Another day to defy the forecasts, today was beautiful and Helsinki bathed in glorious sunshine for the duration of the day.
After breakfast, we took the ferry from Kauppatori to the island of Suomenlinna, the site of a 250 year old fortress and a suburb of Helsinki with some 850 residents.
We purchased only one adult return ticket to the island. Why? Because Sarah’s was allowed to travel for free. How come? Because we had a child buggy with us and the local public transport policy dictates that buggy-pushers travel gratis.
The reason for this unparalleled generosity is that some forms of public transport (presumably buses and trams) require you to board at the back, after which you would have to abandon your buggy and child for a minute in order to walk to the front and purchase a ticket. It’s deemed undesirable for a parent to do this, so buggy-pushers get a free ride; quite literally. Yes, the Finns can certainly teach the rest of us a thing or two about organising civilised society.
Suomenlinna turned out to be better than expected. The ferry journey itself was fun, but the island soon had one imaging oneself at a location far removed from the Finnish capital. It was so calm and peaceful that it seemed as if we really could have been anywhere.
All of us enjoyed the island. There was a nice little park for Eloïse and Lucas, who are both really fond of the swings at the moment.
We made a full tour of the island, had lunch and got back to Helsinki at around 16:00. We then walked to Kaivopuisto park, ate some strange ice-cream (my lemon flavoured scoop looked like a concoction of pus and mustard, and failed to adequately distance itself from the taste that thought suggested) and then chanced upon another really good playground for the children.
What must have been an hour later, we walked back into town for a delicious dinner at Tori on Punavuorenkatu, followed by coffee and cake at Café Engel again.
Today felt like a very full day and I must say, it was nice to get out of the city. Not that Helsinki is hectic; far from it, especially at this time of year. No, it’s high summer and Helsinki is virtually deserted, its legions of residents having fled for more appealing resorts, leaving but a skeleton crew behind to keep the wheels of commerce and government oiled and slowly turning.
We, too, must leave Helsinki behind the day after tomorrow, so Monday is our last chance to take in any final items on the list. There aren’t many, I must say. Helsinki definitely has a charm of its own, but doesn’t entice and enchant me the way that, say, Stockholm does. It’s actually quite reminiscent of the Swedish capital in places, but is missing the historic appeal of Gamla Stan and the older neighbourhoods.
Nevertheless, it’s been well worth the time to come over here. Who knows when we’ll be back this way? Finland’s not exactly en route to many other destinations.
I hope the weather continues to hold up.tomorrow.