First time in Helsinki and Bruce Springsteen AGAIN
My husband, TC Ted and I flew Finnair from Heathrow on Wednesday 10th July and landed just as England were about to kick off against the Netherlands in the Euros semi final. We got chatting to our friendly taxi driver (EVERYONE is so friendly in Finland) and next thing we knew he had got the match up on his phone and handed it to us in the back to watch the first half! Arrived at our hotel, the Hilton Helsinki Strand, just as first half was ending – the match was on the large screen in the bar, so we quickly checked in, dropped our bags in our room and went back down to watch the second half. Lucky result for me (English) but not so lucky for hubbie (Dutch!), though my gloating would stop on the Sunday when we lost to Spain in the final!
Now the Hilton Helsinki Strand is a fabulous hotel. Yes, it’s a business style chain hotel, but location was perfect. We had king suite with balcony and oh my word, it was huge. We had 2 entrances, kingsize bed, huge separate lounge, 2 full bathrooms, 2 mini bars, 2 coffee making sets, large TV in both bedroom and lounge, sofa, chairs, chaise longue and large dining-height table & chairs in lounge, and decent sized balcony overlooked the water. After the footie match finished we went and sat on our balcony even though it was gone midnight. It was still quite light outside and the temperature was very pleasant. Although the bed was very comfortable I didn’t sleep well after a long day travelling and at 3am I looked out the window to see the sun was just starting to come up (having not completely gone dark at all!).
Hotel is immaculately clean and everything in good condition. Breakfast was impressive with lots of choice. Staff really friendly and helpful. We had access to the executive lounge and there is an indoor pool and sauna area but due to the short time we had in Helsinki we didn’t use either, but something to consider when we (definitely) return!
The Hilton is within easy walking distance to everywhere central – just 20 minutes’ walk to the lively Market Square and 35 minutes to the Olympic Stadium where the concert was held. But just a 2 minute walk away is the charming Flying Dutch boat bar/restaurant which I highly recommend for lunch, dinner or just drinks on the water. There is very little traffic in Helsinki and lots of green spaces – walking around was a pleasure.
Thursday morning after breakfast we started our wander, and popped into the Music Hunter vinyl & memorabilia store. We intended to go back as it was a real rabbit warren of a place and music fans like us could spend hours browsing in there, but time didn’t permit as we had a whole city to explore in just 2 days. We headed up to Market Square, stopping off at Kappeli restaurant’s terrace bar for a coffee. After checking out the souvenir and food stalls and watching the excursion boats and ferries come and go, we walked over the road to Il Siciliano for lunch (Italian obviously) which was excellent. After a late lunch we headed back towards the hotel and stopped at Flying Dutch for a beer. There was a bit of rain today but nothing major – I was warned that weather in Helsinki can be very changeable, and indeed it was, we had a whole range of slightly cool, wind, rain and then on Friday afternoon and Saturday it was almost tropical weather in the mid 20s. Take layers! That evening we tried a traditional Scandinavian restaurant called Saaga. It was very good but service was appallingly slow so we wouldn’t rush back.
So to Friday and the reason we came to Helsinki! We allowed ourselves a bit of a lie-in after all the walking yesterday and 2 late nights in a row, and wandered back to Market Square where we had fish soup and whitebait style street food from a food stall – delicious. Back to Kappeli for a beer – Kappeli is THE place to go and watch the world go by according to several Finns we got talking to, and there is a bandstand just outside where occasional music pops up. Great atmosphere. Then for a coffee on the pavement terrace outside the plush Hotel Kamp (with unusual touch of strawberry plants instead of flowers in the planters by the door!). Rumours were that Bruce Springsteen was staying there but that turned out to be a false alarm, he was actually staying much closer to our own hotel and unfortunately hubbie banned me from going and stalking outside!!
At 5pm we left to go to the Olympic Stadium as we had a buffet package with our tickets. Bruce came on just before 8pm to a packed (40,000) audience. Right from the start I knew it was going to be the best concert ever. Acoustics were just spot on, Bruce looked like he was having FUN the whole time, and for a 74 year old his voice and energy was as good as ever, and the E Street Band just amazing. They played for just over 3 hours without a break, playing 32 songs and the crowd were just ecstatic. Long walk back to the hotel with aching feet and had a nightcap or two on our balcony, absolutely buzzing.
Saturday and time to leave. Packed and then headed over to Flying Dutch for a quick and delicious lunch before a 30 minute taxi ride to airport.
Prices in Helsinki are pretty similar to London. Obviously depends on where you go and what you eat/drink, but there are no shocks. Food is heavily centred on seafood (particularly salmon and herring) and reindeer as you would expect, but most places have lots of other options if you’re not into either. Everyone speaks either reasonable or very good English which is useful as Finnish is totally alien to me, and as I said before everyone is so friendly and helpful.
Helsinki completely exceeded my expectations and Bruce definitely didn’t disappoint. TC Ted thoroughly enjoyed himself too! I will definitely return and will definitely stay at the Hilton Strand again.
