After some included breakfast at the Hilton, we embarked for the nearest subway station. Our destination was Haagan Alppiruusupuisto, or more simply a Rhododendron Park. It would seem that it’s still too early in these far north reaches to see any major blooms. Nevertheless, it was a relaxing walk on the paths through the forest area. Then we worked our way back to the station.
We had to transit to a tram at Helsinki’s main train station. The transit system in Helsinki seems easy enough even though signage to connections isn’t great. Our destination was Roobertin Herkku, a typical Finnish candy shop. Nicole has been intrigued by Scandinavian salmiakki licorice or gummies ever since we flew SAS Airlines last year and were served a packet of them enroute. Most were innocuous, but there was one particular item shaped like a black sedan that caused me to immediately spit it back up. You see, Northern Europe seems to have an affinity for salt and salted licorice was not something my taste buds were ready for. With that being said, Nicole was ready to try some at the source.
The store allowed one to scoop their own assortment and Nicole got a decent variety of Scandinavian candies. We bagged them up for later. For the results of our candy sampling, please proceed to paragraph four. We first headed to the Old Market Hall to grab a quick lunch. I got a traditional Finnish meat pie. The meat it contained was a bit of a mystery, though I’m going to guess reindeer.
Back at the hotel, Nicole dipped into her “candy,” if you can even call it that. At one point in history, it was prescribed as a method of clearing mucus for people with colds or congestion. For some reason, many varieties of salmiakki are shaped like cars or car parts, such as the tire that Nicole holds above. Perhaps it is a warning that it is not meant for consumption. We recorded each other sampling the unique flavors. It was a bit much for Nicole, but when I barely touched it to my tongue, my taste buds had already sent a message to my brain to abort at all costs. The excess of salt generated an involuntary reflex of wanting to yell out in pain. Needless to say, the bag of candies was not consumed in its entirety.
We cut through the nearby botanical gardens to reach the Museo Kiasma of contemporary art. A modern art museum is always good for a good chuckle or a good head scratch. The museum was fairly spacious and laid out on five different floors. It seemed as though the higher you went, the higher the artists may have been when they created. One interesting artist was Simon Fujiwara. To his credit, he had a vast array of different projects he worked on from animated cartoons to model prototypes of fake Disney-esque rides to this collection of discarded copies of 50 Shades of Grey. The backstory is that the charity, Oxfam, had been receiving a large number of the books as donations and actually had to send out a notice for people to stop sending it. Fujiwara gladly took some of the excess and displayed them as art. Not all copies would fit even with my wide angle lens.
The wackiest stuff was on the top floor by artist Nina Beier. It was a lot of supposed juxtapositions of seemingly two unrelated items that I guess means something. To her? To the viewer? To anyone? Unclear. There were plastic bags filled with rubbish from a construction site. There were half-opened Mars bars on top of slabs of concrete. There were wigs inside remote control cars. I hope, for Nina’s sake, that she was on a lot of drugs when she came up with these pieces, because if she wasn’t . . . I’m generally concerned for her mental wellbeing.
We walked back to the Hilton just in time for the executive lounge to open for snacks. Following a few hors d’oeuvres, we walked to get dinner near the cathedral. Tonight we had pizza because we thought another meal of meatballs might be a bit heavy, especially with a long flight tomorrow. Our flight isn’t until later in the afternoon, so we still have a bit of time to explore Helsinki and leisurely make our way over to Helsinki-Vantaa airport.
passports & pepto bismol 