Helsinki - the world’s happiest city

And all of a sudden we are in the other side of the world!

We arrived at 6am and couldn’t get into our hotel until 2pm so we have done plenty of exploring on our first day.

What a surprising city. I had a vague idea of what Helsinki would be, but it’s not this. The first surprise is that it is about 60% open spaces with gorgeous parks, walkways and cycleways. It’s also surrounded by over 300 islands. The port is a hive of activity with giant ferries, cruise ships and icebreakers - as well as crazy people swimming!

It was a damp 8degrees this morning but cleared into a lovely spring day. It’s Saturday and the joggers and cyclists were all out looking suitably Nordic in their active wear. We wandered from our hotel near the railway station south along the coastal walking track and enjoyed the spring buds on the trees and gorgeous tulips and daffodils. I do love Europe at this time of year. It’s like it’s just waking up.

The whole city was rebuilt after a major fire in the early 1800’s so the architecture is rather beautiful Art Nouveau (Jugend) in the southern suburbs. Lots of curves and metal domes and cool details. Plenty of cobbled streets and a leisurely pace - exemplified by the fact that most streets had pedestrian crossings rather than lights.

Finland regularly wins ‘Happiest country in the world’ and Helsinki is the capital of that. It’s not a particularly scientific finding, but the main reason that the Finns say they are happy is that they have such a great attitude to work-life balance and family. The government supports this and values it. It’s certainly the most chilled out city I’ve been to in recent memory.

Tomorrow we will explore some of the modern buildings designed by Aalto and the Oodi Library which are in the North East of the city. There are some interesting sculptures as well including Sibelius memorial which we need to check out. We saw a stunning one today in memory of the Winter War with Russia in 1940. I’ve attached a pic.

The night life looks very promising with lots of pubs, restaurants and cafes to explore. At the moment I’m just exploring my bed after a rather wonderful nap!Read more