Market to Fortress to Arena

We woke to another delicious and hearty breakfast at our hotel.  We were beginning to tire of the breakfast staples by this point in our trip, though I definitely miss having fresh bread, cheese, smoked fish, and rice pies waiting for me when I wake up at home.

After breakfast, we set out to Market Square, where we were to catch a ferry to Suomenlinna Fortress.  Our HKL tourist ticket, good for all HKL-overseen public transportation, was also good for the Suomenlinna Ferry.  Upon arriving at Market Square, we missed a ferry by a hair!  Being the winter, the ferries depart every 60 minutes rather than every 20-30 minutes like they do during the summer months.

An hour to kill before the next ferry?  We could look around the open-air Market Square--even in the deathly cold winters, people brave the cold to peddle their knit hats, smoked fish, and canned reindeer.   But after watching a little girl feed the ducks and lone swan, and after posing for some photos with a turtle statue, we sought warmth in the Old Market Hall.  This gourmet marketplace houses a unique collection of stands, selling fish, meats and sausages, chocolate, candy, and caviar.  There are a few kabob restaurants, sandwich shops, and coffee shops, but we didn't want to eat.  We just browsed the unique food items.  Most interesting was a sign that said "I am notorious reindeer killer from Lapland."

Back at the ferry dock an hour later, we stood inside the little terminal to keep warm.  There, besides the Suomenlinna-bound tourists, was a group of bums, some asleep.  They had a cell phone.  Yes, everyone in Finland has a cell phone--even bums!

Finally, the ferry arrived, and they managed to pack what seemed like 200 people onto this tiny boat.   Even more miraculous was that we found seats!  The 10-minute journey to the sea fortress was over in no time.  Upon docking at Suomenlinna, we noticed icicles under the dock, which all appeared cut off at the same length--where the ocean waves bob up against them.

Suomenlinna Fortress is a neat place to visit... in the summer.  A lot of walking is required, and the distances between the various points of interest are long.  Walking-disance, yes, but painfully long when it's zero Fahrenheit.  We saw the library, an art gallery, the church, a grocery store, and the historical museum.

We waited about 20 minutes for the ferry to arrive to take us back to Helsinki.  This time, we were one of the first on to the ferry, which wasn't necessarily a good thing.  We sat right next to the door, so we could be one of the first out of the ferry as well.   Halfway through the ride, a child dirtied his or her diaper--we could smell it, then it dissipated.  Toward the end of the ride, the child and their family walked past our seats to the door, and stood just outside the door.  The wind whipping through that door carried a dreadful odor from that child.  We couldn't leave that ferry soon enough!

Once on dry land, we trammed back to the Central Rail Station, where we went to a bulk candy store and had some Hesburger for a very late lunch.

A brief stop at K Market was in order, for some Coca-Cola Light to keep in our hotel room.  The afternoon was spent relaxing and warming up for about an hour, before we headed back out to Hartwall Areena to see a Jokerit home game.   It was a tough decision to go to the game.  The tram stop was about 10 minutes from the arena, and we weren't sure about walking so far in the cold.  The bus was another option, but the bus stop we needed was further from our hotel than was the tram stop.  We layered on the winter clothes, and decided to make the trek.  I wasn't sure exactly what was the right stop, but we guessed and got it right.  The ensuing 10-minute walk wasn't so bad, especially since we could see the glowing, brightly-lit arena from afar.

Jokerit played (and beat) H.P.K. that night.  The experience at that game converted me to a Jokerit fan.  At the ticket counter, we got two 8th-row seats, again right behind one of the nets.  Excellent seats, which in the US, would cost $80 USD each.   I heard the clerk say that our two tickets totalled 80 Euro, which was about what I was expecting.  But when I signed my credit card receipt, I realized that I'd misheard her--the two tickets were only 18 Euro!  Incredible!

Inside, the arena was bustling.  A huge, new, bright arena, full of Finns decked out in Jokerit jerseys and scarves.  We bought a scarf, a pipo, and some other little items from the team store.  Even the team store had lower prices than NHL team stores.  Our seats were in the section right next to the "ultras" section.  That made it one of the most entertaining and enjoyable hockey games I'd ever been to.  At the end of the game, both teams saluted their fans--a nice gesture that we don't see in the NHL.

After the game, we wanted to try to take the bus that stopped right in front of the arena.  But there were so many cars and tour buses (mostly carrying fans from H.P.K.), that we decided to just walk back to the tram stop.  As we approached the stop, we missed the tram by seconds!  It would be 10 minutes until another came by.  But, a minute later, one came in the other direction.  Since it's just a big loop route, we decided to hop on, and take the longer part of the loop back to our hotel.  Long, it was, but we got to see a different part of Helsinki, and it was a relaxing ride after a full day of wintry fun.