Helsinki 24 Hours
If I hadn't traveled by cruise ship across the Baltic Sea, I might have missed this relaxing and delightful city.
There is no exaggerated social anxiety here, nor endless bad weather. Instead, during the 24 hours I stayed, I saw the warmth of the Finns, their cozy lifestyle, and the great design that represents Nordic culture.
? Olympia Terminal
I privately feel that touring the Nordic region by ship is a very Nordic way to travel. There's no need to rush to the destination; you can just read, daydream in the quiet sunlight, and spend your time however you like.
As the first stop of the cruise, it was inevitable that something would happen.
Departing from the port of Saint Petersburg, the customs officer was a tough-looking Russian woman. She kept confirming with me in broken English whether I was going to Helsinki.
“What is your purpose for going to Helsinki?”
“Are you a soldier?”
“No (do I look like one?).”
“Why alone?”
“Because I have a lot of vacation days (I was the only Asian face on the entire ship).”
This back-and-forth continued until I was the last person at customs. The woman kept chattering in Russian with another lady, all while flipping through my passport and itinerary repeatedly.
I guess this vigilance comes from the Soviet spy era—after all, they are a major spy country. Luckily, after everyone else had left, the woman finally released her suspicion of me. Although I was the last to board, it didn’t dampen my mood for the trip.
The port I arrived at is called Olympia Terminal. This long voyage truly felt like a competition with no opponent.
I held my breath and stayed alert the entire time, until the moment the Finnish customs officer stamped my passport.
(Here’s a fun fact: Schengen visa entry stamps vary depending on the point of entry. If you enter by air, it’s a plane; by train, it’s a train; and on my passport, it’s a little ship!)
? Nykytaiteen museo Kiasma
Since I was only staying for two days, I first went to the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in the city center before checking into my hotel.
The artworks inside, as described in the “Good Taste Museum Awards – Contemporary Art” feature, are mainly contemporary pieces scattered throughout a space that resembles a bioscientific structure. It’s a must-visit for fans of contemporary art.
The staff at the museum were very friendly and proactively offered to let me store my luggage there, as long as I picked it up before closing time.
Aren’t Finns supposed to have strong social anxiety? This small gesture actually made me think their social intelligence is quite high!
? Kampin Kappeli
Near the art museum, there is also a very famous small chapel.
This unassuming yellow cylindrical building has an interior that can only accommodate five or six rows of seats. It does not hold church services; its only purpose is to offer a moment of silence for those passing by.
A sign at the door reminds visitors to maintain absolute silence, and people from different places quietly follow the rule. Various people come here with different purposes, most of them tourists. But there might also be an elderly Finnish woman like the one in the picture. I imagine she lives in Helsinki, and her usual life is calm, but recently she has had some worries to sort out, so she came here to give herself some quiet time.
She left before I did, and as she turned, I saw her wiping the corner of her eye with her sleeve.
Whatever happened, having a little corner to comfort yourself is really nice.
? Design District
Helsinki is really not big; you can walk to almost every place in the city center.
Heading toward the sea, there is an area called Design District, scattered with many galleries and shops for designer furniture and clothing.
The name of this area might be simple and straightforward, but it has plenty to offer. Besides Nordic design furniture and clothing, the dining options here are also very diverse.
? Temppeliaukion kirkko
I picked up my luggage and checked in, and on the way, I visited another famous Helsinki church—the Rock Church.
The exterior of the Rock Church is a protruding rock in a garden. If you don’t look carefully, you might easily miss the huge underground space.
Set in nature, it makes use of natural light. Thanks to the rock walls, the acoustics are excellent. The Rock Church perfectly combines nature and art.
When there is a performance, tickets are sold to the public; when there is no performance, it is open to everyone. At the top of the church, there is an automatically playing piano, allowing even those without a ticket to experience the effect of a natural concert hall.
Listening to the soothing music and watching the sunlight slowly shift along the rock walls, the flow of time seemed to lose its meaning.
(There’s a café nearby called Cafetoria Café & Shop, and their coffee is really good!)
? Regatta
I heard that Finns drink an average of five cups of coffee a day, the highest in the world. Since I was here, I decided to keep up the trend despite already having two cups.
Regatta Café is just a small wooden cabin by the seaside. But its popularity is no less than that of the nearby sculpture park, Sibelius Park.
“Whether in cold or heat, there’s always a long line outside the cabin,” a Finnish guy in front of me said.
There were about a dozen people waiting outside the cabin, making me even more curious about what it was like inside. The line moved quickly, as many people just ordered to go.
When it was my turn to enter, a burst of charcoal heat hit me, instantly warming my body.
The specialty here is not coffee but hot chocolate, paired with cinnamon rolls baked every fifteen minutes in the back kitchen. In the dry Nordic air, I could see dust in the sunlight and the steam rising from my cup.
This somewhat spiritually comforting scene reappeared on a friend’s Instagram a year later. I quickly commented, “Is this Helsinki?” “Is it the café by the lake?” “Did you have hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls?”
She answered yes to all.
? Löyly Helsinki
Nothing relaxes the body’s fatigue better than a sauna.
I often recommend the joy of bathing to friends from southern China. But when it comes to saunas and scrubbing, even globally, there is a cultural barrier between northerners and southerners.
That’s why the four major bathing cultures are all in the north.
Japan’s various therapeutic baths require a Zen-like bathing ritual; Turkey’s marble baths offer gentle foam scrubs on warm stone to help you relax; Russia’s banya uses birch branches to repeatedly whip the body until the essential oils from the needles are released.
As the last of the four major bathing traditions, the Finnish sauna is an art of letting go of thoughts and relaxing through temperature changes.
In the wooden cabin, the heat from the burning charcoal quickly turns your skin red, and the subtle scent of wood lingers. When you reach your heat limit, you dash to the nearby sea and jump in, completing the supreme Finnish bathing ritual.
As I ran out of the cabin, I was still worried about whether my steaming arms would get cold.
But since I was already there, there was no point in overthinking.
The moment I plunged into the sea, a warm sensation enveloped my body. I guess I had stored up energy from the burning flames. It wasn’t until my head emerged that I felt the winter cold.
When I climbed ashore, an elderly Finnish man kept praising me. I guess this is the Finnish version of “bathhouse socializing.”
Well, a perfect day.
(The joy of sauna and scrubbing—Finns and I understand each other.)
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