Tuesday 9th December 2025

Around Helsinki

No use reporting on the sleep, it’s too depressing, as is the lurgi we have contracted from all those sniffers on buses , in market crowds and everywhere that tissues and hankies are non existent.

Buffet breakfast was huge , but reasonable restraint exercised and there was also none of Santa’s sleigh pullers to devour.

Decided to see the City via the Hop On Hop Off bus so headed for Stop 1 where tickets were available.

Got there after a 30 minute walk to join another bemused Australian family who had pre- purchased their ticket yesterday. As luck would have it the buses don’t run this week from Tuesday to Friday. Whilst we were disappointed the family realised they had bought a €105 ticket that was for yesterday and they were devestated.

We decided to walk the majority of the bus route with particular emphasis on getting to the site of 1952 Olympics.

The Finnish were a bit prepared having been allocated the 1940 Games only for WW2 to intervene. In 56 they were the smallest country ever to host the Games.

Under almost blue skies we headed off past a deserted market sitting below the Cathedral which looked even more grand in daylight hours.

We were not the only ones hoofing it today, it seemed that on every corner there were groups of  20-25 kids in brightly coloured vests from dacate centres doing tours. Poor old teachers were struggling herding the cats.

We grabbed a couple of late minute cold climate goodies before heading up past the modern Boat Museum and a weirdly shaped wooden chapel.

On the way to Olympic stadium we decided to detour to the Tennis centre- oops Tennis was the name of the building.

Already the difference between Finland and the Baltic cities is becoming evident with modern buildings and street statues all over the place. Very few of the unit buildings have that post war look about them, probably because the Finnish batted for both sides in WW2 and suffered very little collateral damage.

Had a mid walk coffee in a cafe run by a multi-lingual Chinese girl from Vietnam- can’t say it’s not cosmopolitan over here. That all aside had the yummuest sweet delights to go with the coffee.

Down through some riverside parklands and we came upon the Regatta site. Still lots of active rowers here given the number of boat sheds. Remarkably the original grandstand still remains, it made the old Leichhardt Ovalgrandstand look like Accor Stadium. 

Up through the adjacent parkland and came across another modern statue in honour of famous violinist Sibelius. A lovely young Red Setter wasn’t showing it the respect it deserved, if you know what I mean.

The statue was in spitting distance of the old Olympic Village which was 15 apartment blocks, built to complement a tent village housing 2500 other athletes. The buildings still have flagpoles and are now social housing estates.

After a brief visit to the tram Museum we found the Stadium with its imposing tower climbing about 75 metres into the sky. It has the bowl for the flame atop. The flame was originally lit by Parvo Nurmi and they somehow transported it to the top for life of games. Pretty ironic that the flame would be passed onto Aust for 56 Olympics.

The nearby Museum,adjacent to National football stadium, was a fantastic journey through time.

Interestingly the first display was a Lotto Drawing machine with its brightly coloured and numbered table tennis balls. Between 1971 and 2022 Lotto funds were the primary source of sports funding until the Government got a pang of conscience raising money from gambling,with funds now going into Consolidated Revenue.

It showcased a raft of Finnish athletes including VIren the distance runner , Nurmi and footballer Litmanen who made a name for himself with Liverpool FC.

Then there was Markkanen the first Finnish badketballer to play in the NBL AllStars game

Australian medal winners namely Strickland, Jackson and Mockeridge also featured. There was also recognition of the highly skilled Winter Olympics competitors.

Interestingly, Finland which is relatively flat has hosted World Cup Alpine Sking World acup events for the last 60 years, primarily due to lots of Finnish ingenuity.

It would have been great to see the Swimming Centre, which from films looked about the size of North Sydney pool. Swimming was only an evolving sport then and interestingly 10 male swimmers broke the 400 metre freestyle world record at the Games. 

A bundle of kids were living out their dreams in the interactive room , including some getting to try wheelchair basketball.

The darkening skies had us treading the 2-3 kilometres back to our hotel passing Parliament lhouse and the Univetsity of the Arts. Again the contrast between past and modern art was evident in the statues/sculptures.

Another noticeable difference here as against Baltic countries is the number of young women smoking and a lesser focus on alcohol which is very expensive.

Back at hotel we met the other 24 tour members and the Tour Director who whet our appetite on what to expect over the next 10 days, including lots of snow and -15 temperatures.

Headed out for a warming Nepalese dinner and then home for our last sleep before tomorrows flight above the Arctic Circle to Ivalo.