Helsinki, Finland (Day 2)

 This morning we had a Highlights of Helsinki Tour which was really good.  Our guide was born in South Korea, moved to Vancouver, BC when she was 20 where she met her Finnish husband and they now live in Helsinki.  Her English was excellent and she told us things about living in Helsinki, not just about statues or buildings that we were seeing.  We had heard about the Finn's love of saunas (pronounced sow-na) but she expanded a bit on it.  There are 5.5 million people in Finland and 3.5 million saunas.  Every home has at least one.  Some of the older apartment buildings have communal saunas in the basement and you just sign up for your hour whenever you want.  It's a family tradition that everyone goes in once or twice a week including grandparents and children.  There's a public swimming and sauna business next to our ship.

Outdoor pools. One is kept at about 75 degrees and the other is cold seawater piped in from a distance out into the Baltic Sea.

There is also a ferris wheel here which has a car that is a sauna - no kidding.

The sauna car - about $200 per hour.

Helsinki has 5 ice breaker ships to keep an open channel in the winter for the daily ships that go to/from Stockholm.  The ice breakers all have saunas, as well as the daily ships of course, which make an overnight trip and have all the amenities of a cruise ship including cabins, restaurants, entertainment and duty-free shops which the Finns take big advantage of.

We stopped for a visit to the Rock Church which is a neighborhood church built into the local rock hill.  It is absolutely gorgeous.  The design maximizes natural light and acoustics and is so calming.  Our guide said that while 80% of Finns are Lutheran, most never go to church.  They just pay their mandated 1% income tax to the church which then does charitable works.  I think if I lived here, I'd go to that church.

the altar

the organ

Our next stop was at the memorial to Johan Sebelius, the Finnish composer.  The winning design was submitted by a woman who also welded all of the pieces together.

When it was completed in the 60s, some people didn't get it.  Later they added a bust of Sebelius to the side.

We liked it

Our next stop was at the new library.  In 2017 for Finland's 100th anniversary of independence from Russia, they voted on 3 "birthday" gifts.  The winners were a new national park, a new ice breaker ship, and a new library for the people.  It is amazing.  It's 3 floors of a long, narrow building in a very modern style.  It looks across to the Parliament building and from the 3rd floor looking across, you are at the same level as Parliament by design.  Finland really respects their people.  In the library, you can use (for free) many tools like sewing machines, small building tools, computers, printers (there is a modest cost for a 3D printer), game rooms, meeting rooms, and special computers for architectural students, among others.  There's a beautiful children's section that I was going to take pictures of before I saw the No Photos sign, which I thought was great.  There was also a special area designated for stroller/pram parking.

The list of amenities

Natural trees growing

The little robot on the floor brings the books that were checked in on the first floor up to the 3rd floor for humans to return to shelves.

Very dramatic entrance

Parliament building from the street.  

Outside the train station are four of these sculptures on which they put the football shirts occasionally.  They are all the same, but the joke is that they demonstrate the many moods of the Finnish people.

We have thoroughly enjoyed Helsinki.  It's a beautiful city and I'm impressed by how the Finnish people respect and care for each other.  There is an area on the shore set aside for residents to wash their rugs in the sea - a Finnish thing, apparently.  They are left out overnight to dry and no one ever worries about having their rug stolen.  Our guide told us that her 8-year-old son starts school at 8:30 or 9:15 am and regularly finishes by 12:30 pm, at which time he comes home alone and plays, inside or outside, until his parents get home.  This is very common.  Most kids that age have either a phone or smartwatch so they can be in communication if necessary.  And school gets out at mid-day until high school when they are home by 2:30 pm.  Despite the short time in the classroom, Finnish children regularly test very high.  Education is free through Ph.D. level.  Teachers are highly respected and it is a profession as competitive as doctors and lawyers.  Teachers have to have a Masters degree at least, and many have Ph.Ds.

The downside to all of this, of course, is the winter. The Gulf of Finland (a part of the Baltic Sea) around here regularly freezes so private boats, and there are a lot of them, have to be taken out of the water from October until April.  In winter, you can walk across the frozen water to the islands with the restaurants, but you only have about 6 hours of daylight at the height of winter.  Rents are around $1,000 per month for a small studio, gas is nearly $9 per gallon, and auto insurance is $200-300 per month.  Income taxes max out at 60%, but most people pay around 20-30% and feel that is fair considering all that they get.  Health care is free, but many people still purchase supplemental private policies to make sure they have access to the best care when they want.

Trivia was our usual 3rd place with 9/15.  We had a drink with Gordon and Patty upstairs at Galileo's before dinner at Compass Rose.  We went to the show and really enjoyed listening to Tim Abel from England, who is a very talented piano player.