IN PA R T NE R SHIP WITH TUMI
34 I
t’s early morning in Helsinki’s Market Square. On the harbour quay a small fishing boat has moored to the dock and a stocky fisherwoman with eagle eyes (to combat the gulls) and a booming voice is selling fresh fish such as mullet and salmon to local wives and mothers. Behind her tiny vessel, long ferryboats are lined up next to piers, ready to whisk commuters and tourists to one or more of the many islands that form a barrier between the city and the
Gulf of Finland, a giant inlet of the Baltic Sea. In deeper water on both sides of the harbour, massive cruise liners are docked – the Baltic is said to be the second most popular destination for cruises aſter the Caribbean Sea. Close by and for a few hundred metres along the
harbour front, open-air market stall owners are busily setting up in readiness for the long summer day ahead. Some sell a cornucopia of fresh fruit and other local produce, others the typical souvenirs of the region – from razor-sharp Finnish knives sheathed in soſt reindeer leather to warmly coloured carved wooden spoons and bowls. Ice cream and coffee stalls compete with those selling heartier fare such as merenherkkulautanen, or “sea gourmet plate”. Though it’s only 7am, the city’s residents all seem to be up
and eager to make the most of the good weather and long summer day – Helsinki gets an incredible 22 hours of daylight in midsummer… of course the downside of that means in the depths of winter only two hours of daylight are on offer, so summer can take on a real “party hard” atmosphere.
SEP T E M B ER 2 0 18 bus ine s s tr a v el ler .c om
Helsinki was modelled on Paris and St Petersburg – though its atmospheric streets and alleys remind me somewhat of Vienna
HELSINKI MARKETING (JULIA KIVELA/OPPOSITE PAGE & EETU AHANEN/TOP); ISTOCK
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