CENTRAL EUROPE BLOG May 13th, 2026 - HELSINKI

 

5/13/26– I sleep in until 10am with no real plan of action for today. The following days should be sunny but today looks gloomy with some possible rain. In the interest of getting the day started, we find a grocery store around the corner and stock up on a few items since we have a full kitchen to work with. 

The walk is a pleasant one, not too cold despite being around 50 degrees, and lets us see the grid-like layout of the city in the daylight. You can definitely notice the old Russian influence everywhere.

The sun actually is coming out (in parts) so we set course to explore the Western side of Helsinki. We take the #10 Tram eight stops, which Kelvin plays hero as the back door gets stuck open several times during the journey and he made sure to fix it each time. Even had the conductor make mention of him over the loud speaker for his efforts.

Our first spot is to the Sibelius Sculpture, a monument dedicated to the Finish composer Jean Sibelius and appears to be a collection of pipes to attribute to his music. This is one of the few sculptures where you can walk through and see it from all angles.

Not far away we check out the waterfront with the boats docked at the harbor before making our way back toward the tram station. Along the way we find a Tram museum, free to enter, which is not much but does provide some history with the trams dating back to the 1890s.

We then take the #4 Tram over to Helsinki Cathedral (this time we don’t have to mess with the door). The Cathedral is massive and has its own dedicated space on top of a long set of stairs. This was built in the mid 1850s as a tribute to the Grand Duke of Finland, Emperor Nicholas I of Russia. The view from the top of the stairs is impressive although the inside is lacking a bit of charm for my taste.

Now it’s time for some authentic Finish food. We walk a few blocks to a food market and order the Lapland Reindeer Kumpir. Basically it’s a loaded potato topped with reindeer meat, pickles, blue cheese and lingonberry sauce. One might expect this to be a tasty dish, but I find out very quickly that it is not. I basically have to order another taco from Taco Bell to get the taste out of my mouth. Things you learn.

It’s now pushing 5pm as the rain clouds are forming once again. We retreat to our AirBnb for the night and explore our options for the next coming days while enjoying home cooked pizza. Yup, still trying to forget about that reindeer.

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