Helsinki: the ugly duckling of the Baltic
Upon arrival at the train station Helsinki from the airport, the first thing you see is a poster announcing a bar Aragon gastronomic week. Any trip, that is by far, giving you just stumbled upon the daily routine in your own neighborhood, But it needs to be as soon? Now more than ever need to walk to the apartment, hear a language I do not understand, look the looks of those who know me stranger, Map dig the damn name of a street with more consonants than vowels, confused in the cold night it falls to the sword in an unfamiliar city… Feeling far, in the end, but stay behind me trays lamb and sausage and wine Somontano of my beloved hometown.
The streets are half-empty at midnight. A hamburger hasty, beer in plastic cup (God forgive me!). The Lutheran Cathedral, symbol of the city, bright and vigilant in darkness, raise cries 47 steps, steep as a Mayan pyramid, which separate it from Senate Square, no tourists to be photographed at this time. It comes up with bated breath. Definitely, these stairs deserve Rocky that makes them go down to posterity.
Now more than ever need to walk to the apartment, hear a language I do not understand, look the looks of those who know me stranger
Later, next to the port, the Uspenski Orthodox cathedral, dark looming between the old shipyards. Nothing to do with a few hours later, when the first rays of sunlight illuminate the facade as if someone had set fire inside. A Sunday at nine o'clock only a beggar is stationed next to the steps to defend the position in a square so privileged.
I had always heard that Helsinki was not worth much worth. Everyone raved about Stockholm, the Copenhagen, the Tallin, but Helsinki is usually dispatched with a couple of sentences without any shine. So he came. A check with my own eyes. And now that the day dawned hopeful, I was glad of it. We wanted to walk the manor avenida Mannerheimintie to the Olympic Stadium, but first we stopped at Senate Square, a great example of how the Finns take their story without fanfare. At kilometer zero of the city, at the foot of the Lutheran Cathedral, a statue of Tsar Alexander II perpetuates the time when Finland was part of imperial Russia.
Everyone raved about Stockholm, de Tallin, but Helsinki is usually dispatched with a couple of sentences without any shine. So he came
And Alexander Street it is impossible to pass by the number 44, where the Casa Pohjola, with their burlesque sculptures, justifies a stop. Dad around the building by Mikko Street for you do not miss any of these amazing decorative figures. Ya I do not Mannerheimintie, the way to the stadium is dotted with places of interest, as Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Parliament and the House of Finland, by the Bay Toolo and a park with lots of charm. The light acts up and gives us a spectacular mirror in the waters. The opera, however, is a dull building that does not stop the ride, nearly half an hour, until Olympic Stadium which hosted the Games 1952, surrounded by vast gardens Winter. There is a statue of the mythical Paavo Nurmi, "The Flying Finn", undoubtedly one of the greatest athletes of all time, who retired with twelve Olympic medals, nine of them gold, and a track record that included more than thirty world records.
Pohjoisesplanadi a wide boulevard with shops and restaurants where all your muscle looks Helsinki in the field of design
For five euros you can take the lift to a tower 72 meters high from which the views of the city are more than guaranteed. Back to the center, after passing through the station functional (with its monumental sculptures human) walked down the main shopping street of the city, Pohjoisesplanadi, a wide boulevard with shops and restaurants where all your muscle looks Helsinki in the field of design (in fact, in 2012 has been designated World Design Capital).
In the harbor is now celebrated Market, the most popular market in Finland and one of the world's original. In the bay dock traditional sailboats, from all over the archipelago, come to the capital to sell their products and some, even, serve food on board. Onshore, occur dozens of stalls with typical smoked fish, skins and varied local crafts. The atmosphere is festive and relaxed, own on a Sunday with sunshine, here almost a cause for celebration.
We sat on wooden benches crowded a place to eat a soup (Salmon soup) and a plate of salmon, whitebait and fish like herring. For dessert, un coffee (cafe) with some sweets (warm pig) in a stall nearby. Suddenly, the sky darkens and begins to jarrear for a few minutes, as if someone sought to remind us how lucky we have been.
En el Market, the fish market, the atmosphere is festive and relaxed, own on a Sunday with sunshine, here almost a cause for celebration
At five p.m., ships begin to sail back home in the midst of a remarkable anticipation. It is inevitable that in the faces of people intuit a sense of finale. The stalls begin to collect belongings. Drizzle. I want to stay another day in Helsinki, sure sign that I have perceived a very different topics that had heard about it. Felled clichés, is a good time to hop on a ferry route from Stockholm (17 hours separate us) and enjoy an unforgettable evening aboard islets dodging rush the last rays of sun. I just miss, Now, a glass of Somontano…
Comments (3)
Ann
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End, Somontano.
You're great, Ricardo
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Javier Brandoli
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Ana subscribe to the genius of the last sentence: Somontano was something I did not expect to read in an article in Helsinki. Is, other place to go!!! Hug
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Ricardo Coarasa
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Thank you both. The one bottle I Somontano
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