Today, June 12, is Helsinki Day. The city gets together every year on this day to celebrate Helsinki's founding in the 16th century and has done so since 1959. Coincidentally, June 12 is also Russia Day, so we still would have been celebrating something today had we been in Russia instead.
It was great fun and we didn't have to spend much money at all, because lots of things are free on Helsinki Day.
The day always kicks off at 9am with a speech by the mayor, which we missed for two reasons:
a) we were sleeping, and
b) we wouldn't have understood a word of it anyway.
We did however manage to make it for free coffee and rhubarb pie immediately following the speech. Delicious!
To celebrate Helsinki Day, the National Museum of Finland had free entry for everyone. It was an awesome museum - they have heaps of artefacts from the stone, bronze, and iron ages, plus exhibits on life in Finland during each decade of the 20th century.
Our next stop was the Helsinki Olympic Stadium, where the 1952 Olympic Games were held. Nowadays, all sorts of events are held here including football matches and concerts.
They also reduced the entry price for the Stadium Tower to 2 euro, so we took this opportunity to see Helsinki from up high.
It was great fun and we didn't have to spend much money at all, because lots of things are free on Helsinki Day.
The day always kicks off at 9am with a speech by the mayor, which we missed for two reasons:
a) we were sleeping, and
b) we wouldn't have understood a word of it anyway.
We did however manage to make it for free coffee and rhubarb pie immediately following the speech. Delicious!
They had the coffee and cake stations set up outside their city hall with a live band and lots of red balloons. The old people dancing were super cute.
We were still hungry though (we're probably a bit too used to gorging on buffets for breakfast), so we headed to Market Square for some pastries. I had a Finnish meat pie, which is essentially a doughnut but filled with a mixture of mince and rice. BEST THING EVER.
With full bellies, we headed to the Temppeliaukio Church, which, like a lot of the churches and cathedrals in Helsinki, is Lutheran. Entry was free, something I am still getting used to given that there was a fee for everything in Russia.
The awesome thing about this church though is that it is built out of rock with an entirely copper dome, so it has amazing acoustics inside.
I fully appreciated the bear statue that they had guarding the museum's entrance, rather than a traditional lion.
Our next stop was the Helsinki Olympic Stadium, where the 1952 Olympic Games were held. Nowadays, all sorts of events are held here including football matches and concerts.
Today, they opened up the stadium to visitors so we were able to have a wander around on the track.
They also reduced the entry price for the Stadium Tower to 2 euro, so we took this opportunity to see Helsinki from up high.
The city has also set up a free sauna in a yurt by the lake at Töölönlahti Bay. The weather hasn't been that great here, definitely a lot colder than in Russia, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to warm up.
It took us forever to find though, so we ended up going for a nice stroll by the lake.
The yurts were quite small and nestled by some trees, so they weren't exactly easy to spot but it was totally worth it.
The sauna is set up right next to a cute little cafe, so after steaming away your troubles you can always have a coffee to get back into it.
On our way home, we came across this cute little puppy who apparently had found a baby's dummy in the park and was having some fun with it. WAY TOO CUTE.
Helsinki Day was definitely a great day.
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