Tampere, city of museums

Tampere is an hour or so from Helsinki by rail. It's very reminiscent of towns in the north of England, with its red brick factories and mills. But now the Tammerkoski rapids in the middle of the city, along with the imposing industrial buildings, form one of Finland's national heritage landscapes. The Finlayson area, named after the Scottish industrialist, and other converted industrial areas house numerous of museums: notably perhaps the Museum of Workers Housing, the Boxing Museum, Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame, Finnish Museum of Refrigeration, Lenin Museum, Spy Museum, the Velaatta Milk Churn Platform Museum. The area has attracted an urban renaissance, with shops, restaurants, theatres, workshops and galleries.

On the day I visited the city last October, the constant rain gave me all the incentive I might have needed to call at two museums - firstly the Moominvalley of the Tampere Art Museum, Hämeenpuisto 20, is devoted to original works by writer and artist Tove Jansson. http://inter9.tampere.fi/muumilaakso/index.php?lang=en No photography allowed, unfortunately, but absolutely fascinating to see. I loved the artwork in Jansson's miniature pen and ink illustrations.

Museum Centre Vapriikki is a large museum complex close to the Tammerkoski rapids and includes, amonmg others, the Finnish Hockey Hall of fame and the Shoe Museum.

http://www.tampere.fi/english/vapriikki/index.html When I was there they had a fascinating Tibet exhibition. There was also the chance to take photographs.

Tampere impressed me, despite the dreary weather. No-one seemed too put outb by the constant rain that day. It has a kind of individuality and seems to be making a successful transition from manufacturing to service industries and building on its inherent appeal. In the summer, I might have had time to try out some of its other things ithad to offer.

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.

A flying visit to Tallinn

Tallinn is a curious place. The old town sits demurely behind its town walls and is circled by swaths of green. Centred on the town square, Raekoja plats, it manages to be both charming and fashionably shabby, with Pikk Jalg winding it way up to Tompea, a collection of embassies and smart restaurants and on its edge, a superb view back over the town and across the harbour towards Finland.

A city of contrasts: within minutes you go from the old town with its designer shops, churches, and shabby chic, to the mundane rail station with bus and tram interchange alongside, and then to the indoor and outdoor market - a glimpse of Tallinn off the tourist trail, with its stalls selling all manner of foods, clothing and household goods.

The cost of living was cheap and the people were friendly. Though we only had a couple of days there and didn't manage to travel outside the centre, save for walking to the ferry terminal to catch the boat to Helsinki. That city's the subject of the next post.