Helsinki

I visited Helsinki for a weekend in 2006. It is a flat city by the sea and filled with excellent museums and beautiful buildings. The public library’s ceiling has colorful paintings of stories featuring the Norse Gods.

Seafood is plentiful and delicious in Helsinki. And I recommend tasting the local brown bread that is cooked with a rice mixture in its middle. The local Karhu beer will compliment just about any food choice.

Traveling around the city proved very comfortable even though my local vocabulary consisted of only hello (moy) and thank you (gedos). Ready smiles were more visible there than in many other European cities. Helsinki is the capital of Finland.

Finland is called Suomi in Finnish. By either name, it is a country composed of 315 islands. The Euro started as the local currency in 2002. And eighty-five percent of the population identifies as Lutheran.

I arrived by train and departed by boat. These photos from Helsinki are in black and white in an effort to convey the tranquility I found there. For much of their history, they have been at war or under occupation. Perhaps what I sensed is an appreciation of peace.

Train Station

Museum

“In Finland in the winter, when the sky is totally choked with clouds, the country becomes one big sensory deprivation tank.”— Charles Platt

“The country that consistently ranks among the highest in educational achievement is Finland. A rich country, but education is free.”— Noam Chomsky

TATTOO—Journeys on My Mind by Tina Marie L. Lamb is available at Amazon and BarnesandNoble and iBooks and Audible.

Buy it. Read it. Let me know what you think. –TMLL