Skip to main content

Sledging Helsinki



So, you thought sledging had been banned for Australians. Well, we ain't in Australia and if we were we couldn't sledge like this irregardless of the sportsmanship.

You could also, of course, call it a sled or a toboggan and avoid any confusion. Depending on where you are from.

I should have bought the sled yesterday instead of hiring it. It would have cost less and saved a lot of complaints this morning. Or I could have booked those ferry tickets to Tallinn and avoided the problem.

I was glad that our train from Rovaniemi was running late because it meant we could sleep in longer. When we arrived at seven something into Helsinki nothing was open.

Fortunately, the Scandic Hakaniemi was able to give us a room immediately and we had an extra morning nap.

On discovering that tomorrow's flight back to Japan leaves in the evening B was upset with me not booking the Tallinn ferry, which would have seen us back here at nine-thirty PM. Too late now to change our minds. Now we have to work out what to do in Helsinki.

We ended up going almost to the ferry terminal. A tram takes us to Helsinki's impressive white cathedral. Walking further we discover that the Old Market is closed on Sunday, though the iced in waterfront is itself interesting.


Further along is the Tallink terminal with a big ship docked. Not going to Tallinn. Continuing through the snowy streets we reach the Kaivopuisto park where kids are shrieking as the slide down the slopes. But without a sled Alex can't join in. The complaints are constant and we search the area in vain for a sled supplier.

The park itself and waterfront surrounds are beautiful in a wintry sort of way, ice crusting over the waters.
We cross the bridge to Uuninsuu Island.






By this time we are all freezing and Alex says he has had enough. Fortunately there is a small but busy cafe on the island. As we sit in the indoor warmth eating cakes and sipping hot chocolate we watch intrepid young people emerge from the sauna for an icy dip in the harbour waters. Utterly mad!

Wearied by the cold we return to the hotel to retrieve warmer gear, head to the station to unsuccessfully attempt to get a refund on the unused tickets from the later sleeper train. On the way we spot another, closer, sledding park.

We first need to get Alex a sled. We find one for sale, slightly pricier than yesterday's, at a Stadium sportswear store.

It's long past lunch time, but we have some snacks at a Karl Fazer Cafe in a shopping centre. His name is on many of the chocolates sold here.


The sun is fading as we reach the park, but Alex joins the other kids sliding down the side of a snowy hill, gradually gaining in confidence. It's the fading light and rising cold that drives him away eventually.



Though we are not terribly hungry we take another tram a couple of stops. I've found a nearby Finnish restaurant that is supposed to be good value, Ravintola a Kolme Kruunua

Sick of meatballs and reindeer meat we just order a couple of Finnish staples, including pyttipanna for me.

It's nice, but we struggle to finish and leave the pickled beetroot for others. I think we've tried a lot of Finnish cuisine now.

Liisenkatu, the street on which the restaurant is located, is very historic and atmospheric. The 13 Sibelius High School feels deserted and we can easily imagine it to be haunted.

Other shops now closed, are far more welcoming, including a dolls house shop and an apartment window has Maerklin model trains as Christmas decorations. Beautiful!

I love the sight of the Helsinki trams rattling through the snowy old streets at night. There feel like so many stories to tell here.


Back at the hotel the are a couple of dramas over our room, but the staff are very helpful. Last night in Helsinki. Tomorrow we fly back to Osaka.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Down the Oito Line

Riding the length of the Oito Line from Itoigawa to Shinjuku (well, Matsumoto, really, but you might as well go the whole way) has long been a dream of mine. It suddenly gained urgency when I read that the last length of it between Itoigawa to Minami-Otari would be closed once the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Kanazawa and Toyama opens by next year. Now, as mentioned last time, B and Alex are among those that would much rather catch the very fast Shinkansen, but in the end she decided to follow me, despite the very early morning. We rode the Hokuetsu Express from Toyama to Itoigawa, completing a little more of that West Coast for me. Though the coastal stretch was short there were some nice views at times. I should like to see more of Itoigawa one day, explore its geology. But now we had to quickly cross over the platform bridge to catch our train to Minami-Otari. To my great delight it was a KiHa 120 railcar, my favourite. I felt a degree of sadness standing up at the front...

The Kamioka mines: from silver to supernovas

Part of the Kamioka zinc mining and smelter complex Just after posting about the Kamioka Railway another photo from that 2006 set piqued my interest. Up there in the mountains the landscape looked blasted not just by winter but by something more. It was the kind of lonely place where you would not expect to find major industry, so this sight was quite surprising. Even more surprising is the history associated with this photo. According to some sources mining and refining of ores in Kamioka dates back to 710 AD  and only closed in 2001. Undoubtedly the mine was a major reason for the existence of the Kamioka Railway. Refining of zinc still continues to this day under the parent Mitsui Kenzoku zaibatsu . Gold, silver, copper, zinc and lead were all dug out of the rock here. Unfortunately, the process released cadmium into the river, which, when taken up by the rice that was grown in the river, caused the terrible itai-itai disease  - meaning "It hurts! It hurts". Cadm...

To Melbourne on the XPT sleeper

Excited by the prospect of reliving the experience of seeing my very first movie and hearing the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra perform it I bought tickets to The Empire Strikes Back in Concert in Melbourne back in February. Then I did nothing about actually getting there. Much as I love Melbourne, due to family commitments I didn't want to spend more than the Sunday away. Flights there and back made sense, but  my flight down to Melbourne in late October reiterated the fact that I usually don't enjoy descending into the city. And the concert was in December, a season of summer storms. I really didn't feel like driving the whole route alone and in a hurry, so that left one choice. The train. My very first trip up to Sydney from Melbourne was aboard the luxury Southern Aurora. Or it was supposed to be luxury. I wouldn't know because I spent the whole ride up very sick with the flu lying in the top bunk, unable to stay awake for my whole of night vigil. Now only...