Helsinki: National Library

The National Library of Finland, Kansalliskirjasto. It sounds so grand. The building is not the hugest in Finland or in Helsinki, but it has certain grandeur - just look up towards the ceiling once you've left your coat in the cloakroom and your bag in a locker and entered the main hall. This is a home to important books: Finland's printed national heritage. It is the oldest and largest scholarly library in Finland. Thus, well worthy of the gorgeous cupola above my head. Why on earth have I not visited this place before?

If you are into books, you could easily do a bookish toure in Helsinki: visit interesting libraries and bookshops. You don't need to be intent on buying or even reading to go for a stroll in such places. Besides a historic library such as the National Library (built in 1840-45), situated right next to Senate Square you could stop at more modern ones (the newest is within a stone's throw from this library). Being a book lover, I can't help admiring places like this. I wonder what a... Kindle, well, "room" would like in comparison...

The South Hall reading room (Eteläinen lukusali) is very inviting. I wish I had time to grab a book, sit down and read for a while like some other visitors have done.

I walk along the gallery and stop to read at the titles. Valtiopäivät 1888. That is Diet 1888 and these are the diaries from those days when Finland wasn't yet independent (that had to wait until 1917) but as an autonomous Grand Duchy, it was allowed certain rights such as its own constitution, legislation and a Diet. In those days, Finland wasn't yet as democratic as today;  it was only the nobles, clergy, burghers and peasants that could send their male representatives to Säätyvaltiopäivät.

I pick up a copy and open it at random. Mr Iivonen of the clergy has made a speech about inn-keeping and feels that peasants understand better than the clergy what is fair for inn-keepers (inns were maintained by peasant class). Free translation: They have brought all kinds of numbers to prove otherwise, but numbers can always be used to defend such things that are not good. The world hasn't changed one bit.

I browse the library and arrive at Rotunda, the annexe that was built in 1902-06. The huge poster that is hanging there tells about the exhibition that was opened only recently for poet Saima Harmaja (1913-1937) who was born exactly 100 years ago.

Unfortunately she had poor health and died so young; miss Harmaja only saw three of her well-acclaimed poetry books published before her death and her fourth book was published posthumously. Very little of Saima Harmaja's work has been translated to other languages from Finnish.

I climb up to the 6th floor - what a great shape this hall has!

Most visitors to Senate Square in Helsinki probably see the Helsinki Cathedral facade only from the square below (unless they bother to climb up the steps to pay a visit inside). When I step out of the National Library, I face the main entrance to the Cathedral on Unioninkatu street. Daylight is already fading away and it is time to turn on the lights for the night.

Helsinki: Everyday discoveries

I am strolling across Kasarmitori square in Helsinki when I notice a red and white sign hanging from a lamp post. I don't think it's been there before, at least not for long. "My daughter is obsessed with Moomin, I'm not sure why. I think he is like all Finns, the strong and silent type!"

The little arrow suggests that I should check out the other side of the sign. What is this about? Could it be that there is a tagged route in Helsinki, similar to what there was in Turku last year, when Turku was European Capital of Culture and there was a great collection of 50 comics posted around town? Helsinki Tagged! I wonder if I've got time for a visit to Suvilahti today?

I meander through Esplanadi park and the busy shopping areas towards the central railway station. Another red and white thingy, like a piece of ribbon made into a chair. Which is now occupied by father and child. Happy Birthday Helsinki 200? Come on, the city was founded in 1550... However, Happy 200 Birthday Helsinki is instead celebrating the fact that it is Helsinki has been Finland's capital for 200 years - after the capital was moved from the original capital Turku to Helsinki.

I decide to make a detour to Suvilahti but this time I cheat and don't walk there. Instead, I take the underground to Kalasatama, the closest stop to the exhibition area. Suvilahti is only a short walk away and although I've never visited the area, it is easy to follow the signs towards the sea. There are tips painted also on the asphalt - like Ihana kahvila vain 1250 m (Lovely café only 1250 m). This is very promising.

I wonder what I am actually looking for, or forward to. Someone else has walked here before me, perhaps a bit doubtful? In Search of the Ridiculous...

The colourful flags point out the beginning of the Everyday Discoveries exhibition area. They are no ordinary flags but unique works of art. Another discovery.

While passing a dull grey lamp post, I detect another poetic sight. Broken Street Poetry. There must be a wild poet loose around town, leaving his or her lines in unexpected places. To be discovered.

Entering the Everyday Discoveries exhibition, part of the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 program, takes me to a former power plant area which these days acts as a cultural venue. This exhibition has been titled a mini world expo of design, with participants from many different countries. Torino, Italy has contributed to the exhibition a tiny, egg shaped showroom, and a fiery red Fiat 500 in addition to other design products.

Kattilahalli exhibition halls house lots of everyday design from clothes to lamps and chairs. However, on most chairs there seems to be a sign: Do not sit. Also on this massive, yet light Turkish chair for two so I don't dare to try it. Imagination Playground makes a difference: children are already playing with the elastic blue pieces that can be joined together to form different shapes.

I return back to fresh air and step aside from the exhibition area. Round the corner, there is another discovery: a window on the rusted corrugated iron shack has been covered with black veneer and someone has made it into a simple work of art with white tape: it has become a window.

Back to more Everyday discoveries. There are many colourful containers scattered on the large exhibition area, and one of them is Helsinki Plant Tram, a project produced by British Council Finland. However, this tram is not on rails...Perhaps it was grounded here, being literally taken over by a large number of plants on its roof. A local environmental organization Dodo  has been involved in the project in addition to Wayward Plants from London.

One part of the project was to collect plants - in a way! The tram container, container tram, or tram stop - whatever to call this one! - is covered with sheets of paper which each include a plant that someone has donated to the project. Not a real plant, though, but a picture and a story of a plant. Laura has drawn redcurrant for which she can't find a place in her yard.

The project continues right behind my back. I start walking beside the rollercoaster-shaped garden (built to resemble the Linnanmäki amusement park rollercoaster in Helsinki) which is absolutely full of different kinds of plants. A fantastic idea!

I rub some leaves gently against my fingers and smell the fresh peppermint. Not just nice things to see but to smell as well. There is plenty to discover: onions, different flowers, herbs... I can't name them all. A project like this is a real treasure and it reminds me of Miracle Garden that made passers-by happy in Helsinki Railway Station from May onwards this summer.

The rollercoaster garden is surrounded by design-filled containers. One of them contains a café from which a wonderful smell of coffee is floating to mix with the scent of the plants. There are some chairs and tables amidst the meandering garden. It really makes a difference to have a garden on this grey asphalt.

Only few steps away, there is less green art but from 100% natural ingredients - Nordic design from Norway. There are two interesting wooden constructions that act as gateways: Pixel Pine Portal (made by Ida Nilson, Elisia Kathleen Brask, Annhild Kjørsvik)

and Allports Portal that you only really get when you walk slowly through it. Pixel Pine Portal was awarded the 1st prize at Bergen International Wood Festival in May 2012 and Allports Portal received 3rd prize.

Allports Portal (Vidar Laksfors, Are-Dag Eriksen, Frode Ljøkjell) reminds me a a huge wooden bird, with wings like wooden crates, and it starts to make a noise as soon as I take a first step on it - and the platform gives way, sliding to the ground. I take another step, advance further, and the "wings" move with me, strings pulling pieces of wood up and down. I feel compelled to step back, step forward, just to watch and listen to the sounds this giant bird portal makes. She likes to play.

Leaving the portals behind, I step inside another container. Here it is: the white walled Helsinki Tagged that lured me to come right here from another part of town! So there was a map to help finding all the tags scattered around Helsinki.

There are some Helsinki Tagged! signs on the corrugated iron walls, for example number 74/80 - or actually, it has to be a copy of one. According to the map, the original seems to be somewhere else. I live near this villa, it used to be so full of life, but now it is in really bad shape, it is so sad. My sister and I dream of turning it into a small concert hall some day. I wish I could have walked round Helsinki to discover all of these tags and their stories!

On the container opposite there are many ancient, red Viewmasters hanging from the ceiling, in ghost style. They are not just a piece of art in themselves but allow you to make a brief visit to the streets of Dublin. When viewing the images, I discover Dublin Tagged! project and a collection of short everyday stories and pictures from this great city. When I happen to find see pictures of places that I faintly remember from years ago, it feels simply wonderful to look at a place like that through a local person's memory related to that place.

After Dublin experience, I take a peek into a couple more design containers but I feel I've already made plenty of discoveries for today. My absolute favourites at Suvilahti are the rollercoaster garden, Helsinki / Dublin Tagged! and as the last item, perhaps the handmade flags of countries. Finnish flag looks much more fun like this...

The exhibition Everyday discoveries and Helsinki Tagged! project finished on Sep 16, 2012. Time for new discoveries. They are everywhere.

Helsinki: Little Turtle teahouse

Mannerheimintie street is busy in Helsinki. As usual, I scan instinctively if I need to step aside to the left or right, keep going straight or slip between people rushing towards me, and when someone in front of me is progressing at a slower pace, make a quick decision on how to get past, keeping my own rhythm. I turn to Yrjönkatu street and things slow down. Only few more steps. A small stone turtle is keeping the door slightly ajar.

Helsinki's latest tea house, Pieni kilpikonna (literally Little Turtle) has recently opened at Eerikinkatu 1. Curious, I step into the small room and the bustle of the streets begins to fade away. Only one question remains: what kind of tea to drink? The list of available teas is long... Alright, it's going to be wu long tea. Or oolong, as I'm used to call it.

After a while the tea tray arrives and momentarily, my thoughts fly to China and a visit to a local tea shop there where I first watched in fascination the way the tea was served to us. The wooden tray holds a tiny teapot and two cups, a strainer and a glass tea pitcher into which the ready brewed tea is poured for serving. This is serving tea gong fu style, a first time for me in Finland. Just lovely. 

There is Chinese music playing gently in the background. We sip fragrant oolong tea from the little cups, talk and simply enjoy the moment. Welcome to Helsinki, Little Turtle!

Helsinki: Miracle Garden

I step off the train at Helsinki Railway Station and start walking towards the station building. It is close to noon and the station seems fairly quiet. Another calming effect is waiting for me at the end of the platform: there is a temporary garden! The large flowerbeds, or actually something larger than that (for there are even young apple trees about to bloom), welcome me to Helsinki, celebrating the summer that is just about to begin.

The Miracle Garden (Ihmepuutarha) has turned this normally rather dull area into a lovely sight. Among the different plants and flowers, there are also totem-like statues which are the wooden cousins of the large stone figures in front of the main railway station building (designed by architect Eliel Saarinen). The stone figures have been used a lot in the railway company VR's advertising over the past few years.

I think I spot another local celebrity hiding in the belly of the wooden totem: Bubi the Eagle Owl which became the unofficial mascot of the Finnish national football team in 2007. He flew a couple of times over the football field during a match and brought good luck to the team, thus earning the nickname Huuhkajat (Eagle Owls) to the football team!

Another nice detail in the Miracle Garden are the Miracle Watering Pots which are hanging in the air...

... and taking care of watering of the beautiful plants, without a pause. I'm almost hoping for another visit to Helsinki before Miracle Garden disappears from the railway station in mid-June.

Congratulations to VR which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year (the first rail service began between Helsinki and Hämeenlinna in 1872), and thank you for sharing the flowers with us passengers! This is a beautiful way of celebrating also World Design Capital Helsinki 2012. My step is lighter already.

Helsinki: Font Walk

Napa Gallery, Eerikinkatu 18, Helsinki, Finland. I ask the woman in the back room about the  Font Walk map and she points me to the small cardboard box on the corner table. Only one per customer, please. It is only fair; this is a limited edition. After examining the beautiful map for a while at the gallery, I step back outside. Actually, it would be a good idea to go for a cup of tea and get into the mood for observing fonts... But I decide to do it while walking.

What is Font Walk about? Being part of the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 program, it promises design experiences. However, the main idea is to pay attention to some, selected details in Kamppi area, and learn to look at the texts and visual messages that we easily pass every day without noticing them. For example, have a look at the neon letters above the Orion cinema.

The walk will guide me to about 30 interesting stops in the district, and the estimated walking time of the route is about 45 minutes. Well, better take it easy and allow more time for observation and stops along the way. As I turn from Eerikinkatu street to Fredrikinkatu (or 'Freda'), I realize that some details are easier to spot from the other side of the street. Especially the ones that are higher up on the building walls. The "hieroglyph" gates are open when I pass them and a moment later I find myself walking back to find them. This symbol resembles a walker, doesn't it?

The optician's sign reminds you of the old days when it was much more common to use descriptive objects or symbols as signage for certain professions. Today we mostly see text signs.

The purpose of the Font Walk is not font-spotting but to discover details. Therefore, I don't feel guilty about not focusing just on the lightning bolts of Sähkötalo building (Electric House)... The building was designed by architect Alvar Aalto and I simply have to check out its door handles.

My eyes stray off from the map also when I walk towards Salomonkatu and see the tall pillars above Tennispalatsi building. Until now, I've always "seen" only the curved shape of the roof of the building but never noticed the pillars, so the texts advertising the museum and cinema have been wasted on me.

I've also failed to notice the flagpoles on Autotalo (Car House) building. Probably because there have been no flags flapping in the wind. The next stop is the Kamppi underground station, marked with "M" for Metro, but of course there is also a sign for the appropriately located Subway fast food restaurant, with the 'S' shaped like a curved arrow.

The map guides me back from Kamppi station, past Voimatalo house with the surprisingly uniform fonts on its walls, and further down to Albertinkatu street. The old, now closed wooden kiosk seems bare at a first glance, but a closer look reveals messages here and there.

There are a couple of fonts to spot in this corner. Number 12 on the map, Kallio sign, is on a building that has really beautiful wooden doors and a lovely round window on the ground floor. It takes me a while to find the round sign of a former bank, Helsingin Työväen Säästöpankki, on the wall.

On Eerikinkatu I walk beneath the scaffolds right in front of Eerikinkatu 25 and think about the art deco home of Hercule Poirot in the films made of Agatha Christie's detective stories. The font like ornaments are actually above the scaffolding... The street signs in two languages (the city's majority language Finnish on top, minority language Swedish below) are a refreshing sight because of their old style font which is very different from what is mostly used in newer areas today.

The people live on the corner building of Abrahaminkatu and Kalevankatu streets are lucky. If you take a peek throught the locked glass doors to the hall, you can discern stylish reliefs inside, including animals and of course, walkers. I also pass the sign of the Consulate of the Republic of Seychells, and one of my favourites, Maitoa - Mjölk (Milk) which I saw for the first time about a week ago.

Number 20 on the map, the Porras sign, remains a mystery. There is a renovation project going on in the courtyard and either I'm in the wrong place or the sign has been removed temporarily.

I turn my eyes also towards other things than those listed on the map. For example, right next to the barbershop (mentioned in the map) you can just about decipher the logo and text for Loma-Auto (Holiday-Car). Long gone.

There are also other ghost-like texts on Kalevankatu, and they are to be discovered with your own eyes only. MI VUODESOHVIA (MI SOFABEDS) store has not been here for a while.

The decorative Kirjavälitys - Bokspedition (Book trading) sign is hidden inside the entrance to the courtyard at Kalevankatu 16. Don't forget to look at the stylish dark metal gates.

There are so many different façades at Kamppi area. Usually, my eyes seem to wander more easily to the old buildings. At Annankatu street, I've surely passed the Hopeatalo loads of times, without seeing the sign for Silver House or what the house itself looks like.

Back on Eerikinkatu street, the ELO building looks terrific. These days you don't often see texts fit on the façades as permanently as this. The map guides me to the other side of the street to have a look at another neat art deco entrance and its elegant sign, and finally to the last stop, to the neon signs of Corona bar and Andorra cinema, owned by the brothers and movie directors Kaurismäki. 

I fold the map away and turn to walk towards the railway station. I realize I'm looking at different things now, compared to when I was coming here. My eyes seem to scan signs and texts, interesting entrances to houses. It is very easy to walk in Helsinki too fast, focusing on where you are going and how quickly you can make it, instead of focusing on where you are. When you slow down, it is so much easier to discover new details along the way: different messages, shapes, surfaces, stories behind them.

Wow, what a great door handle, shaped like an E!

P.S. The Font Walk map is available for download here: Font Walk map