Comment | My Helsinki is coarser than the American taste – I would take a stranger here in my hometown

American newspaper The New York Times (NYT) in its article published on Thursday listed the destinations that tourists should visit in Helsinki if they have 36 hours.

The story was written by a regular tourist assistant of the magazine, partly living in Stockholm Ingrid K. Williams.

Helsingin Sanomat you quoted the article on Sunday. After all, Williams had found some really good destinations – suitable for American tastes.

Fortunately, Williams is not on the list Hiltusen Sibelius monument, no Ehrenström and Angel’s Senate Square, and no Gesellius, Lindgren’s and Saarinen Hvitträske. The last mentioned is not even in Helsinki but in Kirkkonummi, but it is often mentioned in Helsinki guidebooks as a wonderful destination for tourists.

Fortunately, the listing in the article also does not follow the most traditional Helsinki driving routes of tourist buses or the twists and turns of Hop On-Hop Off sightseeing buses. Thanks for that.

Of course, in this NYT story too, Americans are told, for example, Alvar Aalto’s home (The Aalto House), the central library, the arch of Oodi’s wooden structure, and Suomenlinna.

36 hours is quite a short time.

I thought that since I myself have been traveling in Helsinki regularly for 45 years as an adult, and as a child and young person on my father’s journey since 1967, I should have some kind of deeper contact with my hometown than the American one.

So where would I take a tourist if I wanted to show him Helsinki for 36 hours?

I notice that the first destinations that come to my mind are coarser than those listed by NYT. I also notice that I can’t really even call them objects. Home can’t be a destination.

I think so to be a nature person or a forester, when the first thing that comes to my mind from urban Helsinki is Keskuspuisto.

Some relax at the sea, some in the sauna, I relax in the forest. I would also take my tourist there.

When the guy talks a little, he remembers a visit to Kruunuvuori at a time when the rich villa community still existed. The villas are gone, but the beautiful, quiet Kruunuvuorenlampi, resting meters above sea level, still exists.

Kruunuvuorenlampi and its surroundings are protected, so perhaps it is a good idea not to interfere too much with its endangered nature with its turtle-shaped trees and coils.

On the other hand, one tourist visit cannot destroy Kruunuvuori.

Next you have to get to the bar, so Ingrid K. Williams had gone too. He had found his way to Bob’s Laundry cocktail bar and Salama Nation beer taps. They are probably places worth experiencing, but I would take my tourists to other cities.

Skatta has Sköne, Pikku-Huopalahti has Feltbay, and on the other hand, Stad has a thousand other things that can be discussed. But I won’t change two: Buenos Aires in Kampi and Rytmi bar in Kallio.

A tourist must also eat. I would take him to eat at Sea Horse, which are the best in terms of price-quality ratio and eye-catching with their aesthetics, i.e. Sikala, Kosmos or Elite. No pizza, pasta or sushi, but a Finnish-Nordic-French-Russian menu.

I’m obviously also a sports person, because I want to show my tourists the Swimming Stadium.

From there I would take him across Keskuspuisto to the soccer field in Laakso at the end of Lehtikuusentie to watch the girls and boys kick the ball. When you watch that enthusiasm, you yourself come alive.

Of course, you can also go to Senatintor, but I would take my tourist to the Lapinlahti park to say hello Arvo Parkkilan statue. Parkkila (1905–1978) was a homeless alcoholic from Helsinki who, after sobering up, dedicated himself to helping his fellow sufferers.

Thence I agree with Ingrid K. Williams that we need to get to the sea and the archipelago near Helsinki. For a while I also thought about Korkeasaari, because I have been working there. I could probably guide a tourist to the mesmerizing scents of the yak troughs and hay.

If you agree or disagree with my list, or if you have an unbeatable favorite list in mind, there is a poll at the end of the article.

Answer it and you won’t have to fight for nothing.

Let me list Knopps, like an American magazine, without explaining it anyway.

Nature

Central park, Kruunuvuorenlampi, nearby archipelago, Töölönlahti reed beds, Linnunlaulu, Vasikkasaari, Lammassaari and Kuusiluoto, Fallkulla livestock farm, southern tip of Vattuniemi in Lauttasaari.

Culture

Rikhardinkatu and Kallio libraries, Suvilahti (when there is no Flow or Tuska), Kaapelitehtas, Elanno quarter with its clubs, Tavastia, Juttutuva gigs, Galerie Anhava, Art Hall (due to its architecture), Galleria Rankka (due to its location in a former nursing school) , Galleria Huuto (due to its industrial environment), Cinema Orion.

Sights

Art Nouveau architecture of Katajanokka, Hakaniementori, Piritori, Vaasankatu, Meilahti hospital area (people are being cured there), Postipuisto (just because of the shocking urban planning, architecture and construction).

Restaurants

Elite, Kosmos, Sea Horse, Meiccu (because of its interior), Rytmi, Buenos Aires, Sköne, Cafe Bar No 9 or Ysibaari, Feltbay, restaurant Valimo in Suomenlinna.