John & Fayne in Northern Europe 2013: Art Deco in Helsinki, an ABBA-riffic Time in Stockholm!!

We set sail from St. Petersburg to Helsinki, the capitol of Finland. Many older Fort Bragg families are Finnish, but I don't know much about the country. The Finns are considered odd ducks among the Scandinavian peoples, in fact there is some debate if they truly are Scandinavian. For much of their history, the Finns have been controlled by either Sweden to the west or Russia to the east, only gaining independence in 1917. The language isn't Scandinavian. It is closer to Hungarian. None of the street signs on this trip have been easy to read, but the Finnish ones are particularly challenging. Every street seems to have two very long words, and for some reason, they are frequently alliterative (ie:Kaivokatu Kaisaniemenkatu or Jägaregatan Jääkarinkatu). We had a good time walking around, but would face dilemmas like "Go down Uudenmaankatu, turn left on Mannerheimintie, if you come to Pohjoinen Rautatiekatu, you've gone too far".
It was a beautiful day as we walked by many stately churches, and lots of people were out with their dogs.

Johanneksen Kirkko Johanneskyrkan

Dog + Person in Park

Eventually we made our way to the heart of downtown Helsinki, a narrow stripe of green called the Esplanadin Puisto.

The Esplanadin leads down the harbor with a farmer's market and stands selling local food. There also are animal pelts and antlers you might have getting through customs.

Many stalls feature food from Lapland in the north, such as reindeer meatballs. To my regret, we lunched elsewhere.

Pre-meatball

Overlooking the harbor is a sensuous Finnish mermaid, Havis Amanda. She is guarded by four sea lions and stands on a bed of seaweed and four spitting fish. Placed in Market Square in 1908, it is considered the most important Art Deco statue in Finland. This sensuous lady caused a lot of controversy initially but now is beloved.

Havis Amanda closeup

The Visitor's Center is on the Esplanadin and they furnished us with a good walking map highlighting Helsinki's proud Art Deco legacy. Helsinki was transformed from a wooden to a stone city early in the 20th century and the local architects helped develop the style of the times. Eliel Saarinen (the father of another famous architect and crossword clue answer Eero) designed the Railway Station in 1914. The most striking features are the giant men holding lamps flanking the entry.

Railway Plaza

Ticket Lobby

The map described 27 different Art Deco buildings. We couldn't see them all, but we enjoyed what we could see.

Finnish National Theater (1902)

Interior of Jugend Hall (1904)

Decorative detail in Jugend Hall

Courtyard of Helsinki Stock Exchange Building (1911)

Kallio Church (1912)

We met up with Tom and Melinda for lunch in the Botanic Gardens.

Greenhouse in Garden

Kaisaniemi Park with sculptue "The Curtain" in honor of Ida Aalberg

Another dominant landmark is Helsinki Cathedral (Lutheran) on Senate Square.

As you can, the weather was clear and bright, perfect for exploring on foot.

Alekis Kivi, Author

Random Very Large Carrot

"The Chain" by Kimmo Kaivanto (1971)-Helsinki City Hall

Another day, another capital. Saturday July 6 we docked in Stockholm, a delightful city with plenty of water, islands, green parks, and a medieval Old Town (Gamla stan). Our first stop had to be the newest attraction:

Open just two months, we were not going to leave Sweden without paying our respects to Agnetha, Bennie, Bjorn, and Anni-Frid. A dear friend Curtis Berry used to say "There are two kinds of people in this world: people who love ABBA, and people who lie about loving ABBA". The museum has it all: the costumes, the recordings, the tours, the videos, the puppets. One of the people leading a tour was their main costume designer, Owe Sandström, who was explaining in some detail the evolution of their style. You can "be in the recording studio" with life-size, spooky ABBA avatars, or be a back-up dancer in a video, and watch it all on-line when you return home. In the end, it was perhaps more than I wished to know about the quartet.

Me relaxing with my Swedish friends

From ABBA the Museum (aka- The Swedish Music Hall of Fame), it is a short stroll to several other museums. An impressive large building houses the Nordic Museum,"dedicated to the cultural history and ethnography of Sweden from the Early Modern age until the contemporary period".

Just behind that is the most popular museum in Stockholm, the Vasa Museum. The Vasa is a 17th century Swedish warship with a rather interesting history as related by our guide Linnea. Built by order of King Gustavus Adolphus for the Thirty Years War, he wanted a tall, intimidating ship with 64 cannons on two gun decks. No expense was spared in outfitting and decorating her. 226 feet long and 172 feet high, she set sail on 10 August 1628. The ship traveled less than one mile on her maiden voyage before a breeze came up, she foundered and sank in the harbor to the horror of thousands of on-looking Swedes. 30-50 crewmembers and wives are estimated to have perished. In subsequent years, the top of the mainmast poking above the surface, as well as the cannons were salvaged. In 1959, the entire ship was raised from the depths with a heroic recovery effort, and has been housed in current structure since 1990.