We woke up to a beautiful morning in Helsinki, blue skies and a little cool. It felt like Fall as I’m sure it has in Minnesota as well. After breakfast we set off in the neighborhood of the hotel to find a church my dad had heard about. After a nice walk we found it nestled in part of the neighborhood nestled amongst the pines. They were in the midst of Sunday morning worship but it was in Finnish so we didn’t stay. There was a bike trailer pulled into one of the aisles.

Then we checked out and headed to Helsinki for our last day of walking around the city. We dropped our bags in a locker and headed to the Lutheran Cathedral, easy to see from many parts of the city.

It is a Cathedral despite being Lutheran as is attested to in its grandeur and statues.

The statutes are of Martin Luther, Phillip Melanchthon and Mikael Agricola. For those unaware the first two are the Father’s of the Reformation and Agricola was a student of Luther’s whom brought back the Reformation to Finland. I am always surprised that Finland doesn’t have a statue of Katie Luther as the mother of the Reformation considering Finland’s record on recognizing women. The statues spark some pride in me for reasons you can guess. Another part of the Cathedral that I enjoyed considering is the crypt. Because it’s a Cathedral they built a crypt into it but because it’s Lutheran no one has ever been buried in it. Instead they used it to store wood for the heat source until the early Seventies when they put it to an even better use as a small chapel and as a cafe in the summer. Of course, different groups from the congregation take turns volunteering to work the Cafe. Hard to get more Lutheran than that.
Following this pilgrimage we set about the main harbor square and the Esplanade in search of some memories to buy. As far as spending money there were not many opportunities as most stores were closed. I missed out on a few things I was hoping to bring home because of this but the prices are high enough that I may be able to find some at home for cheaper. We finished the day tired from all the walking of the past week. Taking a bus out to the airport we found our hotel with a very small room. It wasn’t an issue as there was only sleep to be found there and my dad had to rise at 4:00 am for his flight back.
Labor Day was a travel day that started early and is going to end late. Four different airports in three countries with planes, trains and automobiles.
My dad wandered the streets of Helsinki for five days straight and found many interesting spots and places. I wished to have another normal day to see a little more but am happy with the opportunity just to be here and get to know a different and cool city. I will be happy to see my family and to be around for the first day of school tomorrow. Also, we still need to settle in to our new house in Duluth and be done with the moving in stage that still exists in it at present.
A few more pictures.