Europe India Trip: Day 32 : Getting impressed with Finnish governance in Helsinki [May 14, 202

The day of knowing Helsinki more & getting impressed with Finnish government & their policies

This is part of my Europe India solo motorbike trip . Please read the post for more context.

I mistakingly put this picture in the previous blog. This is path all the way to Tallinn

As mentioned in my previous blog, my plan of the day was to attend the missed walking tour from previous day. I was quick to get up, prepare myself breakfast & packup luggage on my bike & left by 9:30 (the walking tour starts at 10:30 AM)

My cottage next to my bike. Also, the cat living in the house on the chair.

I had already figured the motorbike parking in front of the railway station from previous day so I was able to ride to the place & park my motorbike at proper designated place this time :).

If you have a motorbike & you coming to Helsinki town center for sightseeing, you can park your bike at the place. I did not pay anything but it could be also because it was a Sunday.

I got a couple of minutes late (as usual) but I knew the tour guide spends some time close to the start point (Alexander Nevski statue) & I found him with the group at the place. The rest of the tour was knowing the sites in Helsinki but the most interesting bit was the library at the end.

The main Cathedral of Helsinki called Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Alexander was a Russian knight who defeated Swedish army (Russian conquered Finland from Swedes) & hence the churn name got dedicated to him. The church is Lutheran church though (not Orthodox as to how the main religion in Russia is)

View from Cathedral’s stair. As per Medi (our tour guide), this is fav place among locals to meet friends during summers

The National Library. Around Cathedral Square.

The prime minister office. This is also around the Cathedral square.

You see two names written. Finland was under Swedish occupation & all the names in Finland are written in Finnish & Swedish. Some Finnish name are too complex so they started putting animal symbol & you can then refer to this building as ‘the camel building’

One thing worth mentioning here is - Finnish education relies on making children independent. So instead of focussing on teaching students to read/write, Finnish education relies on making them independent. So part of curriculum involves taking students out to, lets say, trek in the wild, or to a grocery store & asking them to buy things. Apparently, it is a legal binding to let children move out of house at age of 16 (or 18 dont remember exactly) & govt gives them couple of months of rent so that they can pay for their own house.

The animals on the building play a role for children to be able to find addresses when they dont know how to read/write.

One thing I liked about Finland is there focus on making toilets accessible. Unlike other Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden), Finland had all their public toilets accessible & free.

Market square. Apparently, this place is open during peak winters so that people have something to come out of their house. This place house cheap eateries. I did eat Salmon & Reindeer meet at one of the shops here.

The restaurant famous for its Salmon soup for 15 Euros.

Our tour guide told us that the time on the clock next to station is always kept 2 min ahead so that people dont miss trains :-D

Pohjola is something from Finnish mythology. The original Nordic people were pagans (like Hindus) & they had stories, beliefs & superstitions. Pohjola apparently also is the most prominent insurance company name in Finland.

The name caught my attention. Looked like the owners of the place never liked burgers at the first place but were forced to open a Burger restaurant.

Inside of the train station. It actually felt like inside of 5 star hotel. The overall popular of Finland is not too high & even during peak hours, the place look reasonably empty. & that is the most populous place in Finland.

The Central Library. The outside actually look like a an alien ship from a Sci Fi movie.

The parliament house visible from the Central Library

This was music house (or something similar) where musical concerts are held. This was also visible from the Central Library

I want to mention something that was the most striking part of the tour for me. Medi mentioned that while building the Central Library, govt asked citizen what they would like to have & there came all kinds of requests. Central Library was built with intention that - anything that people need a place for, it will be provided. So it has things like cafe, coworking space, 3D printer, tools that you need in your daily life to borrow, music instruments, music studios where you can record music, chess table & even kitchen with all equipments where you can cook with friends. So basically, anything & everything that you need except a house where you can sleep :). Oh forgot to mention, one floor has books too :-D .

This was the most impressive part of knowing Helsinki & Finland for me. It is not surprising why Finnish governance is considered one of the best in the world.

Chess tables

3D printer

UV printer

Sewing machine

muscial instruments that you can borrow & then go to the studio next door to record. Studios had a no photography symbol so I did not click their pictures.

The floor with books & cafe. Cades are there on other floors as well.

Medi was such a passionate tour guide that he had a long line of people asking him things at the end. I was in a bit of rush as I had to catch the afternoon ferry so this is one of those few times when I did not pay my tour guide. But I tried compensating by dropping him a review on GuruWalk. You can also find the tour on Guruwalk here . Guruwalk is the app that I use to find free walking tour in the city & I recommend it.

I was craving a coffee & decide to walk to Robert’s Coffee again. This time, I tried the same old flat white but a different item to eat - almond bun. I also discovered something nice written on their plate which caught my attention.

The place looked very exotic but they were equally caring for those ‘cheap’ camper folks which made me respect them. Their prices were also on slightly lower side. But the good quality is worth it.

While having the coffee, I figured I am too late to catch the 3:15 ferry . The ferry at 7 PM was the same price (38 Euros) so I decided to take that instead. It was 2:30 PM & I decided to use the time to checkout the Russian Orthodox church & also the museum that is free & is at one of the Cathedral square where my walking tour started.

At the Orthodox church, I met Nel, the old lady from Holland, who was with me at the camping place in Kappellskar, Sweden when I missed my morning ferry . This time, I took a pic with her dog Sara.

The Orthodox church had golden globe & it looked pretty nice from inside.

Russian Orthodox church from outside.

I then decided to walk to the museum next to Cathedral Square. On the way, I had to cross Market Square & it was afternoon & I was hungry. I passed by a stall that had 6 Euros for Reindeer hotdog & same price for Salmon something. I remember taking both but I insisted for fresh Salmon & they did give it to me :).

I dint take any drink & after eating, I was a bit thirsty & decided to pick a beer from a grocery store (it was pretty hot). I remember from my stay at Manne’s place that Karhu beer was nice & I picked one. I was not sure of public drinking laws in Finland. But I did remember my tour guide telling that Cathedral steps is where people meet friends. So I decided to sit there & drink my beer, a bit covertly :).

Came across this picture while walking to the grocery store to buy beer. It made me remember my tour guide’s words around how Finnish people want their children to stay outdoors & learn from nature as much as they can.

I want to mention one thing. In Finland, I saw the most kids going around without adults. This wasnt the case in Norway & Sweden. In Finland, there is increased focus on making the kids independent.

Soon I was done with my beer & walked to the museum . It was 4:30 PM & the musem closed at 5 PM.

Our tour guide talked about Finnish Saunas as well. Sauna apparently is a Finnish term that got incorporated in English . There was more Saunas in Finland than cars & every house has one (well mostly).

It was 5:30 PM by the time I was out of the museum. I then walked to pick my bike (I had left all my luggage tied on it & it was all intact .. well Finland is reasonably safe place). I then rode it to the ferry point.

It was a bit hard finding the entry as the google map location indicated the parking but the entry point was visible from there & I was able to find my way in.

My ferry boarding pass

I was glad to find other bikers on the ferry. This was my first time finding fellow bikers.

This was a fairly busy ferry with long queue of cars.

The inside of ferry was pretty crowded unlike my Kappelskar to Turku ferry, which hardly had people. This was a short ride of 2 hours. I remember I was not best of my shape in the ferry because I had a double shot coffee & I think I had overdosed on caffeine a bit.

The view from the sundeck was pretty nice. I also got to see the Suomenlinna island & it was much better than seeing it from inside.

Suomenlinna island view from the ferry

The 2 hours went by fairly quickly & I just happened to charge my phone. I earlier had thoughts to use the time to write the pending blogs but well, my not so good shape made me skip it. I remember getting down a bit early to reach my motorbike & be ready to leave, but the doors were closed. I alongside a few other folks waited for the doors to open. I did happen to see other bikers also came in while I was waiting.

A picture I took before exiting. Other bikers are seen in the pic. I did not talk much with them though.

Post exiting from the ferry, I rode to Draper Startup Hostel with whom I had messaged earlier in the day. They had agreed for a discounted price of 14 Euros & free parking for my motorbike in their private space. Apparently, street parking isnt free in old town where most hostels are located.

I was able to ride to the hostel without much fuss & was able to check in. I then made myself some dinner & also washed my clothes (it has been a few days). The hostel folks were nice enough to let me use washing machine for free. There were not many people in the hostel but considering they did provide me with free items, I am thankful to them for it.

The plan for next day was to attend a walking tour in Tallinn. There is one from East Adventures that I had booked at 11 AM. Tallinn old town was a bit unique & reminded me of Warsaw old town. More about it in the next blog.