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We had arranged to meet Tony in Helsinki on the Sunday, with him travelling overnight from his home in St Petersburg. He arrived at 6:50am, which was way too early for us, although he did say he wanted to grab some McDonald's before the day had begun anyway. In the end, we arranged to meet at the main railway station at 9:30am, which I deduced was a reasonable time as it enabled us to get breakfast. Alas, Wolfie had aggravated his knee after all of the walking in Tampere and so decided to rest up in bed, with the plan being for him to meet us in town later. This enabled me to walk the short distance between our hotel in Hakanemi and the railway station, arriving just fifteen minutes after the time we had arranged to meet. This was largely due to sorting Wolfie out, but as it turned out, Tony was running a little late too. He also wasn't in the main foyer area of the station either, which is where I thought we would meet, so it wasn't until about 10am that we managed to hook up. He had brought another Russian furry with him too, but he spoke very little English, making communication a little difficult. Still, the plan was largely to wander around Helsinki for a while and go to some of the bars so this wasn't really a huge issue.
The Finnish capital is surprisingly compact, and with the weather slightly warmer than it had been over previous days, the amble around was quite pleasant. Our first port of call was the main cathedral, perched atop a hill overlooking the harbour. I had been here before, but that didn't detract from its sheer wonder, with the whiteness of the masonry looking particularly radiant in the springtime sun. The green roof punctuated it quite well, enticing you up the numerous steps to its base. Alas, due to it being Sunday morning, we couldn't go inside so I had to content myself with walking around it. The whole area was surprisingly quiet, with the square at the base of the staircase being particularly barren. There was the odd tourist bus, but very little else, giving it something of a surreal air that only added to the atmosphere. Around the square there are a number of stately buildings which were also good to view, but my overriding feeling of being here was of the time I had visited it before. That was about ten years ago, so the building must have had quite a force over me, and it was great to be acquianted with it again.
Descending down the stairs, we headed into one of the narrow streets which disgorged us at the harbour. On this street, Tony spotted a bar which took his fancy, with Tony's quest for beer a theme for much of the day. However, I wanted to see some sights, so for now we decided to walk around the modest street market next to the sea. It largely sold a range of tourist tat if I was being honest, but there was someone cooking potatoes and vegetables in a giant wok, with its smell being quite pervasive as was the distinctive sizzling sound. The views out to sea were also pretty breathtaking, while up on the hill to our far left we could spy the brown brickwork of the Uspenski Cathedral, an Eastern Orthodox church which bore testament to Finland's history of once being part of Russia. Built in 1868, it is somewhat in shadow to the main cathedral, but this didn't mean that it did not entice me in, insisting as I did that we have a closer look at it later in the day. Alas it too was closed so we couldn't go inside, but at least I did get to marvel at its architecture for a while. The whole harbour area was quite relaxed, with people milling about enjoying their Sunday morning, so it was a pleasure to be here. I also introduced Tony and his friend to geocaching, finding not one but two caches around the area. They were fascinated by this, with Tony's friend being particularly adept at locating the Tupperware boxes I needed. As he retrieved the second one, we decided we would also head into the little building near it, which contained some market stalls. Not many of these were open with it being Sunday morning, but there were a couple of concessions serving, with Tony's friend picking up some tasty looking Asian food from one of them. There was also a bar which again interested Tony, but with another one of his friends due to arrive from Turku very shortly, we decided we needed to head back to the main station to meet him.
As we headed up there, we dived into a touristy Moomin shop, where I gasped at the sheer expense of the stuffed toys. Even Jacob Rees-Moomin was priced at €46 with his silly top hat. We then headed down the wide main street of Helsinki, where I phoned Wolfie to inform him of our progress as well as getting in touch with Keyune, who had moved to Helsinki from Knutsford at the tail end of last year. This meant we would have a party of six, with us deciding to meet in the Teerenpelli bar, which was one Tony wanted to try. What I didn't realise before going there was that this was the same chain that we had visited in Tampere the day before - the one with the burlesque nights - but we still hadn't tried their full range of beer so it was fine with us. However, the bar did not open until noon, leaving us with a little bit of time to hook up with Pirate Fox who had arrived by bus. This saw us go to the Kamppi area of the city - effectively a shopping centre which contained the bus station - and after a little bit of faffing about, we managed to locate him. This area is very close to the main train station and contains an interesting installation which forms part of the city's museum and art gallery, Amos Rex. It looks a little like the Teletubbies' house, with concrete domes and windows poking out from the ground a bit like bubbles. The museum is new, but I am not sure the same can be said about the art nouveux white tower next to it, which looks like something out of the 1930s. Still, it was fun to walk around anyway and killed a little time before we got to Teerenpelli, which was very near here down a pedestrian walkway.
We hung outside Teerenpelli like alcoholics waiting for it to open, having arrived there about five minutes early. The kindly barman soon let us in, as soon as he had planted a big sign on the courtyard where it's situated, and soon we had found a table to sample some beers. Wolfie soon limped his way to us while Keyune wasn't far behind, with the sextet having some great conversation. This lasted for nearly two hours before we decided to move on and get food, with Tony wanting to try another bar he had researched on the bus on his way to Helsinki. It wasn't too far away but with Wolfie's knee causing him trouble, it was a little painful for him. However, the bar was definitely worth it as it was a little bit of a dive bar but with a fantastic barman and good beer. Indeed, it was one of those places that seemed underwhelming initially but then got increasingly better the more you discovered about it. This also extended into the food, with my burger being particularly tasty. There was live sport in this bar, which was okay by me, but the fact they played Sólstafir's Fjara really cemented this place in my heart. I even commented to the barkeep about this as I had never heard it played anywhere before, with the only time being at Damnation where I had seen the song performed live. Thus, it was a very special place for me.
The time was pushing 3:30pm at this point and I was conscious that we were slipping into having a boozy day. I had only spent three hours or so in Helsinki on my previous two trips to Finland so I really wanted to see more sights and we had built a consensus to go to Suomenlinna/Sveaborg, a UNESCO World Heritage site on an island just out of the harbour. This was a fortress built on an island, and with Helsinki's proximity to both Russia and Sweden formed an important part of its history. As a result, we thought it was worth a wander, so the six of us headed back to the harbour and to the boat which would whisk us on the ten minute journey over there. The boat afforded us excellent views of the Helsinki Harbour, while being on Suomenlinna was like a different world, even if you could get here with a standard metro ticket. Consisting of four islands primarily, the first thing you see is the long pink structure forming the Jetty Barracks. This brought into focus the strategic military importance of the islands, but these were far more than just an outpost. Indeed, going through the archway and deeper onto the island, the first thing you see is the Suomenlinna Church. A neat white construction atop a hill, it's green roof was rather striking. Built in 1854, it was originally built as an Eastern Orthodox garrison church, showcasing that a community also lived here. Indeed, this was evidenced further along our walk as we could see a number of private residences that are still occupied. Clearly, these islands function more than a museum. We tried to find a geocache up here but it would appear it was actually INSIDE the church rather than outside and as the church was closed, we had no choice to move on.
We were pretty severely restricted by Wolfie's knee on the islands, only really seeing the one closest to us. We did manage to drop into the Manege of the Military Museum, which had a fascinating exploration of Finnish history and how the country lost much of Karelia in World War Two. However, most of our furry friends weren't too interested in this, leaving us to try and grab beer from the local K Mart. Still, Wolfie and I had a pleasant half hour saunter around the place before we headed to the Artillery Bay Quay, where we eventually met up with the others. This offered quite an impressive view out to sea, with the important strategic location of the islands being clearly highlighted. It also enabled us to see just how close the shipping lane were to here as we saw two Viking Line ferries slither effortlessly past us, at a distance which was shockingly close. Wolfie's knee was causing huge problems by now and he was a little frustrated I asked to walk down a hill towards the river for a closer look at the topography, only to discover there was no further path here and we had to double back. We then decided to try and head over to the second main island, particualrly as there was a submarine there that the other furries had a particular interest in, but it was at this point that Wolfie's knee buckled and he had to sit down. I sat down with him as the others explored the undersea vessel, but it was clear that we could do no more sightseeing today. It was a shame as there were many more interesting things to see, but we couldn't push it any further. With all of the museums now closed anyway and the time ticking towards 7pm, we regretfully decided to head back to the mainland.
Wolfie was very close to heading back to the hotel at this point, but I persuaded him to stay out and at least come to Brewdog with us. We had decided on here as Tony had desperately wanted to visit, and as we were able to get an Uber from the harbour to there, it meant the pressure on Wolfie's joints was minimal. Before this, Keyune had left us at the harbour before I went to see the Orthodox Church as I highlighted earlier, but then we bundled ourselves into the taxi while Tony and Pirate Fox walked the fifteen minutes or so to the bar. As we drove through the city, we did get to see a number of sights that we hadn't spotted before, including the fantastic double towered Johanneksenkirkko, a Lutheran Church that was fortunately just down the road from the Brewdog. Consequently, once everyone had arrived, I decided to sneak out and have a quick look at this rather imposing building while everyone was sampling their drinks. We didn't really intend to be here long, wanting to explore a few other bars as Tony had highlighted some Untappd badges on offer, but we were all having a good time and staying here meant Wolfie could stay too. There was a direct tram literally from the doorstep of Brewdog to our hotel so had we moved on, he would have gone back, so we contented ourselves with a long session. As it turned out, we went through their entire guest menu and started on the beer fridge, picking up some cans of an excellent local brewery. It was a little expensive but the company was good and the barman remembered us from Friday night, reassuring us that we hadn't been too drunk or embarrassing then. Having a base here also meant I could go to a local supermarket and pick up some powdered Presedentii coffee that Taneli had requested, at the same time Tony bought some Finnish cheese to take back home with him. He was quite obsessed with getting his 4kg allowance of cheese.
Pirate's bus was at 11:20pm so at around 10:30pm we left Brewdog, with Wolfie hopping on the tram back to the hotel and me walking with everyone else back to the bus station. The walk was about fifteen minutes and Tony insisted we do it slowly as we had time, but it was cold and the rest of us just wanted to go somewhere warm. As it turned out, we were a little more relaxed than usual, arriving at the Kamppi Shopping Centre at 11pm. At this point, Tony and Pirate downed another one of the shitty beers they had bought on the island before we then had to dart to the bus station for Pirate to get his bus. He was in time by three minutes. We then had another half hour before Tony and his friend's bus. They hadn't bought any cheese in the supermarket near Brewdog as it was too expensive, while Tony also wanted to try Taco Bell as he had never been there before. The Taco Bell was in the opposite direction to the twenty-four hour supermarket where Tony had hoped to pick up his cheese, resulting in a yomp across the pedestrianised area connecting Kamppi and the Railway Station. Tony took the lead, disappearing into Taco Bell and leaving his friend holding the open beer, which he then passed to me as he was also tempted by the Mexican food. Ordering seemed to take forever and I really need the toilet, but alas with a beer in my hand, I couldn't really do much. Once they had emerged, they had about fifteen minutes to get cheese, which saw Tony dart off to the supermarket, leaving me and his friend behind. Soon Tony was nowhere to be seen and his friend was getting somewhat panicked, particularly as there were a few drunks about shouting insults at us. Added to this was that I needed the toilet, so I gave the beer away and told his friend to go and catch his bus, which he dutifully did. The sad part of this was I never got chance to say goodbye to Tony, but I do know that he did make it back to Russia as planned.
We hadn't had much to eat that evening, so I decided to pick up a Hesburger on the way back to the hotel. I had hoped one of their branches would be open as I fancied it more than the McDonald's next to our hotel. Fortunately, the train station did not disappoint in this regard and so I managed to pick some up. Alas the toilet in the station was closed though, adding to my desparation. Still, I managed to get our double cheeseburgers back to the hotel, where I found Wolfie resting his knee, and I am glad to say that the quality of the food was significantly better than it had been on the Friday night, recalling the days of Hesburger of old. Indeed, it was a very nice way to end the day and we soon headed to bed, with us being so tired.
Our flight wasn't until 4pm on Monday, giving us a little time to explore Helsinki some more in the morning. However, Wolfie still had concerns about his knee, meaning he stayed in the hotel room while I went out and about. My main destination was Temppeliaukion Church, which was about a ten minute walk the other side of Kamppi. Had we gotten our guidebook on time (it arrived as we were away) then we could have been more organised, but at least I didn't miss this truly remarkable building. Opened in 1969, this church is cut right into the bedrock, giving it something of an other worldly feel. This was aided by the concert pianist who was playing when I visited, enabling me to sit down for five minutes and enjoy the relaxing music. The copper dome was particularly impressive, as was the windows directly underneath it, which were pretty much at floor level relative to the ground outside. However, of course, the sheer unworked rock faces of glistening granite were the real stars here, along with the beautiful gold altar on the left-hand side of the altar. The acoustics are incredible and indeed the church also acts as a concert venue, and it's one of those places that really stays with the soul.
Coming here was definitely worth the forty-five minute round trip walk, although I did get to see a number of other sights in downtown Helsinki. These included the Natural History museum with its huge giraffe statues outside and a little park near the main railway station. Indeed, you could get to the trains from a walkway underneath the tracks and it was down here that I managed to pick up a virtual geocache. I had tried to get one in the park on the other side of the station near our hotel, but I struggled to find it, plus I was running out of time as I needed to be back at the hotel ahead of the noon checkout. I managed to do this with fifteen minutes to spare, finding that Wolfie had packed all of our things away, meaning all we needed to do was depart. This we did, saying goodbye to the friendly receptionist on the desk, and commenting on how good the place was. Granted it was basic and there was no real bar, but this suited us well and the room was comfortable at least. With a breakfast where all we really had was a chicken meat bread roll (I got one for Wolfie on the Monday as he wanted to rest his knee), it was a really perfect simplistic approach.
We still had about an hour to kill before we needed to get the train, so I suggested visiting the Hakanemi Market opposite the hotel. This is one of the oldest markets in the city but has since been renovated, containing a range of fresh food stalls which were fun to wander around. We picked up a donut and a few local pastries - including a custard and jam twin layered variety - and sat down on a bench to eat them. They were incredibly tasty and although this market had clearly been gentrified in its renovation, it was at least worth looking at all of the incredible local fresh produce being sold here.
After this, we hopped on a tram and made our way to Simonsgatan, one stop beyond the train station and back to the square with Kamppi and the Teletubby-style museum. We came here as we had missed something - a large cylinderical all wooden structure which turned out to be Kamppi Church. Architectually, it was certainly something special, but inside was truly magical as even though it was right next to one of the major roads in the city and on the major square, it was absolutely silent. The horizontal lined wood, like a flatpack piece of furniture, made the church unique, with that sense of specialness just adding to the tranquility. Absolute silence was strictly enforced and the atmosphere was godly because of it.
It was pretty much time to go after this. We had received a message that our plane was half an hour delayed but with Wolfie's knee still sore, we thought there was little advantage in changing our plans. Consequently, we walked to the railway station and after discerning we needed to buy our train tickets to the airport from an R-Kioski for some reason, we boarded the P train to the airport. The line is actually a loop, with the I train going one way and the P train going the other, with us boarding the P one simply because it was the next one we could get. They are every ten minutes though and the service is very efficient, whisking us to the aiport in just over half an hour. It was interesting to see the Helsinki suburbs before they gave way to farmland, with most of this being rather generic, but at least we got to see how the locals live. At the airport, the whole security procedure was swift and we ended up with a lot of time to kill, sitting around a restaurant called The Nordic Kitchen with an overpriced beer waiting for the queue at Burger King to die down. It never did, so we just sat there, slowly drinking beer (or Coca Cola in Wolfie's case) killing time, with the only incident of interest being the fire alarm going off but the airport tannoy insisting they were investigating the cause and urging us to stay put. That was pretty much it really, and with the flight being a usual affair, we were back in Manchester pretty swiftly. Having not had any food at the aiport and only trying some cream cheese squeezed between two pieces of crispbread on the plane, we nabbed a vegan sausage roll from Greggs at Terminal 1 before stopping off at the Birstall Pizza Hut on the way home. They had very little as they had been bombarded with children's parties, what with it being a Bank Holiday Monday, but fortunately the kids were just about to bugger off as we arrived. This was fortunate as they were loud and the staff clearly harried but at least we got a pepperoni deep pan and memories of another wonderful trip.
The Finnish capital is surprisingly compact, and with the weather slightly warmer than it had been over previous days, the amble around was quite pleasant. Our first port of call was the main cathedral, perched atop a hill overlooking the harbour. I had been here before, but that didn't detract from its sheer wonder, with the whiteness of the masonry looking particularly radiant in the springtime sun. The green roof punctuated it quite well, enticing you up the numerous steps to its base. Alas, due to it being Sunday morning, we couldn't go inside so I had to content myself with walking around it. The whole area was surprisingly quiet, with the square at the base of the staircase being particularly barren. There was the odd tourist bus, but very little else, giving it something of a surreal air that only added to the atmosphere. Around the square there are a number of stately buildings which were also good to view, but my overriding feeling of being here was of the time I had visited it before. That was about ten years ago, so the building must have had quite a force over me, and it was great to be acquianted with it again.
Descending down the stairs, we headed into one of the narrow streets which disgorged us at the harbour. On this street, Tony spotted a bar which took his fancy, with Tony's quest for beer a theme for much of the day. However, I wanted to see some sights, so for now we decided to walk around the modest street market next to the sea. It largely sold a range of tourist tat if I was being honest, but there was someone cooking potatoes and vegetables in a giant wok, with its smell being quite pervasive as was the distinctive sizzling sound. The views out to sea were also pretty breathtaking, while up on the hill to our far left we could spy the brown brickwork of the Uspenski Cathedral, an Eastern Orthodox church which bore testament to Finland's history of once being part of Russia. Built in 1868, it is somewhat in shadow to the main cathedral, but this didn't mean that it did not entice me in, insisting as I did that we have a closer look at it later in the day. Alas it too was closed so we couldn't go inside, but at least I did get to marvel at its architecture for a while. The whole harbour area was quite relaxed, with people milling about enjoying their Sunday morning, so it was a pleasure to be here. I also introduced Tony and his friend to geocaching, finding not one but two caches around the area. They were fascinated by this, with Tony's friend being particularly adept at locating the Tupperware boxes I needed. As he retrieved the second one, we decided we would also head into the little building near it, which contained some market stalls. Not many of these were open with it being Sunday morning, but there were a couple of concessions serving, with Tony's friend picking up some tasty looking Asian food from one of them. There was also a bar which again interested Tony, but with another one of his friends due to arrive from Turku very shortly, we decided we needed to head back to the main station to meet him.
As we headed up there, we dived into a touristy Moomin shop, where I gasped at the sheer expense of the stuffed toys. Even Jacob Rees-Moomin was priced at €46 with his silly top hat. We then headed down the wide main street of Helsinki, where I phoned Wolfie to inform him of our progress as well as getting in touch with Keyune, who had moved to Helsinki from Knutsford at the tail end of last year. This meant we would have a party of six, with us deciding to meet in the Teerenpelli bar, which was one Tony wanted to try. What I didn't realise before going there was that this was the same chain that we had visited in Tampere the day before - the one with the burlesque nights - but we still hadn't tried their full range of beer so it was fine with us. However, the bar did not open until noon, leaving us with a little bit of time to hook up with Pirate Fox who had arrived by bus. This saw us go to the Kamppi area of the city - effectively a shopping centre which contained the bus station - and after a little bit of faffing about, we managed to locate him. This area is very close to the main train station and contains an interesting installation which forms part of the city's museum and art gallery, Amos Rex. It looks a little like the Teletubbies' house, with concrete domes and windows poking out from the ground a bit like bubbles. The museum is new, but I am not sure the same can be said about the art nouveux white tower next to it, which looks like something out of the 1930s. Still, it was fun to walk around anyway and killed a little time before we got to Teerenpelli, which was very near here down a pedestrian walkway.
We hung outside Teerenpelli like alcoholics waiting for it to open, having arrived there about five minutes early. The kindly barman soon let us in, as soon as he had planted a big sign on the courtyard where it's situated, and soon we had found a table to sample some beers. Wolfie soon limped his way to us while Keyune wasn't far behind, with the sextet having some great conversation. This lasted for nearly two hours before we decided to move on and get food, with Tony wanting to try another bar he had researched on the bus on his way to Helsinki. It wasn't too far away but with Wolfie's knee causing him trouble, it was a little painful for him. However, the bar was definitely worth it as it was a little bit of a dive bar but with a fantastic barman and good beer. Indeed, it was one of those places that seemed underwhelming initially but then got increasingly better the more you discovered about it. This also extended into the food, with my burger being particularly tasty. There was live sport in this bar, which was okay by me, but the fact they played Sólstafir's Fjara really cemented this place in my heart. I even commented to the barkeep about this as I had never heard it played anywhere before, with the only time being at Damnation where I had seen the song performed live. Thus, it was a very special place for me.
The time was pushing 3:30pm at this point and I was conscious that we were slipping into having a boozy day. I had only spent three hours or so in Helsinki on my previous two trips to Finland so I really wanted to see more sights and we had built a consensus to go to Suomenlinna/Sveaborg, a UNESCO World Heritage site on an island just out of the harbour. This was a fortress built on an island, and with Helsinki's proximity to both Russia and Sweden formed an important part of its history. As a result, we thought it was worth a wander, so the six of us headed back to the harbour and to the boat which would whisk us on the ten minute journey over there. The boat afforded us excellent views of the Helsinki Harbour, while being on Suomenlinna was like a different world, even if you could get here with a standard metro ticket. Consisting of four islands primarily, the first thing you see is the long pink structure forming the Jetty Barracks. This brought into focus the strategic military importance of the islands, but these were far more than just an outpost. Indeed, going through the archway and deeper onto the island, the first thing you see is the Suomenlinna Church. A neat white construction atop a hill, it's green roof was rather striking. Built in 1854, it was originally built as an Eastern Orthodox garrison church, showcasing that a community also lived here. Indeed, this was evidenced further along our walk as we could see a number of private residences that are still occupied. Clearly, these islands function more than a museum. We tried to find a geocache up here but it would appear it was actually INSIDE the church rather than outside and as the church was closed, we had no choice to move on.
We were pretty severely restricted by Wolfie's knee on the islands, only really seeing the one closest to us. We did manage to drop into the Manege of the Military Museum, which had a fascinating exploration of Finnish history and how the country lost much of Karelia in World War Two. However, most of our furry friends weren't too interested in this, leaving us to try and grab beer from the local K Mart. Still, Wolfie and I had a pleasant half hour saunter around the place before we headed to the Artillery Bay Quay, where we eventually met up with the others. This offered quite an impressive view out to sea, with the important strategic location of the islands being clearly highlighted. It also enabled us to see just how close the shipping lane were to here as we saw two Viking Line ferries slither effortlessly past us, at a distance which was shockingly close. Wolfie's knee was causing huge problems by now and he was a little frustrated I asked to walk down a hill towards the river for a closer look at the topography, only to discover there was no further path here and we had to double back. We then decided to try and head over to the second main island, particualrly as there was a submarine there that the other furries had a particular interest in, but it was at this point that Wolfie's knee buckled and he had to sit down. I sat down with him as the others explored the undersea vessel, but it was clear that we could do no more sightseeing today. It was a shame as there were many more interesting things to see, but we couldn't push it any further. With all of the museums now closed anyway and the time ticking towards 7pm, we regretfully decided to head back to the mainland.
Wolfie was very close to heading back to the hotel at this point, but I persuaded him to stay out and at least come to Brewdog with us. We had decided on here as Tony had desperately wanted to visit, and as we were able to get an Uber from the harbour to there, it meant the pressure on Wolfie's joints was minimal. Before this, Keyune had left us at the harbour before I went to see the Orthodox Church as I highlighted earlier, but then we bundled ourselves into the taxi while Tony and Pirate Fox walked the fifteen minutes or so to the bar. As we drove through the city, we did get to see a number of sights that we hadn't spotted before, including the fantastic double towered Johanneksenkirkko, a Lutheran Church that was fortunately just down the road from the Brewdog. Consequently, once everyone had arrived, I decided to sneak out and have a quick look at this rather imposing building while everyone was sampling their drinks. We didn't really intend to be here long, wanting to explore a few other bars as Tony had highlighted some Untappd badges on offer, but we were all having a good time and staying here meant Wolfie could stay too. There was a direct tram literally from the doorstep of Brewdog to our hotel so had we moved on, he would have gone back, so we contented ourselves with a long session. As it turned out, we went through their entire guest menu and started on the beer fridge, picking up some cans of an excellent local brewery. It was a little expensive but the company was good and the barman remembered us from Friday night, reassuring us that we hadn't been too drunk or embarrassing then. Having a base here also meant I could go to a local supermarket and pick up some powdered Presedentii coffee that Taneli had requested, at the same time Tony bought some Finnish cheese to take back home with him. He was quite obsessed with getting his 4kg allowance of cheese.
Pirate's bus was at 11:20pm so at around 10:30pm we left Brewdog, with Wolfie hopping on the tram back to the hotel and me walking with everyone else back to the bus station. The walk was about fifteen minutes and Tony insisted we do it slowly as we had time, but it was cold and the rest of us just wanted to go somewhere warm. As it turned out, we were a little more relaxed than usual, arriving at the Kamppi Shopping Centre at 11pm. At this point, Tony and Pirate downed another one of the shitty beers they had bought on the island before we then had to dart to the bus station for Pirate to get his bus. He was in time by three minutes. We then had another half hour before Tony and his friend's bus. They hadn't bought any cheese in the supermarket near Brewdog as it was too expensive, while Tony also wanted to try Taco Bell as he had never been there before. The Taco Bell was in the opposite direction to the twenty-four hour supermarket where Tony had hoped to pick up his cheese, resulting in a yomp across the pedestrianised area connecting Kamppi and the Railway Station. Tony took the lead, disappearing into Taco Bell and leaving his friend holding the open beer, which he then passed to me as he was also tempted by the Mexican food. Ordering seemed to take forever and I really need the toilet, but alas with a beer in my hand, I couldn't really do much. Once they had emerged, they had about fifteen minutes to get cheese, which saw Tony dart off to the supermarket, leaving me and his friend behind. Soon Tony was nowhere to be seen and his friend was getting somewhat panicked, particularly as there were a few drunks about shouting insults at us. Added to this was that I needed the toilet, so I gave the beer away and told his friend to go and catch his bus, which he dutifully did. The sad part of this was I never got chance to say goodbye to Tony, but I do know that he did make it back to Russia as planned.
We hadn't had much to eat that evening, so I decided to pick up a Hesburger on the way back to the hotel. I had hoped one of their branches would be open as I fancied it more than the McDonald's next to our hotel. Fortunately, the train station did not disappoint in this regard and so I managed to pick some up. Alas the toilet in the station was closed though, adding to my desparation. Still, I managed to get our double cheeseburgers back to the hotel, where I found Wolfie resting his knee, and I am glad to say that the quality of the food was significantly better than it had been on the Friday night, recalling the days of Hesburger of old. Indeed, it was a very nice way to end the day and we soon headed to bed, with us being so tired.
Our flight wasn't until 4pm on Monday, giving us a little time to explore Helsinki some more in the morning. However, Wolfie still had concerns about his knee, meaning he stayed in the hotel room while I went out and about. My main destination was Temppeliaukion Church, which was about a ten minute walk the other side of Kamppi. Had we gotten our guidebook on time (it arrived as we were away) then we could have been more organised, but at least I didn't miss this truly remarkable building. Opened in 1969, this church is cut right into the bedrock, giving it something of an other worldly feel. This was aided by the concert pianist who was playing when I visited, enabling me to sit down for five minutes and enjoy the relaxing music. The copper dome was particularly impressive, as was the windows directly underneath it, which were pretty much at floor level relative to the ground outside. However, of course, the sheer unworked rock faces of glistening granite were the real stars here, along with the beautiful gold altar on the left-hand side of the altar. The acoustics are incredible and indeed the church also acts as a concert venue, and it's one of those places that really stays with the soul.
Coming here was definitely worth the forty-five minute round trip walk, although I did get to see a number of other sights in downtown Helsinki. These included the Natural History museum with its huge giraffe statues outside and a little park near the main railway station. Indeed, you could get to the trains from a walkway underneath the tracks and it was down here that I managed to pick up a virtual geocache. I had tried to get one in the park on the other side of the station near our hotel, but I struggled to find it, plus I was running out of time as I needed to be back at the hotel ahead of the noon checkout. I managed to do this with fifteen minutes to spare, finding that Wolfie had packed all of our things away, meaning all we needed to do was depart. This we did, saying goodbye to the friendly receptionist on the desk, and commenting on how good the place was. Granted it was basic and there was no real bar, but this suited us well and the room was comfortable at least. With a breakfast where all we really had was a chicken meat bread roll (I got one for Wolfie on the Monday as he wanted to rest his knee), it was a really perfect simplistic approach.
We still had about an hour to kill before we needed to get the train, so I suggested visiting the Hakanemi Market opposite the hotel. This is one of the oldest markets in the city but has since been renovated, containing a range of fresh food stalls which were fun to wander around. We picked up a donut and a few local pastries - including a custard and jam twin layered variety - and sat down on a bench to eat them. They were incredibly tasty and although this market had clearly been gentrified in its renovation, it was at least worth looking at all of the incredible local fresh produce being sold here.
After this, we hopped on a tram and made our way to Simonsgatan, one stop beyond the train station and back to the square with Kamppi and the Teletubby-style museum. We came here as we had missed something - a large cylinderical all wooden structure which turned out to be Kamppi Church. Architectually, it was certainly something special, but inside was truly magical as even though it was right next to one of the major roads in the city and on the major square, it was absolutely silent. The horizontal lined wood, like a flatpack piece of furniture, made the church unique, with that sense of specialness just adding to the tranquility. Absolute silence was strictly enforced and the atmosphere was godly because of it.
It was pretty much time to go after this. We had received a message that our plane was half an hour delayed but with Wolfie's knee still sore, we thought there was little advantage in changing our plans. Consequently, we walked to the railway station and after discerning we needed to buy our train tickets to the airport from an R-Kioski for some reason, we boarded the P train to the airport. The line is actually a loop, with the I train going one way and the P train going the other, with us boarding the P one simply because it was the next one we could get. They are every ten minutes though and the service is very efficient, whisking us to the aiport in just over half an hour. It was interesting to see the Helsinki suburbs before they gave way to farmland, with most of this being rather generic, but at least we got to see how the locals live. At the airport, the whole security procedure was swift and we ended up with a lot of time to kill, sitting around a restaurant called The Nordic Kitchen with an overpriced beer waiting for the queue at Burger King to die down. It never did, so we just sat there, slowly drinking beer (or Coca Cola in Wolfie's case) killing time, with the only incident of interest being the fire alarm going off but the airport tannoy insisting they were investigating the cause and urging us to stay put. That was pretty much it really, and with the flight being a usual affair, we were back in Manchester pretty swiftly. Having not had any food at the aiport and only trying some cream cheese squeezed between two pieces of crispbread on the plane, we nabbed a vegan sausage roll from Greggs at Terminal 1 before stopping off at the Birstall Pizza Hut on the way home. They had very little as they had been bombarded with children's parties, what with it being a Bank Holiday Monday, but fortunately the kids were just about to bugger off as we arrived. This was fortunate as they were loud and the staff clearly harried but at least we got a pepperoni deep pan and memories of another wonderful trip.
