The public strike was visible in downtown bars on Friday.
On Friday in the early evening in the heart of Helsinki it is quieter than usual but not completely dead.
There are still seats available at Bar Loose on Annankatu.
“There are usually more people on Friday than now. People often come to us after work for a drink,” Loose's bartender Michael Gerwig tells.
Thursday, the first day of February, was “pretty good,” according to Gerwig. According to him, there were more people than usual on Thursdays.
“Yes, we had a non-stop January. Fewer people came and more non-alcoholic drinks were sold than usual.”
According to Mickael Gerwig, a non-stop January was visible in Bar Loose.
Strike or not, guys Tuula Parviainen, Tuula Pouke-Härkönen and Aila Tirri went to a bar on Friday. The childhood friends had agreed on a joint evening “a long time ago”.
“I came to meet my friends from Tampere. Because of the strike, I already traveled yesterday [torstaina]”, Tuula Parviainen says.
Aila Tirri (left), Tuula Parviainen and Tuula Pouke-Härkönen are childhood friends. The bar evening had already been arranged earlier.
The women arrived in the center from Pouke-Härkönen's Jätkäsaari by taxi, and that's what they're leaving with. But first they plan to pull to the pin. Tirri is not going to, because she is going to work the next day.
“After Loose, let's at least go to Anna K's to listen to karaoke,” Tuulat says.
Women have never had a January without drops. There has been no need.
“Except when we were pregnant, maybe we were without drops a little longer”, they laugh.
Also the adjacent Gate A21 bar is quieter than usual, says the bartender Alex Fanailidis.
“The whole of January was quieter than normal, but alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks went as usual,” says Fanailidis.
Alex Fanailidis of Gate A21 bar.
Pub in the Aft Chamber Eerikinkatu is quiet to the eye. Bartenders Henna Virtanen and Louise Eren pondered that the culprit is probably a public strike.
“Much quieter than on a normal Friday,” says V
irtanen.
According to bartenders, January is always quieter than December, which is usually the best month for restaurants.
“We also had a busy little Christmas period in December and the karaoke kiosk in our space reserved for private events was full all the time.”
“January is the return to everyday life and nothing else.”
Pub Peräkammari's bartenders Hanna Virtanen (left) and Louise Eren suspect that the culprit for a clearly quieter Friday than usual is the public strike.
Harri Renkonen came from Vartiokylä to the city center by taxi – straight to the bar. The trip took many times longer than usual.
“Usually it takes 17 minutes to get here by subway, now it took more than an hour by taxi because of the traffic,” Renkonen laments.
Guy Teemu Lahtinen says that he arrived at Pub Peräkammari by walking from Leppävaara in Espoo. It took “a good couple of hours”.
“I was thinking of going back home on public transport if they run after midnight,” Lahtinen plans.
Renkonen still doesn't know how he will go home, or if he will go at all.
“If you happen to find company”, he mumbles.
Teemu Lahtinen (left) and Harri Renkonen in Pub Peräkammari.
Pub Peräkammari on Eerikinkatu was quiet from early Friday evening.
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