“I love waking up in the morning not knowing what’s gonna happen or who I’m gonna meet, where I’m gonna wind up.”

-Jack Dawson, Titanic

We arrived in Helsinki around 1:30pm, and the first thing we noticed was how “zen” the airport was. Wide open spaces, big clean windows letting in natural light, chaise loungers, plenty of enticing food options, and a northern lights experience lounge. It was nothing like the dismal Terminal 8 at JFK we had departed from the previous evening. Laura and I sailed through immigration, then started following the signs to the train, passing countless more shops and restaurants. Once in the underground station, we purchased our tickets from the vending machine, and for just over €4, we were on our 23 minute train ride to Helsinki Central Station. We then navigated our way through the city streets to our hotel, the beautiful historic Hotel Kamp built in 1887.

Hotel Kamp was amazing. The interiors are spacious and modern. The room was large by European standards and the bathroom included a soaking tub, complete with a rubber duck and bath salts. The breakfast buffet in the morning was delicious with plenty of variety. I highly recommend this hotel to anyone staying in Helsinki.

Since it was getting towards dinner time, Laura and I decided to do a bit of exploring towards the water and headed to Helsinki Cathedral. In the darkness the beautiful white Lutheran church stood magnificently high above us. We walked up the stairs and took in the views for bit. It was peaceful with very few people walking around. Our next mission was to find coffee. It’s very easy in this city. Helsinki has a large number of cafes, and it was nice not to see a Starbucks on every corner, but rather cafes with cozy places to sit and converse with friends. They offer great European coffee drinks and many tempting sweets. For dinner we decided on Italian, and at Olivia’s I had a fabulous Neapolitan style pizza with my favorite taleggio cheese, along with a microgreens salad perfectly dressed. The atmosphere in the restaurant was comfortable and relaxing, and in typical European fashion they didn’t rush us through dinner, and we sat there for quite some time with a couple glasses of wine.

The next morning I had booked us a “free” tour. These tours, if you have never done them before are great. You can find them online to sign up, and they are typically led by a local, then at the end of the tour you decide how much you want to pay for the excursion. Stefan was our guide. He’s from Germany and moved to Helsinki for his Finnish girlfriend. He was full of knowledge and facts, and sprinkled in a bit of humor. We learned Finland has 5 million people and 3 million saunas, and has been named the happiest country in the World for the 7th straight year. Income taxes increase with earnings. Child care, health care and education are free. There is an hour of children programs on TV in the morning and another in the evening; kids are expected to be outdoors playing, and in many households they only allow their children to have sweets one day a week. If you get caught speeding or not stopping at a crosswalk, your fine is dictated by your income. Yes, those that make more pay more. Under the surface of Helsinki are 5,500 civil defense shelters just in case their neighbor with nuclear weapons gets any fancy ideas. These shelters can hold 900,000 people; Helsinki has a population of about 650,000 so there is room for guests! The shelters are equipped with swimming pools, a skating rink, and many other activitiy spaces that the residents can use. Over 70% of Finland is forest land and they have over 100,000 lakes.

We finished our tour at the most interesting building of all. The Helsinki Central Library Oodi. This modern 3 story building was completed in 2017 to mark 100 years of independence from Russia. Each floor is set up with items for their residents use, all for free or a small nominal fee. Computers, 3-D printers, chess boards, gaming rooms, meeting rooms with technology to host video calls, band studios with over €20K in equipment, guitars, drum sets, a full kitchen to cook meals for friends and family, crafts machines, etc. The third floor is a library, and there is a play space for the children, a cafe, and a lounge area for the adults to hang out. Given the number of people in there, it was surprisingly quiet and clean. Stefan explained that the equipment and books remain in good condition because Finland is small and everyone knows each other. If you were to purposely damage something, people would talk and you don’t want your family or neighbors talking bad about you.

After the tour, Laura and I circled back around the city to walk through the food market, and settled into the iconic Fazer cafe which originally opened in 1891. It’s located across from Hotel Kamp. We both enjoyed a traditional Finnish dish, a shrimp sandwich. Then it was back to the train station to board the Santa Express. Next stop – Rovaniemi and Santa Claus Village!

Ciao 💕