Four nights in Finland part two: Sauna and Suomenlinna.

Back in Helsinki from my day trip to Porvoo I check the weather and debate what to do the next day.. There’s rain in the forecast, though it’s scheduled to stop by 15h.

I check the reservations for Löyly, a sauna on the edge of the city by the sea. There’s openings then and I book a slot before heading to bed. It’ll be my first trip to a Finnish sauna.

In the morning I linger in bed before stepping out for breakfast. It rains off and on, not heavily, and I decide to kill time at the Sinebrychoff Art Museum, stopping first for a coffee and a croissant at a nearby cafe.

Completed in 1842, the building was once the home of the Sinebrychoff family home and a brewery office. In 1921, the building was opened as a house museum containing Paul and Fanny Sinebrychoff’s collection of art and objects, which they gifted to the Finnish state. The building was purchased by the state in 1975, and in 1980, the Ateneum Art Museum’s collection of old European art was transferred to the museum to supplement the Sinebrychoff collection.

The museum feels empty when I arrive. I may be the first and only guest until an older couple arrives. As I walk through the galleries I spot a small frame sitting on a table. A printout encourages kids to look for a mouse in the museum. If they find it they’ll be rewarded.

I decide to have a look. It turns out to be. great way to make me focus on the paintings. I do a round through the galleries without luck and start a second round. I look again at the zoomed-in detail in the frame and try to use the clues in the printout to help me find the mouse, again without luck. Finally I break down and ask one of the docents for help. She leads me to a room and starts looking under the furniture. It’s then I realize that the mouse isn’t in a painting; it’s a toy mouse the staff has hidden.

It’s not where she thinks it is and she mutters under her breath. She’s not sure where the mouse is. I ask what the reward is and she pulls a box out from behind a chair. She offers me a sweet even though neither of us has been able to find it.

From the museum I walk over to the sea. I’m early for my reservation and I sit in the park looking out over the Gulf of Finland until it’s time to go in. I’m given a towel and a locker and told I have two hours. There are four saunas, including a dry smoke sauna and one smaller sauna with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the water.

I make my rounds between the four, now and then plunging into the sea to cool off, letting myself air dry on a lounge chair before heading back into. sauna to do it all again. The water is colder than I expected it to be after the relatively warm waters off the coast of Oslo, and I don’t swim as much as I had originally imagined.

As my time comes to a close I see a woman drinking champagne in one of the common areas. She’s clearly doing this right.

After I shower and change I debate whether to linger or head to dinner. Stopping at the bar I see they have Taittinger by the glass. Dilini had spoiled me when we were in Norrköping and I can’t resist. I order a glass and head back out to the patio to enjoy my champagne and the late afternoon light over the water.

For dinner I head back to Forza, hoping that by arriving early I can get a table. They tell me they can seat me along the window. It’s perfect.

I order a glass of wine and a pizza. It’s fantastic, the best I’ve had all year, and I’m so happy that they’ve managed to fit me in. I wish they were open for lunch so I could go again before I leave.

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The next day the weather clears; it couldn’t be more perfect for a trip to Suomenlinna.

A sea fortress composed of eight islands, it’s a short ferry ride away, some four kilometers to the southeast of the city. It’s a popular picnic spot for locals, and one of the top tourist attractions in Helsinki.

On my way to the ferry I stop in Vanha kauppahalli, the old market hall, for a snack before setting off. There are tins of caviar in a. number of shops, and I’m tempted by a bilini, but settle for a coffee and some cinnamon buns.

From the old market I pass through the outdoor market on the main plaza to the ferry. The strawberries look delicious and I promise myself I’ll buy some on the way back home.

There’s a long line for the ferry. I buy a ticket for Suomenlinna from a kiosk and head to the back. For a moment I wonder if I should wait or visit a nearby cathedral in hopes that the line will shorten in the time it takes to go and come back. But the ferries come often and the line moves quickly.

From the boat there are fantastic views of the city, including the Allas Pool and the SkyWheel. I had checked the prices for the pool and sauna the day before and considered bringing a bathing suit possibly to drop by after the island, but had decided against it having just been to a sauna the day before.

It’s a quick trip to the island. I’ve barely stopped staring at the city to turn and look towards where we’re headed and then we’re there, tying up to a dock at the end of an island. I walk up the supermarket and buy a bottle of water and pick up a map from the visitor center before walking off to explore the islands.

Suomenlinna is a sea fortress built upon eight islands. Begun in 1748 under the Swedish Crown as a defense against Russia, the fortress surrendered to Russia in 1808 during the Finnish War, undermining it’s reputation as the "Gibraltar of the North.”

The fortress served as a Russian base for teh Baltic Fleet during World War I, abandoning it after Finalnd declared independence in 1917. In 1918 it housed prisoners held after the Finnish Civil War.

I wander off the blue route, crossing a bridge to another island to check out the shoreline and various ruins on hillsides facing Helsinki as well as for the views back to the main island. I look for beaches from which to swim and although I see some people on the shore I see no one in the water.

Coming back to the first island I follow the blue route to the Suomenlinna Church. Built in 1854 as an Eastern Orthodox garrison church for the Russian troops stationed at the Suomenlinna sea fortress, it was converted in 1918 into an Evangelical Lutheran church, as Finland looked to indicate its new-found independence from Russia. In the 1920s a renovation project added a light to the central dome so that the church doubles as a lighthouse, one of the few churches in the world serving such. dual purpose. Officially, it is known as the Harmaja Range Rear light.

I climb up to the steps of the church and walk in. It’s a spare church, bright and clean. It’s a cool space to get in from the heat of the day and I soak in the cool air while I can.

Outside I continue walking the island, past the Café Piper and towards the southern point of the larger island. Towards the end there are green fields where grass has overrun the foritifications. A pool has filled in where a foundation used to be.

Coming back around I look for the King’s Gate, which eludes me for some time. When I finally reach it I wander through and sit on the steps in the shade to look out over the water. A boat arrives, dropping tourists off at this point and I realize there are various ways of getting from one point to the other. I contemplate taking a boat back to the ferry terminal, but continue walking instead.

I follow a family of ducks as I loop back around towards the center of the island, where I look at the various shops that have set up in old barracks, and debate whether to treat myself to an ice cream at one of the cafes.

Back on the main island I turn right towards the Military museum and decide to continue on to look at the buildings beyond it, not quite interested in spending the day indoors.

Walking back towards the main wharf I pass a poster for the Ehrensvärd Museum, housed in the old Commander’s House. A house museum illustrating an 18th century residence, it contains paintings, furniture, weapons, and ship’s models. Named after Augustin Ehrensvärd, the founder of the Suomenlinna fortress, the Ehrensvärd Society established the museum in 1927 and opened its doors in 1930.

Although I’m tired and my feet hurt, there’s something about a photo on the poster that compells me to retrace my steps back towards the center of the island to visit the museum. I’m a bit of a sucker for museums that show homes as they were, furnished and laid out as if the owners had just stepped out for a bit.

On the way back to the ferry the wind whips petals into the air. It’s like walking through a blizzard in the summer and although my allergies protest, I can’t help but be amazed at how wonderful it is to walk through the swarm. It’s like walking through a fairytale.

Back on the mainland, I walk to the nearby Uspenski Cathedral, the main cathedral of the Orthodox Church of Finland. The church was built with funds collected by Alexander I in 1814 when he decreed that 15 percent of the salt import tax were to be collected for two churches, one Lutheran and one Orthodox. It was finally inaugurated in 1868.

Inside, the church boasts a beautiful altar and a dome decorated in gold. Several valuable icons are also stored within its walls, two of which have been stolen. One, the Theotokos of Kozeltshan was stolen in 2010, but later recovered. The icon of St. Nicolas, The Wonder Worker, was stolen in 2007; it has yet to be found.

Walking further inland I Helsinki Cathedral, originally constructed between 1830 to 1852 as a tribute to the Grand Duke of Finland, Emperor Nicholas I of Russia. It sits above the Senate Square, accessible via a wide set of stairs.

It’s the second church paid for by the funds from Alexander I’s decree.

Inside, the church's plan is a Greek cross, symmetrical in each of the four cardinal directions. At the altar a couple seems in consultation, as if they are talking about how their wedding ceremony may be. I make a story up in my head, but it doesn’t seem entierly implausible.

I take an elevator down to a gallery on a lower level and then find my way out a side entrance. I walk back around to the front of the church to walk back down the steps to the Senate Square.

Walking back to the hotel I admire small flourishes in the street, including a set of figures carved into the facade of the Pohjola Insurance building. Built by Eliel Saarinen in 1901, the building is adorned with carved stone beasts. “Pohjola” itself refers to a mytical land from the Kalevala, a Finnish epic in which the region of Pohjola was ruled by an evil witch. Perhaps not the best association for an insurance company.

For dinner I’ve made reservations at Grön. I arrive a few minutes before the appointed hour when doors open. As we wait a woman and her daughter arrive and knock on the door, hoping to secure a table. They’re out of luck; it’s fully booked.

Venla asks if I’d like a glass of champagne to start. I tell her I would and would also like the pairing. I’m not the only one; every other table has also opted for the same.

Sipping my champagne I settle in for the evening, happy to be spending my last evening indulging in a delicious mutl-course meal. 🇫🇮