I woke up in a prison cell this morning!
OK, maybe I exaggerated a little -- of that I am guilty... it's just a county jail, not really a prison. Comfortable cell, hard bed, private toilet, a lock on every door. I'm guessing that now you want some details. Truth be told, my accommodations used to be a county jail, and just a ten-minute walk from the middle of Helsinki, too. Somebody with a bright idea converted the closed jail into a hotel, so, technically, I woke up in what used to be a jail house cell!
I arrived in Helsinki via Paris-Charles de Gaulle. It's a strange sensation to feel as comfortable in a foreign airport as you do at home. The French immigration officers seem to recognize me and so they save their silly and their nosy questions for others and wave me straight through. Good thing, too, as my connection for the three-hour flight north was tight and I had to first change terminals.
Right in the middle of Helsinki, opposite the main bus terminal is an outdoor skating rink, refrigerated from below so that on a warm day like today (+1C), the ice is indeed perfect for skating. Picture this: a full-sized rink but with no boards, just a low, black, platform that surrounds the rink a few inches above ice level, the sun is burning brilliantly set low in a cold, cloudless, blue sky, music wafting overhead sometimes Bob Marley or the Rolling Stones other times a local Finnish tune, the whole witnessed by an endless procession of travelers walking by, often pausing to watch, on their way to catch a bus. I skated for 90 minutes, at times mesmerized by a couple who were gracefully pairs skating, he, an older man evidently taking a lesson from her, a much younger woman. Otherwise the rink was nearly free of skaters, luckily for me. I can't imagine how I could have better spent my time after breaking out of prison!
If you think the sidewalks are not well cleared of snow at home, don't even think of visiting Helsinki in winter! The streets are plowed here like anywhere else, but on the sidewalks they simply spread crushed stones, which benignly impregnate the packed snow and ice that have accumulated. I always imagined the Finns to be more pedestrian-friendly (like the Swiss) but it seemed as though I was still skating most of the day even after leaving the ice rink. I have to conclude that the Finns have tiny spikes on the soles of their shoes and boots, as they all scamper along as though nothing were amiss.
The Finns are very friendly people. This I know because there are two large cruise ships docked in the harbour. Why would tourists want to take a cruise to a place that has its harbour filled with floes of ice, the water itself hidden below? It must be due to the very friendly natives! Everybody here speaks English, which is convenient, and all the street signs and other public signage are in two languages: Finnish and Swedish. There's even a Swedish People's Party in the national legislature. I guess some Finns want to be part of Sweden again. None want to be part of Russia again, although the Russians must be important to the economy as all the restaurant menus are written in four languages, Russian being one. Not TOO friendly, though, as the Helsinki Times reported today that an Egyptian grandmother had lost her last appeal (to the Supreme Court) and is being deported after spending three years in Finland with her immigrant family. Of course the Canadians would have allowed her to stay if she had first sought refuge in a church for a few months.
Here's hoping you are not taking refuge from the waning days of winter and that you may even go out for a skate before it's too late!
Barry of Helsinki xx
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