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One of the benefits of traveling on holiday is that you get to choose when to go. And after seeing Helsinki...

Finland

Hank Shiffman
2003-11-26 22:02:25

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I once spoke at a seminar for a Swedish software distributor. The conference took place on one of the ferries that run overnight from Stockholm to Helsinki and then back the following night. It was March, which is cold but survivable in Stockholm. Helsinki was another matter. Our ship was designed to break through ice of up to a meter in thickness. Although the ice that trip wasn't quite that thick, it was certainly thick enough to impress me. (It made a sort of Rice Krispies in milk sound as we broke through it.) I was also impressed with the city itself, or at least what little I could see in the two hours before all my extremities froze.

One of the benefits of traveling on holiday is that you get to choose when to go. And after seeing Helsinki in the dead of winter I was glad of a chance to visit when it wasn't covered in ice. It's really quite a lovely city, with its parks and its malls and its waterfront (and -side and -back) and plenty of interesting architecture. I was particularly impressed with how clean the city is. Especially the morning after an annual festival that demonstrated that the locals' reputation for alcoholic excess wasn't mere rumor.

When my tour guide announced a stop at a local church I was less than enthusiastic. But I wasn't prepared for this particular church. When presented with a commission to build a church on a rock, the architects decided instead to build the church in the rock. The result is unobtrusive from the outside but airy, warm and inviting inside. A pleasant place for a service, I imagine. And even better for an impromptu piano concert during our visit.

Hvittrask, Finland

This country-looking house was the creation of Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen. Saarinen and two partners created a small village at Hvittrask as a combination of residence and workshop. It's a lesson in not judging a book by its cover. Despite the traditional exterior, the inside is a remarkable example of Scandinavian design. Many of the rooms and furnishings reminded me of the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and Charles Rennie Mackintosh, both friends of Saarinen. (Although who influenced whom would be hard to say.) The partnership at Hvittrask wasn't without problems, of course. One of the partner's wives decided to change partners, a story told in this stained glass window from Saarinen's home. You'll notice that, although the lady is being serenaded by two men, she only has eyes for the one on the left.