A city that is difficult, but understandable.
For an unprepared person, Helsinki seems to be a dull, faceless city in which there is nothing to catch the eye. And you can even begin to regret the money and time spent on the road.
Fortunately, I was able to see it, understand it and enjoy visiting it. And the cost of airfare was low. 110 E. round trip. This, by the way, was the main reason for the trip.
We are used to the fact that European capitals are at least 600 - 800 years old. And there are narrow medieval streets, chic avenues and boulevards of the 18th - 19th centuries. And everything that was built later is outside the center and is of no interest.
Everything is different in Helsinki. For good, it became a full-fledged city only by the end of the 19th century, and this determines its architecture.
There are several temples of a purely Russian type. .
About 20 percent of the development is Art Nouveau style houses. Period 1900 - 1918.
In the foreground is a sculpture from the thirties. Based on "Triumph of the Will" and blah blah blah.
Here is Jugend style in a less pretentious performance.
(Front is not a Zaporozhets. This is a Fiat 500 of the brilliant Dante Giacosa).
After gaining independence and turmoil with the local version of the civil war, Helsinki began to be actively built up with buildings in the style of functionalism and constructivism.
No jokes. In this building, which resembles a supermarket in a district town, one of the most expensive and pretentious restaurants in Finland, Ravintola Lasipasti, is located. We came in T-shirts and looked at us with some condemnation.
And there are also 20 percent of such buildings in the city. And the Finns are proud of them, they protect and restore them. This masterpiece was built in 1936.
Well, the rest of the city is built up with boxes that were fashionable in the sixties.
( In the center of Citroen de Chavo. 1948 - 1994. )
And even more dreary houses of the seventies.
But the whole point is that these are not just houses. These are architectural experiments that the complaisant Finns allowed various eminent and not so famous architects to carry out. So that almost every house has a history, interestingness and authorship.
And while walking around the city, one should not swear about "Yepst, where did it take me? ", but try to evaluate the purity of lines, the courage of decisions, and what else it is customary to evaluate in architecture.
In principle, Helsinki is very positive. Here is the main boulevard of the city. People actually have picnics here. But everything is clean and for some reason the grass is not trampled.
There are chanterelles on almost every corner.
Looks like this Zacharius Topelius was a great entertainer during his lifetime if two naked girls stand on his monument.
And this naked girl is used by all and sundry. The students put their caps on her head, the sailors climb in and hug her, and everyone else tries to wash her for good luck. The police are chasing, but to no avail. Here someone started the process of washing, but did not have time.
In general, the attitude of the Finns to the naked body out of habit is a little discouraging. Visitors to the oldest public swimming pool in Helsinki were only allowed to use bathing suits and swimming trunks in 2003. There are not many applicants. In public baths and saunas, this prohibition remains. In the early 2000s, I went to a Turkish bath in Tampere. Following the prohibition sign on the door, he took off everything and entered the impenetrable fog.
I sat down on a shelf and found that naked aunts were sitting on the right and left. Well, I can't say that I suffered.
Oddly enough, in Helsinki it is a big problem to eat national dishes. And just eat after 21.00.
I found restaurants of Nepalese, Thai, Italian, Pakistani cuisines there. Even, God forgive me, a Mayan cuisine restaurant. And eating fish is a problem. The right place for this is the port market.
Built in 1889.
And not far from it there is a street market. It's easier and cheaper there. But also all national. And he stands in the shadow of the monument to Emperor Alexander - the Metropolis of Finland.
If you are not interested in national cuisine, then it is not difficult to find where to eat during the day. There is even such a place. The bartender, who is also a cook, who is also a waiter, is in the middle of the table at which the diners are sitting.
The only question - what if pee?
But the market closes in the evening. Restaurants are open, but after 20.30 - 21.00 the kitchens are closed and you can only drink. True, in almost all establishments they offer local fish soup with cream as food, but our man cannot eat only fish soup for dinner every day.
By the way, about the plump. The trouble .... In the cheapest establishment about which they told me in a whisper a glass of wine - 7 E. In a blown-out Mexican eatery (well, I asked in advance) a glass of the simplest wine 14 E. Where should the peasant go? To the Alco store. Buy there and come to dinner already poddamshi.
Okay. We went on walking around the city.
Here is a bike rack. With its shape, it reminds that a dozen bicycles can be parked on the area occupied by one small car.
This is a bridge with wedding locks. It seems that according to legend, you need to close the lock and throw the key into the water. The funny thing is that half of the locks have a combination lock. Maybe just in case?
Very funny mid-level office workers in Helsinki. Young beauties and handsome men in suits and trousers with arrows. Their muzzles absolutely do not fit with such a dress code. They would look much more organically on the southern beaches, hugging surfboards. But here's a sketch. This company after work just went out and began to dance quite professionally on the street. They didn't ask for money.
Monument to a Russian officer. ( Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim)
There is generally a lot of Russian stuff. Nicholas II.
Concert by Makarevich.
Just a beautiful (and expensive) boat.
Volvo 1959. The owner, seeing my interest, was even ready to put me behind the wheel and let me ride.
The station building, the statues of which football fans dressed in their scarves.
A high-speed ship that gets to Tallinn in a little over an hour. I watched in the morning how the people go to land. Grannies with carts. Sleepy students. Managers. Everything is somehow everyday. Our people are more nervous about cars and trains. d railway stations. And here all the same "slow sea waters, not like rails in two rows. " Sea Nation!
Here's a nice shoe cleaner. There are many of them there. So it snows in winter.
Well, a cool medical officer at some museum.
Now about what you can spend time on.
Shopping. Giant Stockmann in the center. Appreciated by those who need large sizes. Oddly enough, it’s more difficult for thin people to pick up something for themselves. There are Russian Stockmann discount cards. There is also a complicated system of discounts. To figure it out, you need to find a Russian-speaking employee. She will teach you how to buy at half or a third of the price. Tax free starts from 40 E.
Exhibition of box office.
We need to take a ride on a double-decker tourist bus. the ticket is valid for 24 hours. The strangest thing I saw was the walkways where the Helsingforians come to wash carpets in sea water with pine soap. Unusual. Too bad I didn't get to take it off.
But he filmed a flea market. I advise you to get off the bus and wander around. There are a lot of interesting things here.
And a screwed-up company's cruise ship.
But the most "Finnish" entertainment is a boat trip around the surrounding islands. During the day it takes an hour and a half. In the evening at 19.00 - two and a half. The price is the same.
I went because the ship serves local cuisine for a reasonable price.
Many swim for the views of nature.
Or views of the city.
Or just views.
But this man swam for no reason. He slept half way. The second half was poking fingers at the iPhone.
In short, this city is not as bad as it looks at first glance.
It has its own, although not obvious charm.
And even strange architecture is sometimes cute.
And I couldn't help but take this dog off.
I missed my fools. They courageously wait for me in the dog hotel when my family and I travel.
P. S. Helsinki has the most expensive taxi in Europe.
Smoking is allowed in at least two places in the airport building.
When passing through security, all lighters except one are taken away. And it should be standard disposable. Not petrol. not turbo.
Drinking water flows from the tap.
When issuing money, tax free cash takes a commission of 3 E. per check. When crediting money to the card, no commission is taken.
It is necessary to walk in shoes with thick soles. The sidewalks are mostly rough pavers.
