On the inside, looking out

I really think the opportunity to take photographs from a moving vehicle is one not to be missed. Whenever I get the chance I like to take internal and external shots: internal ones of fellow passengers, signs or other interior details, external ones of the passing landscape, the transition zones between urban and rural, the effects of speed.

These are a few of the shots I took on the bus between Helsinki and Porvoo, and on the train between Helsinki and Tampere last October. Partly it’s a liking for a record of the fleeting and impermanent shot, partly a record of landscapes impossible to capture any other way, partly the ease of taking pictures of whatever passes by. Reflections and out of focus shots only add to the character of a collection of impromptu snatched pictures. String enough of these together and you would have a unique travelogue of the journey, the passenger’s view, the inside looking out.

Helsinki central railway station

It’s general practice in Finland to find all the signs in both Finnish and Swedish, both being official languages. The magnificent Helsinki Central railway station (rautatieasema in Finnish and järnvägsstation in Swedish) is a widely recognised landmark in central Helsinki and the focal point focal public transport in the Greater Helsinki area. The granite exterior is notable for the two pairs of statues holding spherical lamps, and its clock tower (the statues are featured, for instance, on the covers of local timetables published by the country’s national rail operator, VR).
The station’s interior, besides its beautiful high ceilinged booking halls and wide concourses, has a good range of shops, cafes and bars, and entrances to the underground shopping complexes linked with the Kamppi store and other key points in the commercial centre. From the central station the trains rush out to the north, past Töölönlahti Bay and quickly reaching Pasila and on though the suburbs of Helsinki

It’s also a great place for people watching, with commuters coming and going between the trains, the connecting buses, and the city centre itself. I took quite a few informal shops near the cafes and ticket offices. And what really interested me were some of the quirky things going on – like the display below, some kind of art school project, I think, and the notes stuck to a pillar (I couldn’t figure these out, maybe they were advertisements). There were stalls selling berries and other fruits. It's a very pleasant atmosphere, as main railway stations go.

A walk around Töölölahti Bay

Töölölahti Bay and its surroundings are one of Helsinki's most distinctive attractions, and there is much to interest the photographer. It's only a short walk north of the city centre. Until you reach the railway bridge just outside the central station it seems like a lake - then it's apparent that it's really an inlet. Walking and jogging round the bay is a popular activity: beginning from near the Alvar Aalto designed Finlandia Hall www.finlandiatalo.fi overlooking the bay there's an extensive network of paths fringed by silver birches and (unexpectedly) outcrops of rock. Nordic walking poles are much in evidence. It's a pleasant place for a stroll on afine autumn day.

Setting off anticlockwise you soon cross the railway bridge (a chance to watch the constant procession of red and white trains entering and leaving Helsinki) and reach the beautiful ornate wooden villas of Linnunlaulu set on a rocky rise above the eastern banks of the bay - and a fine viewpoint. An art park was created around the bay as part of Helsinki's celebration of European Cty of Culture in 2000.



I carried on walking to the east of the railway tracks and down along the edge of the Elantarharlahti bay towards Kallio Berghall and the shops and market at Hakaneimi, but follow the Linnunlaulu houses to the Helsinginkatu and return past the Finnish National Opera House www.opera.fi or continu further to take a look at the Olympic Stadium (the Games were held in 1952). The stadium's tower now houses a budget priced hostel for travellers.

Not far away you may come across the welcoming and well stocked Arkadia Oy bookshop on Pohjonen Hesperiankatu, a fine place to stop off on the way, maybe, to the Sibelius Monument among the silver birchesa and perched on a rocky outcrop looking westwards across the bay towards Seurasaari island.

Porvoo old and new

Porvoo, Finland's second oldest city, is around an hour by coach from Helsinki, so when the weather was fine one day last October I decided it was time for a visit. It's well and truly on the tourist trail, thanks to the photogenic old town with its red ochre painted wooden shore houses right by the river's edge and its charming streets, small houses, gardens and galleries. Apparently the shore houses, now all painted red, acquired that colour in the late eighteenth century in honour of King Gustav III's arrival from Sweden. Anyway, they make a fine sight.

Porvoo is a pleasant place to stroll around for a couple of hours. So I did that, enjoying wandering round the narrow streets with their little houses and taking in the autumn sunshine. What I saw of the new town , which was largely limited to the streets around the bus station (shown below), was fairly mundane. Maybe a longer visit might have yielded more.

Getting around Helsinki

I'm just going to have to write another post about using public transport in Helsinki. But this time it's going to feature a small number of photographs taken inside looking out. I thnk one reason I enjoyed this form of travel so much, especially the trams, was the way that it offered a comfortable and safe means of getting around and an escape from the elements (we were there in October, and though it wasn't particularly cold for that time of year, it did rain rather a lot). I just relish getting on the tram and knowing where it's going and roughly how long it will take. I like the chance to watch people come and go and I like the chance to see the city at an easy pace without having to walk everywhere. I bought a three day pass and just jumped on a tram whenever I could.

The first one was taken on a tram waiting at the Lasipalatsi intgerchange in the centre of Helsinki (between Kamppi and the Central Station). The second was taken on a moving tram, a No.8 I think, on my way out to the Kaapeli (Cable Factory), Talberginkatu, home of museums, galleries and art schools, and well worth a visit. I managed to wander into some sort of art exhibition preview, which was good for a complimentary drink, some people watching and some photo opportunities.

The next one is on the train to Tampere. I took quite a few pictures through the train window, either to convey the impression of the train's speed or to record the passing landscapes (what better way to photograph these fleeting impressions of the landscape, seen only from the train?). I did notice how quiet it was on the train, despite there being quite a few other passengers (is this a Finnish character trait?). The last one is on the bus out of Tampere, about to leave for the airport (Pirkkala). Yet another rainy day - it rained the whole of my day there. The indirect effect of the waether was for me to spend the afternoon in two museums: the Moominvalley at Tampere Art Museum and the Vaprikki - and I'm glad I did. But more of that some other time.

Suomenlinna

The Suomenlinna sea fortress just off the coast from Helsinki is a place full of atmosphere. The impressive fortifications became a UNESCO world heritage site in the early 1990s. It's just a 15 minute ferry ride from the market place (first picture) and I think it's a must see. The municipal ferries run every 20 minutes, so you could just go for the trip, an experience in itself, but I recommend staying for at least an hour, preferably two. The older ferries (second picture) have really atmospheric passenger compartments - old wooden seats, yellow walls, red columns - the newer ones, much less so. Sit in there for some people watching, or go out on the small car deck in the middle and look at the small islands and the approaching island of Suomenlinna.

The island itself is really four islands. Turn right on leaving the ferry and across the bridge for the two smaller connected islands of Pikku Mustasaari Lansi-Mustasaari, much less frequented than Iso Mustasaari, where you disembark. Alternatively, continue straight across on the main path and in five minutes to the surprisingly modern and well-resourced Visitor Centre just before the bridge to Susaari and with the docks to the right. Wherever you go there are imposing barracks, military installations, old wooden houses -and even a submarine.

It's probably at its most atmospheric for the photographer in the winter, when the serious snows arrive, or if you're lucky and catch sight of any of the garrisoned troops. There are shops and more besides - several hundred people live on the islands. There is a web site - http://www.suomenlinna.fi/ Suomenlinna won the Best Place in Helsinki vote organised by the City Planning Department in 2008!

I went in October and it was easy to leave the signposted tourist routes behind and discover for myself what Suomenlinna had to offer. I'd love to go back again when the snow's on the ground.

When in Helsinki, take the tram

I really like using Helsinki’s public transport. Within a couple of minutes walk of the Stockmann store at Aleksanterinkatu you have the superb Art Deco Central Railway Station for suburban and long-distance trains, local buses departing from the two squares adjacent - Eliel Square (Elielinaukio) and Railway Square (Rautatientori) - a Metro station, the Kamppi shopping centre with its complex of regional buses and Metro, and the focal point of the extensive tram network.
















I especially love the older trams. I bought a three-day version of the HKL Tourist Ticket (€12) from an R-kiosk on Esplandi (these blue and yellow kiosks are everywhere and are the simplest place to buy tickets): you validate this on board the tram and it’s valid for 72 hours (you can check the expiry date and time on board as well). They generally run every few minutes and the central city stops have timetable information in real time. As most people travel with prepaid cards, which you normally only have to validate on first use, boarding trams is quick and easy. I only recall having my ticket checked once in five days. The Tourist Ticket includes use of the municipal ferry from the Market Square (Kauppatori) to the island of Suomenlinna – a world heritage site, of which more later.

The 3B and 3T tram route is generally quoted as the one most useful for tourists, as it traverses a roughly figure of eight circuit that’s really interesting in parts and connects many of the key tourist sites. While this is true, don’t neglect to try out other lines that take you to the less fashionable suburbs, the industrial or port areas.

Valtteri fleamarket

The Helsinki fleamarket known as Valtteri is one of the city's discoveries - it isn't mentioned in any of the guide books I've seen, (though it is in the Wikitravel entry on Helsinki) but it's a great insight into the real Helsinki. It's on Alexis Kivis gata, near the junction with Sturegatan. Tram 7A stops outside the entrance, trams 3B/3T and 1/1A pass nearby. Go at the weekend when it's busiest and you can see the indoor market - inside a large redbrick building - and the partly covered outdoor market at the rear. It has clearly defined sections indoors for books, for clothing, and for general bric-a-brac. Outdoors you can find furniture and more bric-a-brac.

When I went on a Saturday in October the market was really crowded, but the atmosphere was great and I spent around an hour and a half there quite happily and took quite a few photographs. It seems to be something of a good place for a family outing. The bookshop has a huge selection of books for one Euro, though I came away empty handed on this occasion.

Other markets to try: Hietalahti Antique and Art Hall , Hietalahdentori; for food, try Hakaniemi Market Hall (Hakaniemen kauppahalli) - Metro: Hakaniemi. Unpretentious ands with a superb range of bread and cakes, including Russian specialities; Old Market Hall (Vanha kauppahalli), right next to Market Square, an old brick building with a fine range of more gourmet food stalls.