Helsinki in the Off Season

I wasn't sure what to expect coming to Helsinki in the off season. Normally I ignore such labels, the Travelling Fool knows no "off" season, but as I started to look at what there was to do here and then what was actually available in March I found that I may be meeting the first city in my travels that truly has an off season.


After an uneventful and semi-empty flight (post to shame Finnair's lack of raise-able armrests coming soon) I was in the small airport of Finland's capital. I had looked up directions for how to get to the hostel, but as I've learned recently, Google Maps is pretty useless when it comes to exiting the airport in an efficient manner. I went outside to catch a bus because that seemed to be the thing to do. Thankfully I just missed the first one and after checking the hostel's website found out that there was a train that was just as quick, the same price as the bus (5€) and included the local tram ride the rest of the way.



Instead of taking the tram the last 10 minutes of my journey I decided to walk it instead and see some of the city. I also changed my bag choice for this trip, taking my Gregory Baltoro backpack instead of the small hard sided LL Bean luggage that has been my trusted companion. Why the backpack? Well with an aggressive touring schedule it made more sense to only have one heavy bag to think about instead of two.


On my stroll through Helsinki I saw some interesting buildings and statues including Senate Square. I was able to get a great photo of it since I was only one of five tourists there, at the number 3 rated site on Trip Advisor. As I stood alone in the square, after the other four tourists took their selfies and left, I thought that maybe the off season here really means off.


I continued my trek through the city, the gravel used to mitigate the effects of ice on the sidewalk crunching underfoot emphasizing the weight of the pack on my back. The city slowly melted away revealing a port area with huge cruise ships and smaller boats turned into restaurants parked in this nook of the Baltic Sea. Everything was covered in a blanket of white snow and ice. I saw now why the ferry to St. Petersburg doesn't run during the off season. There was also a huge ferris wheel next to one of the piers with bright blue windows slowly turning. The wind was stronger now that I was closer to the water and I could feel the sting of the dry cold air on my hands and face, my hands had already begun cracking and bleeding and I had only been here for two hours!


I finally got to the hostel, put my bag in storage, slathered lotion on my burning face and hands, then sat in the lobby for a bit figuring out what would be next. Since I missed the bus tour, which is my go-to activity, I was left a bit lost. I did some research and decided on the Old Market Hall which was supposed to have a bunch of food shops and was nearby the ferris wheel and a small souvenir marketplace.

The little souvenir stalls were very interesting. The first one had hats and scarves, but right next to it was one with a bunch of small crafts. As I approached the stall and looked closer I saw that everything he was selling was made from reindeer antlers! I couldn't believe it. Granted on my way through the airport there were a bunch of signs talking about how Finland was the home of Santa but I figured it was only because of the Finnish island of Svalbard which is the closest place you can get to the North Pole. It was then, as I was looking at reindeer antlers bottle openers, that I realized they must be home to reindeer too! Sure enough the next stall had printed reusable bags and aprons with little reindeer on them and the stall next to that was all furs and fur lined clothing. Real fur too!! I longingly petted the reindeer pelt wishing I could bring it home with me before parting ways with the shopping and heading to the Old Market Hall.

The Old Market Hall reminded me of the food hall that I had visited in Copenhagen and Stockholm (at least I think it was Stockholm). A quick lap revealed tons of fish stalls and a few coffee shops, a bunch of Finnish eateries and even a Bahn Mi stand. I had planned on going to the most famous one there, Story, especially after I read the menu and saw they had crab risotto. I ended up going to Soup Kitchen instead because the crab risotto was already sold out - and it was only 1pm! By the time I got back to the Soup Kitchen, however, there was a line of people waiting to get in.


I thought about doing another lap but as I felt my stomach rumble, searching for food, I knew soup was my best bet. I eventually got a seat and their seafood soup which was a huge disappointment. It was lazy soup, a barely flavored base and some juillened vegetables thrown in with a handful of precooked/previously frozen shrimp and mussels. To top it all off the chef put a dollop of mayo in the center of the bowl - whoever heard of such a thing! I removed the mayo and ate my disappointing lunch. They did at least have excellent bread.


No longer hungry I began to feel the effects of my red eye flight and walking through the city with a 40lb backpack. I started off on a new walk to find coffee, deciding to head deeper into the city to find it. I went to the number one place on Foursquare only to find that it had closed. As I made my way to a new coffee place (that I verified still existed with Google maps) I looked up and saw something familiar from the corner of my eye.


I had no idea that my employer had an office of any kind in Finland, much less so close to the city center. I snapped a few photos and sent one off to my co-workers who were probably still sleeping. It's not everyday you encounter your company out in the wild after all.


A few more blocks and I spotted a cute looking cafe with chairs outside. The inside was just as endearing and charming. I ordered a cappuccino and set out to figure out what to do in Helsinki with my limited time here.


Energized by the caffeine I figured out that the city pass would actually be my best bet. I usually avoid those passes like the plague, mostly because I end up using one tenth of what I paid for it, but this time I actually did the math and decided to go for it. There was a tourist office on my way back to the hostel too so it all worked out.


Back in the hostel I lugged my bag into the elevator and got settled in my moderately sized but spartan furnished room. I stood there for a moment and realized I felt gross. There is nothing like coming off a flight and taking a shower to wash the grime of travel and being crammed in with other passengers for ten hours. After the shower I downloaded my photos to my phone, found a place for dinner, and took a quick nap.


I purposely picked a place in a part of town I wasn't planning on seeing tomorrow. It was a Finnish restaurant that had excellent ratings. I walked along the waterfront until I got there, with runners jogging along the path. I got to the restaurant and it only took a moment for me to decide what to get.


I started with the salmon soup which I've seen sold everywhere but didn't have a chance to get any yet. It was amazing! The cream soup was light and the salmon was in big chunks with potatoes and tiny onions. It was served with a hard brown bread that sopped up the cream soup really well.


For my entree I got reindeer tenderloin. On the menu they described it as the best Finnish meat dish you could have and they weren't wrong. The meat was tender and tasty with a red wine reduction sauce. I was so glad that I got this one instead of the other reindeer dish. I was listening to a large table of businessmen, one was from London, one from Mexico, a couple from Germany and then there were a couple of Finns. The Finnish guy was explaining that the other dish was probably the neck meat of the animal and they slow cook it to make it more tender.



I treated myself to dessert because why not. There seems to be a thing for blueberries here, there are a lot of blueberry dishes and they even had blueberry juice on the plane. The cake was amazing, not too sweet and there was some kind of sweet tomato on top. I sat in the restaurant for a while afterwards to write this post and stopped for water on my walk home.

Not too shabby for nothing to do. Tomorrow is the big day of touring! Can't wait.

Location:Linnankatu,Helsinki,Finland