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Europe Days 25 and 26: Goodbye Family, Hello Finland

20 July 2017 • 1276 km / 793 mi (map)

  • First published on ericscouten.com
  • Added to Eric Scouten :: Travel on 15 August 2023
  • Finland 3

This morning I watched as my wife and daughter walked through security and on towards the flights that will take them home.

Our paths diverge today and I continue on for another three weeks or so on my own. As I write this, their flight is said to be somewhere over that great frozen tundra known as Greenland.

We were anxious to get through Oslo before rush hour began in earnest, so there are no photos from yesterday.

A couple hours after they left Oslo, I also left Norway and headed east to Finland. I am writing from my hotel in Helsinki, watching the sun make a semi-futile attempt to set at almost 10pm. This is summer at 60° latitude!

After a long day of driving (yesterday) and a day of flying and airports (today), I desperately needed a walk. So … here are a few photos from a walkabout in central Helsinki.

Tomorrow I shall hit the road and explore some of nearby rural Finland.

A white city bicycle parked against a metal railing beside a cobblestone path, its saddle covered with a pink Foodora plastic bag, with tall pink fireweed and white wildflowers growing in the background.
A white painted pedestrian symbol on grey paving stones, showing an adult figure holding the hand of a small child, marking a pedestrian path.
I like this graphic for “pedestrian path.”
A white wooden motor cruiser with varnished wood trim and a maroon canopy floats at a mooring in a calm harbor in Helsinki, with coiled rope fenders along its hull. Behind it, numerous sailboats and small craft are moored near a concrete quay, with large industrial shipyard buildings in the background.
A quiet tree-lined street in Helsinki, with a long red brick building wall running along the right side and a cobblestone and concrete sidewalk. A woman with blonde hair rides a yellow bicycle past pedestrian and crossing signs on the left, with parked cars and pale apartment buildings beyond the row of leafy trees.
A green city park with large leafy trees, winding paved paths, and gently sloping lawns on a summer evening, where groups of people relax on the grass, lay out picnic blankets, and park bicycles while others stroll along the paths.
Finns enjoying what is I am told is a rare sunny day in the park.
A green city park on a summer evening in Helsinki, with winding paved paths, broad lawns, and lush leafy trees casting long shadows. People stroll and sit among the trees, and in the background rise white apartment buildings and a tall brick chimney beneath a cloudy sky.
An octagonal red brick tower with arched and round windows stands atop a stone embankment, framed by lush green trees against a bright blue sky with scattered clouds in Helsinki, Finland.
A multi-story red brick building with large windows and a dark mansard roof, partly obscured by leafy green trees and a trimmed hedge in the foreground, seen in warm evening summer light in Helsinki.
An ornate arched stone doorway of an old building with pale yellow wooden double doors, the word “BETANIA” carved above them and the number 13 on a small plaque, flanked by decorative columns under a yellow stucco and brick facade. Evening sunlight casts tree-branch shadows across the wall, with a stainless steel wall-mounted ashtray and intercom panel to the right.

Much of what I’ve seen so far in Helsinki has a rather … utilitarian … feel to it.

A weathered bronze statue of a muscular nude man bent forward, pulling ropes attached to a large sphere resembling a globe that rests on a pink granite pedestal, set against a backdrop of lush green trees in a Helsinki park. A red car and a brick building are partly visible through the foliage.
Ayla loves foxes, so I sent her a picture of this mural.
A vintage steamboat named LOKKI, with HELSINKI lettered below it on the white hull, moored at a dock with its polished wooden cabin, yellow funnel and white lifeboats. A large white steel truss structure rises on the left and a red harbor crane and apartment buildings are visible across the water under a blue sky with clouds.
A harbor scene in Helsinki with small boats and sailboats moored along the waterfront in the foreground, their orange buoys reflected in calm water. Behind them are industrial dockside buildings, warehouses, a tall chimney, a crane, and pale apartment blocks, all under a blue sky with scattered clouds in warm evening light.
A tall tower of the Clarion Hotel Helsinki, clad in blue, grey and white checkered panels with a glass facade, rises above a waterfront in Helsinki under a partly cloudy evening sky. A white sailboat is moored by the quay in the foreground, with modern apartment buildings and a construction crane visible to the right.
Mandal, Norway, to Helsinki, Finland · 1276 km / 793 mi
(Mouse over or tap on the markers to see the photos there. Use the button to adjust the map’s position and zoom.)

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