Helsinki, Finland (July 23, 2025)
Buckle up. There’s a lot to cover here and I’m going to use the gallery to share a ton of images. I did a number of walking tours so that if you’ve never been to Helsinki, you’ll get a really good feel for the city. Enjoy. Let’s begin.
One way I love to explore a city is to just get lost in it. Quick plug for Arlo. Very inexpensive international data plan. Allows you to access cheap data in just about any country when you can’t access WiFi … SO you can always get back to your hotel when you eventually DO get lost in a city you’re unfamiliar with.
One thing I should mention is that Helsinki is a blend of nature, architecture, water, and art. It all depend on what you choose to focus on. If you want to “go green” you can see all the trees, grass, flowers and nature all around you. If you prefer to see the old buildings, there are so many to choose from. Let me give a few more examples so you see what I mean.
So here’s the thing, I could continue on here, but I think you get the idea. There’s only two more things I want to shout out and it was covered in detail if you already listened to The Finnish Guide to Happiness. The first is that the people of Finland take their saunas VERY seriously. When in Finland, do as the Finnish people do, right? Since these only operate in the morning and evening time, I snuck down in the middle of the day to make sure no one was in the “cold” sauna so I could take some pictures to share. It’s a full-on experience.
Couple of things to note. You always take a full shower (shampoo and soap, not a rinse shower) before entering the sauna so that you are entering fully clean.
In this particular sauna, the men and women are seperated. That’s not always the case. What IS usually the case is that you are naked when you are in the sauna. You are either sitting on your towel or a disposable butt pad (similar to a paper towel) and you are going to be sweating within a minute or two of entering. There’s water to pour over the rocks should you want to inhale some steam and/or increase the heat (provided, of course, you’ve checked in with your fellow sauna mates that it’s okay to do so).
When you’re too hot, it’s perfectly acceptable to take a cold rinse shower to cool off. When you’re done (usually once you’ve been back and forth in the sauna about 3 times) then another full shower and off to bed. It’s very relaxing and a great way to let your body know it’s time to get some rest. Love it.
Also, this hotel had an amazing gym. If your personal trainer designed their own gym inside a hotel, this is most certainly what they would have created. There were seperate rooms for yoga, free weights, cardio, machines, etc. My body was soooooo happy. We played here every day. Yay!
Last thing. As I’m finishing up my packing getting ready to fly to Stockholm, I hear two beautiful voices. It turns out it’s a duet playing this incredible upright instrument and they both were from the nearby country of Estonia. Now while I’m not exactly sure what the instrument was called, I think it was a variation of a pedal steel guitar. Whatever it was, they were both playing it both with their hands and violin strings and it sounded amazing. See / hear for yourself:
Amazing. So beautiful. And the best part was that it was right out side my hotel in the park across the street. Did I mention I love Helsinki? My only regret is that I’ve only spent a few days here. What I’m learning from this trip is that I need to slow down. Fewer places and longer time in them is the lesson for me. It was too ambitious to attempt as many cities as I’ve put on my list in a year. Sounded doable on paper, but as I’ve experienced the amount of travel time, unpacking, repacking, etc. it just takes a toll. Going forward, I’m planning fewer places and longer stays.
And that’s what traveling does. It teaches you things. I’m learning every single day. Each visit I’m seeing things I didn’t see before. I’m learning things I hadn’t paid attention to. And each time I learn something new, I’m applying that learning to my next stop and getting better as I go. Hopefully, you can learn vicariously from my mistakes so you don’t have to repeat them yourself. Be well!
