Destination: Helsinki, Finland

Dates: 8. February 2015 - 10. February 2015

Reason for Travel: Pleasure/Friends

Modes of Transport: Plane (Air Berlin)

We'd been dating for approximately four and a half months when Elizabeth asked if I wanted to join her in Finland after a convention she was scheduled to attend. I didn't need to think about it twice. Yes, of course, I'd like to meet you in Helsinki. My exchange brother from high school, Raimo, lives in Helsinki and I hadn't seen him in over ten years. So far so good. But wait, we were going in February. Helsinki is located at 60º North. The furthest North I'd ever lived was 51º and in the winter that was already too far. Nonetheless, we booked our flights and planned our Baltic getaway: Helsinki - Tallinn - Riga. This blog post is the first part of our trip.

I hadn't taken a vacation since my sister's wedding in 2011, so I was looking forward to this trip. I took a plane from Zurich to Berlin and then from Berlin to Helsinki. I hate connecting flights, but this was the most affordable way to get up there, so damn the layover, I booked it. And just as you'd expect, they lost my bag. Thank heavens, they could find it and have it delivered to Raimo's house. My first night I spent in a small but very nicely furnished hotel in Helsinki (Forenom Pop-Up Hotel). I remember the light fixtures were very beautiful and the room quite cramped, but all I wanted to do there was sleep, so it was fine. I spent the early part of the day exploring the neighbourhood. From there I went to visit Raimo and his lovely family. We met at the Helsinki train station, which despite all the great architecture in the city, was my favourite and most interesting building. Designed by Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen, the station was inaugurated in 1919. Today it welcomes some 200'000 travellers each day and is thus Finland's most visited building. When we arrived at Raimo's flat, I got to see a typical Finnish apartment, which is smaller than your average Swiss one but does come with a sauna. I'm not sure if I'd give up a few square meters of our 70 square meter flat for a sauna, but after a run that would be a very welcomed feature.

In the evening, I visited one of the local beer bars (Ølhus). There's a chain of them all named after a Nordic city - Oslo, Stockholm, Kopenhagen etc. The beer selection was huge and the price exuberant, and that is coming from Switzerland. As a newly minted beer bar owner, this fact gave me some solace that people are willing to pay for craft products. The average Finn earns €3'333.00 / month whereby the average Swiss earns more than CHF 6'000 / month. It was clear to me that if the Finns are willing to spend money on craft beer, so would the Swiss (three years later, I can say that this is indeed the fact).

The next morning, Elizabeth arrived after spending the night on a ship coming from Stockholm. We quickly checked into our Airbnb. This was my first experience with the platform, and it was great. Our flat was located near Hakaniemen metroasema, which made travel with the metro and trams super easy. Best of all was that we were only about a 10-minute walk from the Kulttuurisauna. For anyone visiting Finland, a sauna is a must, and the Kulttuurisauna is quintessentially Finnish. Men and women sauna in different rooms, but there is a communal area where you can meet and cool off. The Finnish men tend to wear woollen hats to increase the heat. In general, the sauna is quiet, but friends will converse with each other. Finnish is, however, a difficult language and I understood nothing of what was being said in the sauna. Our highlight was taking a dip in the Bay of Finland, which was freezing. After the sauna experience, we had dinner at a local hole-in-the-wall diner. It was almost empty, but the reindeer sausage and potatoes were filling. Listen to Monocle 24's programme The Urbanist report on the Kulttuurisauna below and be inspired to visit.

We also managed to Academic Bookshop designed by famed Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto. We had coffee and cake in the café before visiting the Stockmann department store, the largest in Scandinavia. The department store was nice and reminded me a little of Harrods in London, though simpler. It was, however, great for finding local teas and confectionary.

Our last full day in Helsinki was spent visiting some of the city's most famous churches and as well as its numerous boutiques and eating some excellent modern Finnish cuisine. Our first stop was the Kallio Kirkko in the trendy district of the same name. This art nouveau inspired church dating back to 1912 is a grandiose building that despite its grey stone reminds me of the abandoned cathedral in Casablanca. It being the beginning of February we did not spend much time walking through the streets and window shopping in the district's famed boutiques.

From the Kallio Church, we went on to the Temppeliaukio Kirkko (aka Rock Church). Planning for the church began in the 1930s, but due to the Second World War and other factors, it did not open its doors until 1969. In many ways, it reminded us of the Herz-Jesu Kirche in Brig, Switzerland which was opened just a year later. The church is in the middle of a square in the Etu-Töölö. Before we entered the church, we walked on part of the stony and snowy roof (You are not allowed to walk on the copper dome). It's natural rocky structure, and low roof gives the square an odd feeling - as if it is unfinished. Inside, the church, which is smaller than the original plans, still feels gigantic.

After visiting two churches, there was one more church to visit: Helsinki Cathedral in the Kruununhaka neighbourhood. If you've ever seen a postcard from Helsinki, you've probably seen this iconic building. Perched above the Senate Square, the white church has a coastal feeling because of its neoclassical style. With a capacity of 1300 parishioners, it's the largest church in Finland.

From the Cathedral, we walked around Kruununhaka and eventually landed in the Finnish tapas restaurant Juuri, which unless you're Finnish, you'll never say correctly. The selection of small dishes was marvellous - from fish to beef to vegetarian selections of artfully created dishes that perfectly blend a spectrum of traditional Finnish flavours in your mouth.

In the evening we walked around the town and went up to the Ateljee Bar in the Hotel Torni. At just 14 stories, we still got a brilliant view of the city. From the bar, we saw the laminated Terracotta Warriors, a temporary art installation. Elizabeth, being a musician also learned that there was a jam at a pub, so we went by there to listen to some live traditional Finish folk music.