe I’m imagining it, but when I’m away I seem to be able to gain some perspective on the general malaise and the narrow-mindedness that I fear has, at least temporarily, engulfed us in Little Britain.
I also like Finnish humour - this is an offical sign that they put up during the winter months: Unfortunately climate change is having the last laugh because, as you can see, the water hasn’t frozen over at all in recent times.