In the spring
of 2004 we made plans to visit Finland, because Kevin had been invited
to give a workshop to tube amp designers in Helsinki.
I thought... Helsinki!...
not at the top of most Canadian holiday destination lists. So, naturally,
I was all the more delighted!
Now that we are
back home, I cannot really say that we have visited Finland. We have
visited Helsinki. And, as I was not well-versed in its history, I
was starting with very few preconceptions.
Our host and tour
guide was Marcus, who did an excellent job of pointing out notable
features of the city and making sure we had fun. We demurred on his
joking offer of driving us to a giant grocery store on the outskirts,
and instead enjoyed a few walking tours of the downtown, and a trip
by ferry to Sveaborg (literally 'castle of Sweden'), the old
Swedish fortifications ringing Helsinki's harbour - built, it would
seem, for the sole purpose of giving the city up to the Russians in
1809. Finnish-speaking Finns call it Suomenlinna (literally - what
else? - 'castle of Finland').
The city of Helsinki
was a surprise. In what seems like an out-of-the-way corner of the
earth, it is truly cosmopolitan, and reminded us in this way of our
home city of Toronto, Canada. And yet it had a discernable air of
the exotic...
Helsinki seemed
to me a crossroads between erstwhile Russian dinge and present Euro-chic.
Those citizens with any money are highly fashion conscious, enough
to make well-heeled Canadians appear frumpish in comparison. Holt
Renfrew in my hometown could not offer me what I found in MariMekko.
Contrast the keen style in clothing and architecture (not all of it
pleasing but certainly distinctive!) with the sensation of a city
coming into its own after a long sleep, or a protracted struggle.
The rust from the Iron Curtain still lingers in many corners, although
Finland was never under Soviet rule (at least not all of it at once).
The general standard of living is more challenging than in many Western
states, and much is in need of repair. Throw in a distinct Eastern
(to my sense) ambiance, and soon I was hooked on the history of the
city. What has led to such a place as this? Ancient trade routes to
circumvent the Alps? Scandinavian invasion? Summer midnight sun and
the velvet black of winter? All of this and more besides.
I
guess I did have at least one preconception: that anything that seems
a bit Eastern is by definition Russian. In this part of the world
that makes sense, but could be far from accurate. There is no doubt
about the Russian influence, but what else goes into Helsinki's ambience?
And what is left, after all these comparisons, that is Finnish? Well,
perhaps places like the Café Tin Tin Tango - a combination
bar, coffee house, laudromat and sauna. I can imagine its popularity
on winter nights, but it was busy even on the spring days when we
visited. Obviously, to figure out this city, I need to crack the history
books and return for more visits.
Enjoying myself
in Helsinki won't be a problem, as long as I have an appetite. Like
Winnipeg in Canada, which is "way out there", and cold and
dark for much of the year, Helsinki boasts great restaurants! Once
more, the word "cosmopolitan" comes to mind. We were only
there for three nights, but I had the tastiest wienerschnitzel and
the best linguini pomodoro on the face of the earth. No guff! - as
we say in Canada.
Sorry to go on
and on, but I was listening as well as eating. Having had the luck
to travel in Europe a couple of times recently, I have noticed a language
phenomenon which must surely have a name, but I will call it contiguity
of sounds. It exists in northern Canada, where the English sounds
French and the French sounds English. I've noticed that where France
and Belgium meet, although there are two distinct languages, they
share their sounds and delivery style. Same thing between Holland
and Germany, Germany and Denmark, and Denmark and Sweden. The Swedish
spoken in Finland features staccato rolled Rs reminiscent of machine
gun fire. Once I learned not to duck and cover, I noticed that the
Finnish has a tone of white Russia. This, as much as anything else,
made the city feel exotic, and made me feel as if I had travelled
a VERY long way from Canada!
There is much
more for us to discover in Helsinki, and we hope to visit there again
soon. Many thanks to Marcus and all the folks we met at the workshop
for making this a fun and rewarding trip!
~
Wendy O'Connor
Finland is Funland! Visit virtual.finland.fi
