A trip of firsts : EMD-BNE-SIN-HEL-TXL return

[craven morehead]

As per a tip from OZDUCK in a recent Trip report I booked the Holiday Inn Helsinki City Centre for both it's location and proximity to the railway station. I was greeted by a glorious afternoon in the Finnish capital.



A nice bright and open feel upon entering.



Nice comfortable room. I would suggest a solid 4 star hotel with all the facilities one would require including my favourite, the sauna.



A view from the room around 7.30pm

 

[craven morehead]

Time to relax down in the hotel bar/lounge and with what is becoming a recurring theme ........ Beer Holiday Inns Mexican bartender Hugo tells me this is the local brew. It's a more than reasonable drop and as the logo suggests Karhu is Finnish for bear.



A faux fireplace, no heat emanating from here whatsoever.



What else does one order on your first night in Finland ...... a reindeer burger of course. There was nothing noticeably gamey tasting about the burger however it hit the spot. Slightly different presentation, served on what appears to be a matte black floor tile.

 

[OZDUCK]

Stumpy legs come in useful on occasions

My wife went up that escalator twice to try and get a photo of how long it was. She also timed the "trip" - about 1:45min. bottom to top.

We were flat out running around Helsinki so never got a chance to relax in the hotel bar/restaurant but it looked nice. Helsinki is a great place on a sunny day - not so much when it is 3C and cloudy.

Your photo over the bus-ranks brings back some bad memories. In the half light at about 22:00 I tripped over the half brick height tram island in the middle of the corner and went flat onto my face in the middle of the road. Nothing broken but I aggravated an Achilles tendon problem and limped badly for a day or two.

 

[craven morehead]

Stumpy legs come in useful on occasions

M

Rare occasions OZDUCK however it did work a treat for the Euro J legs and comes in handy for the Dash 8's that I get saddled with at each end of a trip.

 

[craven morehead]

Stumpy legs come in useful on occasions

My wife went up that escalator twice to try and get a photo of how long it was. She also timed the "trip" - about 1:45min. bottom to top.

We were flat out running around Helsinki so never got a chance to relax in the hotel bar/restaurant but it looked nice. Helsinki is a great place on a sunny day - not so much when it is 3C and cloudy.

Your photo over the bus-ranks brings back some bad memories. In the half light at about 22:00 I tripped over the half brick height tram island in the middle of the corner and went flat onto my face in the middle of the road. Nothing broken but I aggravated an Achilles tendon problem and limped badly for a day or two.

Definitely a cracker of an escalator.
The bar/lounge/restaurant had a nice ambiance and Hugo the Mexican bartender was a credit to the place. After walking all day I would time it so I could have a sauna late each afternoon and then go down and enjoy a few beers and a chat each evening with Hugo.
I can only imagine Helsinki with poor weather, for the most part my trip was in the daytime between 8c - 15c however at stages I had to put the jumper on when the wind got up.
Ouch! it would not be pleasant tripping over anything in the cold.
Thanks for the heads up on the hotel I would return there tomorrow and will continue to recommend to others.

 

[OZDUCK]

Glad you liked the hotel and got to enjoy more of the facilities than we did. It does sound like Hugo was very good at his job and helped you to relax after your exertions.

The staff we encountered there were very helpful and pleasant as well - they gave us our room at about 0900. But I did confuse one of them by checking on the correct tram to get to the ferry terminal for the Viking Line to Tallinn. I said the Viking Line with a hard V - she was perplexed for about 50 seconds until she said "You mean the Wiking Line?" - good old Australian ability with foreign languages and accents being my downfall again.

 

[Pushka]

I like how the Scandinavian countries have 2 separate quilts on their beds. We are now doing this at home.

 

[drron]

I like how the Scandinavian countries have 2 separate quilts on their beds. We are now doing this at home.

You need it in ADL or MEL.
But tonight in LST and definitely will come in handy
Another who does like Helsinki but unfortunately even summer can be cold..

 

[Pushka]

You need it in ADL or MEL.
But tonight in LST and definitely will come in handy
Another who does like Helsinki but unfortunately even summer can be cold..

Yes. This year flew from Winter in Adelaide to Stockholm and was even colder in mid summer.

 

[Pushka]

I can confidently state that the longest ever subway elevator is in St Petersburg main station which is also the deepest one.

 

[craven morehead]

The Holiday Inn breakfast spread covered most bases.







The view at brekky time

 

[anat0l]

Those buffet cold cut and cheese slices look huge! Bigger than what can be seen at other buffets.

Subscribed, because I'm going to Helsinki later this year (hopefully!) and would like to get some insight into what is there to see (and how few days I can get away with spending there!).

 

[craven morehead]

Some random shots from the first mornings walk :



The "Cows" were made out of bits and pieces of cars.

 

[craven morehead]

More photos from first morning :



Still some coal fired power generation

 

[craven morehead]

So it appears that every man and his reindeer owns a boat of some type in Helsinki



I guess with all these boats one would require a marine servo !!

 

[craven morehead]

Some more Helsinki morning walk random shots :



Plenty of water and lush green parks around the place

 

[craven morehead]

Continued walking while the weather was fair. The wind did get up at times and was really the only justification for putting a jacket on.



Walked out on to a little headland of sorts where there was a very generous sized fenced dog run and a duck pond.





Walked past a couple of these restaurant / buffet type barges and it reminded me that after all this walking it was time to for some well deserved lunch what should I try today ??

 

[craven morehead]

The impressive entrance to this place finally got the better of me and I ventured closer to check the menu. I made the executive decision to splurge for lunch and maybe do toasted sangas for dinner so glad I did..



This restaurant was essentially divided into 3 sections with an upstairs area in the third. I was seated in the middle section which gave me a view to the working kitchen. The smaller wine cellar and meat drying cabinet were also in this section.



The reindeer meat drying :

 

[craven morehead]

The view outside :



The third section including the main wine cellar with an upstairs bar area with piano at the rear :



An unusual fireplace in the third section :

 

[craven morehead]

Now on to the food :

For starters I chose the Forest mushroom soup with air dried reindeer. Absolutely delicious !!