Saunas and Seagulls

Today we are in Helsinki and it was 50 degrees and cloudy; according to our guide, a little cool, but pretty typical for a Helsinki summer day. I had booked us a private 4 hour walking tour with Happy Guide Helsinki. Once he saw us, I think he threw his plans out the window, or should I say, once he saw O having a meltdown (which was just about having to her coat). He decided to show us the non-touristy side of Helsinki and assumed (correctly) that M & O, like other kids, love riding on different modes of transportation. We rode the tram, the subway and the bus all on our tour, and of course we also did plenty of walking. Our first stop, which was a tourist destination was the Temppeliaukio Church, a church built within a rock.

Temppeliaukio (Lutheran) Church

We did a few more stops and then headed to the new public library which puts every U.S. public library (at least those that I’ve been to) to shame.
There are three floors: the top floor is all books you can imagine including an extensive collection in English - we even found a Jewish PJ library book for check out. The second and first floors are filled with all different equipment/technology that can be used/rented: sewing machines, laminators, graphic design and architectural computers, Wii/video game rooms, 3D printers etc. All of this is open to anyone to rent...for free!

















Helsinki has some other great things to brag about: free college education, free healthcare and all-gender public restrooms throughout the city.

For lunch we got a little adventurous- at least O and I did. Reindeer meat is HUGE here; you can buy Reindeer Salami for about 98 Euros a kilo - pretty expensive. We took a detour from the main town square and headed to the outdoor market on the water where our guide directed us to a stand that serves Reindeer Burgers. In general, I’m not a burger eater, but when in Helsinki, do as the Fins do and eat Reindeer.

In many US cities, pigeons are considered rats of the sky, but in Helsinki, it is the seagulls that you need to steer clear from. In the main market square, we witnessed seagulls, grabbing food from people hands. The girls thought it would be hilarious if a seagull grabbed something from them, not realizing that these aren't such friendly creatures. They asked me to get a peanut butter sandwich out of the backpack that I had made earlier in the morning. I was holding it (I thought tightly), when I felt claws on my shoulder and suddenly the sandwich was gone! O then made it her mission to chase away every seagull in the square.

Chasing seagulls

In front of Helsinki's oldest sauna

Except for the chilly July day, we had a great day and enjoyed some delicious Finnish coffee. We also learned several random facts,  including that Fins consume more coffee than any other nation in the world - 13 kilos/person per year. We also learned that sauna is a Finnish world and over 80% of Fins have saunas in their homes. We even saw a ferris wheel where one of the carriages was a sauna!