Copenhagen, episode 8. In which we stroll Helsinki.

I have to admit that my first sauna experience took place in Helsinki. Actually, it took place aboard our cruise ship, but Helsinki was off in the distance so I will give credit to the Finns since they did invent and perfect the art of intentionally luxuriating in a hot room. I was just getting myself accustomed to staying a full 10 minutes without feeling like I was going to pass out when our cruise ended. You would think living in South Texas all these years would have me better climatized to pore-opening environments, but we Texans don't spend much time in our beloved love-to-hate-it hundred-degree heat unless we are running to our air-conditioned cars, offices, or homes.

As I was recently recollecting photos and memories of our day trip to Finland, Mari shared with me this New York Times article touting a particularly significant health benefit of saunas which I will now share with you.

We also learned from our native tour guide that the correct pronunciation is not "saw-na" as we Americans are accustomed to saying (butchering), but "sow-na" (pronounced as "how").

That's the way Mari and I hear it in our heads now and when we revisit this souvenir photo taken from Helsinki's Market Square, we remember Hanna telling us just how big a part of Finnish culture saunas are.

So much so that there's a sauna car at the very top of the city's ferris wheel!

You will catch a glimpse of that sauna-enhanced wheel in action and much more if you click on my YouTube video below.

Please watch some of my video footage from our Father's Day shore excursion to Helsinki which includes a few architectural city highlights as well as a busy stop at a beautiful monument to Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.





My five-minute video also includes some footage from Market Square during a busy Sunday flea at the weekly farmers' market which included many local crafts and souvenirs.

Market Square's central location is right on the Baltic and within sightseeing distance of famed city sights such as the Presidential Palace and City Hall. Even if you are not a shopper, it's a perfect place to roam for souvenir photos.

Although excited to happen upon a local market, Mari and I were slightly disappointed not to find antique, vintage, nor collectable goods for sale.

As we were initially bussed into the city from port, Mari and I were suddenly simultaneously taken aback by one of the most unexpectedly beautiful and bountiful sights that we were just too amazed to sight from our tour bus window. A ginormous (I've come to accept it, and if it can be used by The New York Times in today's Sunday crossword, you should, too) honest-to-goodness fleamarket that included Finnish furniture and Scandinavian collectibles yllin kyllin!

I love the Finnish translation of galore as much as I love saying "galore."

As our city highlights tour was coming to an end, we were given the option of staying behind in a fashionable and shiny new marketplace bustling with designer department stores and restaurants for a few hours so naturally Mari and I took advantage of some Helsinki free time.

We did not, however, spend much time with designers except to walk through the complex to find our way first to Market Square and then go off in search of that fabulous Finnish flea.

Unfortunately, despite our best meanderingly clumsiest efforts, including a fruitless unplanned "tour" inside Helsinki's architecturally phenomenal 100-year-old Central Station, we failed to find route information back to that marvelous mirage of a Sunday fleamarket.


One of our favorite stops in Helsinki was at the famous Rock Church, officially known as Temppeliaukio Lutheran Church. You'll know why it has been dubbed so when you see it (there is a bit of footage in my video in addition to the photo here).

Mari and I were disappointed (frustrated) that our stop was scheduled during Sunday church service as we would have loved to explore the church's unusual interior as well as walk around (and atop) the church's exterior. 

The cool and cloudy morning did lend itself to a healthily introspective walk up and around the exterior and the extra time with the natural surroundings did provide an idyllic opportunity to reflect and, of course, snap a few more souvenir photos.

I have learned, dear reader, to turn delays and disappointments, however small, into memorable moments of reflection (during which I often plant the seeds of future travel lists). A church closed for Sunday service is just another reason to return to Helsinki!

Next time, it's måndag so it must be Stockholm.