We have made our way back from our trip through the Nordic countries. It was very beautiful, both in terms of the cities and nature. I’ll be adding a post for each country we visited over the next week. Our first stop was Finland, which is interesting as the Western Upper Peninsula is home to the highest percentage of Finnish descendants in America. Would it feel like home?
Getting there
After getting to O’Hare, we transferred to our Finnair flight to Helsinki. The flight was hard on my 6’4”, long-legged frame. Very early on in the flight, the small Finnish lady in front of me leaned all the way back onto my knees. Shamita asked her to lean forward a little bit, but she said “I have the right to lean my seat back all the way” and refused to speak to us again, except later in the flight, when she accused me of purposefully shoving my knees into the back of the seat. I explained to her that I wasn’t trying to do that, but because she had pushed her seat into my knees, any movement when I adjusted myself would be felt. She remained silent for the rest of the flight and the only relief I got was during meal time. The moment her trash was collected, she slammed her seat back, eliciting a yelp from me. I asked her to please warn me in the future if she was going to lean her seat back all the way and she just stared at me for a moment and turned back forward.
To soapbox for a moment, I find that people whose first defense for antisocial behavior is “I have a right to do this” are almost always in the wrong. For example, I have a right to free speech, but if I go up to strangers and insult their appearance, virtually everyone would recognize it as extremely rude behavior.
Thankfully, the honeymoon would get better from this low early point.
Helsinki
The landscape around Finland certainly looked too similar to the UP (I can see why so many Finns emigrated there), but the city of Helsinki was anything but. A mixture of modern and old buildings blurred together, sprawled across the harbor. It was spotless and tidy; the closest comparison I would have is to Japan. The city was easy to navigate and had pleasant architecture. We were very fatigued from our trip and had to hold each other up during dinner to avoid falling onto our plates. After a visit to the hotel sauna, we collapsed like a sack of bricks.
The next few days were filled with sightseeing and shopping. Something that I found interesting is that traditional Finnish food was expensive (~$50 a plate) while foreign restaurants would charge much more reasonable prices. At least from my limited exposure, they didn’t seem to have a local cuisine cheap dish like America does with burgers and hot dogs. Fortunately, the foreign food was very good and Shamita and I enjoyed all the cuisines that are unavailable to use in Marquette: Korean, Middle Eastern, Indian…
Another interesting thing I noted is that Helsinki is dotted with mid-sized malls everywhere. These were fun, as they weren’t too big to get lost in, but you could walk around and check out some different stores and restaurants before hopping back out into the city.
The prettiest building we saw was the National Library of Finland. Gorgeous details!
Shamita’s big obsession on the trip was a drugstore chain called ‘Normal’. The prices in Finland were steep, but Normal offered more comparable pricing to what we were used to (although I noticed that Arizona Ice Tea costs €2 there as opposed to the USA’s $1). The downside is that the entire store is one single path like IKEA. So even if you just want some toothpaste, you will have to walk through the entirety of the store to get what you want.
It very much reminded of this old Far Side classic…
Ferry to Stockholm
Helsinki went by like a blur, probably due to our jet lag. Before we knew it, we were boarding an overnight ferry to our next stop: Stockholm. The ferry was essentially a miniature cruise ship and this was my first time on such a vessel. I found the experience quite enjoyable. Finally, a transportation method that didn’t have entombed in tight quarters! I could get up and walk around, enjoy the view, grab a drink, or sit down and read.
On the way out, I had a great view from the top deck of Suomenlinna, an old fortress and town that guarded the harbor.
That night we enjoyed an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet. The buffet also had an unlimited free wine policy—but only for 45 minutes. Seems like something that wouldn’t be handled responsibly in the States (I certainly felt the temptation to just chug glass after glass), but the locals seem to do alright.
Shamita went to bed early and I stayed out on the deck, watching the sun slowly set on the Baltic near midnight while I read Death on the Nile. I then went into the karaoke bar and got to listen to non-stop heavy metal songs from the Finns. The next morning, we’d arrive in Sweden.