So here I am in Finland a handful of days after first hearing about this opportunity. After a fairly relaxing and calm day full of watching Curious George, bathtime, and making lots of silly faces, I got to explore Helsinki for the first time tonight. It stays light until nearly 11pm here so even though I didn't leave until 8, I still had some time to get out and see things.
When I first stepped out onto the street I immediately heard seagulls calling out above me. The streets of Helsinki have an antiquity about them despite the modernity of the city. However, unlike the romantically messy and falling apart antiquity of Rome, Helsinki's antiquity is polished and regal. The cobblestone streets while orderly, are full of trolley tracks winding up and around the city. The colorful old buildings and the picturesque streets seemed to beckon me along urging me to explore further. I discovered a beautiful park full of wonderful statues, a wharf with a beautifully intricate ship bobbing along, and bicycles parked along and in front of everything.
In my wanderings I stumbled upon a massive building with enormously steep stairs. It looked like a cathedral but I wasn't sure so I ran up the stairs to find out. More so than the stairs the view from the top took my breath away. In front of the doors there was a sign posted which read "This is a house of prayer and silence." This description struck me as interesting as it did not mention any particular religion (at least not in English). There was a rather intimidating handle on the pair of heavy looking doors which I pulled as gently as I could so as not to disturb the silence I was sure to find. Inside were towering undecorated domes, an ornate silver and gold organ, honorary statues of Martin Luther and his contemporaries, and a beautiful altarpiece. The only sounds to be heard were the hushed foreign whispers of cathedral guides full of unfamiliar slips and slides of language echoing in the peaceful silence. The whispers seemed to belong to the quiet but any other noise felt out of place. It made me very intentional about my movements within the space. I sat and prayed for awhile before signing the guest book and reading the brochure which had been translated into at least ten languages. I learned that about 80% of people in Finland are Lutheran. By the time I left the cathedral it was getting chilly and finally starting to get a bit darker so I decided to meander back towards our apartment.
As I was carefully reading the directions and pictures I had put into my phone because I am notorious for being horrible with directions I also did some serious people watching. I even came upon some musicians who were passionately playing popular tunes on marimba looking instruments. Not far from there I found an ATM, which is always a good thing to locate when exploring a new country and a cafe still open. I ordered a cappuccino and sat outside watching a bit of sunset peak through the overcast evening before finally going home for the night.
As I sit here now reflecting on just a few short hours of experiences I am filled with wonder. What are the strange ticking boxes on traffic lights for? How is the traffic always so calm? Why does everyone but me look relatively bundled up for cold weather? I can't wait to discover more questions as more adventures await.
Check back for more stories later and in the meantime, check out this awesome song which just so happens to be called Helsinki.
No comments:
Post a Comment