Stockholm and Helsinki

[TaurusTheBull]

Hi,

My introduction to Swedish efficiency, not to mention Scandinavian minimalism, didn't take long. The Flixbus driver knew my name, there being just three passengers on the 7.05 am bus from Arlanda Airport to Stockholm's Central Bus Terminal.

I'd always imagined Stockholm to be modern, clean and efficient, and so it proved, but I didn't expect it to be so relatively tranquil. Traffic flows without gridlock, many people walk attached to earphones, cycle lanes adjoin the pavements, and some glide by on electric scooters. Many big shops don't open until 10 am, and the ambience seems more akin to a large town than a capital city of a million people.

Sweden is expensive, not least for changing money. Having pre-paid for the bus and my hostel, I was disgusted to find moneychangers' exchange rates are not only uncompetitive (10-11 kronor per quid, versus interbank circa 11.7), but they don't advertise their commission (minimum fifty kronor).

That was the deal-breaker for me, not wanting to change a lot, and so Sweden became the first country where I eschewed cash and only used my credit card.

After locking my bag in Crafoord Place's baggage room (code provided by email the day before), I headed south along the walking street of Drottninggatan.

The central city is today in Norrmalm, south of which is the Old Town area of Gamla Stan mainly occupies the island of Stadsholmen, along with the Royal Palace, currently undergoing a phased 25-year renovation.

The excellent free Medieval Museum is open from noon until 5 pm from Tuesday until Sunday, apart from Wednesday, when it opens until 7 pm. It sits on the small island facing the Royal Palace, and results from the initial excavation of a mooted underground government car park in 1978, when Abba and Bjorn Borg were at the height of their fame.

Remains of the Old City wall were found, and for the next three years the site was taken over by archaeologists, and dubbed 'Rijsgropen', or 'National State Pit'.

The digs resulted in the abandonment of the car park idea and the development of the museum, opened in 1987. Most plaques and videos are in Swedish and English. They cover the period from the 8th century, when the nearby settlement of Birka was founded, followed by 10th century Sigtuna and, in 1252, by Stockholm itself, founded by Birger Jarl.

Although initially established around trade with Lubeck in Germany, later tensions with Denmark led to a blockade from 1502 until 1519, when the town had only a few thousand people. It ended in the 'Stockholm Bloodbath' of 1520, when up to a hundred people were beheaded, under orders from Danish King Christian II. King Gustav Vasa liberated Stockholm three years later, only to find half the houses abandoned.

Although up to 80 per cent of trade is thought to have came to Stockholm via water routes, it was largely isolated in the frozen winter months.

The next day I walked eastwards to the large park called Ladugärdsgärdet, which contains a clutch of museums. Nearby, the tall Käknästornet TV tower was closed to the public due to the water sprinkler system failing on 25th September.

I visited the quirky Ethnographic Museum and the adjacent 'Tekniska Museet' (Technical and Scientific Museum), free on Wednesdays from 5-8 pm.

The latter covers the development of most modern gadgets, the mining industry (with particular reference to Kiruna in northern Sweden), video games and other interesting technical games, mirror rooms and audio-visual displays.

On my third day I walked south past Gamla Stan to the larger island of Södermalm, passing the locks at Slussen. The Karl Johan lock was opened in 1935 and is the fourth lock on the site, the first dating back to the 17th century, enabling boats to navigate the waters between the Baltic Sea and the shallow but extensive Lake Mälaren, which surrounds much of Stockholm.

These days only small pleasure boats use the lock, larger ships sailing via Hammarby lock and Södertälje canal. The emphasis these days is on upgrading the road and metro crossings between the two islands.

Unfortunately, Södermalm's 'Galleri Kontrast', known for it's photographic exhibitions, was between shows and hence closed. It's at the eastern end of Hornsgartan, a street where 18th century buildings due for demolition in the 1960s were refurbished instead, revitalising the area.

On my last day I walked around Djurgärden, the World's first "city national park" opened by King Carl Gustaf in 1995.

Near the entrance are some icons of Swedish culture, such as Skansen open-air museum (opened in 1891 and depicting pre-industrial Sweden), the Abba museum and Junibacken, dedicated to Swedish childrens' literature, notably Astrid Lindgren (Pippi Longstocking).

I was more interested in the autumn foliage and scenery and so walked round the island, the green lungs close to Stockholm's heart.

I purposefully avoided buses, trams, boats and trains. Walking is the best way to get to know a new city.

Crafoord Place was a nice hostel, on the 8th floor overlooking the city, about £16 per night for a dorm bed, with free tea and coffee, good value. Linen is included in that (discount if using your own), sleeping bags not allowed.

Central Stockholm seemed clean, green, cultured and liberal, with fine old buildings, green parks, pubs and fika cafes (coffee shops).

How could the home of the Nobel Prizes be uncivilised? No doubt that's what Prime Minister Olof Palme thought as he was walking along a Stockholm street with his wife one night in 1986... and duly assassinated.

Stockholm isn't cheap, it's not particularly cheerful, it's too far north, and winter is coming. Three mostly sunny days (7-13C) and one cloudy day in early October was perhaps the best I could've hoped for.

Ideally, one needs a week or two, a bicycle or kayak, and lots of energy to do justice to the archipelago that separates Stockholm from the Baltic.

My planned ferry trip, via Åland, to Helsinki didn't materialise as I'd left it too late to book a hostel in Åland, and so it was a 55-minute SAS hop over the Baltic from Arlanda Airport to Vantaa Airport, 18 km north of Helsinki.

I stayed at the big, anonymous, Cheapsleep Hostel, about 3 km north of the city centre. It's a well-managed factory hostel (people processed like sausages); 21 euros for a dorm bed, including buffet breakfast, but best avoided at weekends.

Bus 615 goes from the airport past the hostel, the €5.50 ticket lasting for eighty minutes after purchase (€5 if bought from a machine).

Helsinki seems a little less orderly than Stockholm, a mish-mash of building styles in the centre. Pavements are generally bicycle-friendly. It has some beautiful parks, not least the large central park surrounding Töölönlahti Bay.

Finland was a largely agrarian economy under Swedish and Russian rule, and Turku was the main city well into the 19th century, even after it's great fire of 1827.

Much of Helsinki was still to develop after Independence in 1917, and the devastating Finnish Civil War that followed Russia's collapse.

Helsinki's population grew rapidly after WW2, reflected in the newer social buildings such as the cultural centre known as Finlandia Hall, designed by Alvar Aalto, opened in 1971, the Opera House opened in 1991 and the Museum of Modern Art in 1998.

Street names are in Finnish and Swedish, a historic throwback, since more Finns seem to speak English rather than Swedish as a second language. Cyrillic is nowhere to be seen.

On an overcast Sunday I did my own church tour, from the Rock Church, excavated into granite in 1968, and covered with a copper dome, to the simple but impressive wooden Kamppi Chapel of Silence (no services, but ideal for contemplation) that was built in 2012, and resembles part of an alien egg.

The most famous Helsinki church is the 19th century Cathedral, overlooking Senate Square, stunning in it's white neoclassical simplicity. Just up the road is a nod to Helsinki's Russian occupation, the brick Uspenski Cathedral, built in 1868, the largest orthodox church in Western Europe.

The next morning I paid Jean Sibelius a visit. Although he didn't compose any organ music, his Monument, in a tranquil park setting, is a set of welded steel organ pipes that no doubt play the wind.

Helsinki has a World Heritage Site in the six tiny offshore islands collectively known as 'Suomenlinna' (Castle of Finland).

The ticket office in Market Square, near the popular food stalls, is unmanned in winter, leaving visitors to struggle with temperamental ticket machines. Five euros for a return ferry, though tickets were not checked.

I spent a wet and windy afternoon on Suomenlinna, the Sea Fortress that served three realms. The walk to King's Gate, completed in 1754 after a visit from Sweden's King Adolf Frederick in 1752, offers splendid sea views from rocky cliffs. From high points the unmistakeable outline of Helsinki Cathedral is clearly visible.

The original garrison dates from 1748, called Sveaborg by the Swedes. The Russians took over for 110 years, from 1808 until Finnish independence.

The Finnish military left in 1973, and the islands were made a World Heritage Site in 1991. They are now home to about 800 permanent residents, and thousands of year-round day-trippers.

My last morning dawned grey and dizzly, so it was a quick walk around the central lake, past Töölönlahti Bay. The park actually extends north to Vantaa, near the airport, endorsing the claim that nearly a third of Helsinki is parkland.

I enjoyed my first taste of Stockholm and Helsinki, but would no doubt find them too crowded in summer and too miserable in winter. As with much of Europe, but especially so at these latitudes, midweek in spring or autumn is my idea of the best time to visit.

Cheers
Taurus

[JohnB]

The Finnish schools go back mid-August, and its lovely touring round then, good weather and quiet