Finland, old cards and a fifteen-out-of-ten breakfast
Helsinki’s sights, a sea fortress, aviation curiosity and an unexpected Magic: The Gathering reunion.
Finland caused trouble for two sets of numbers: the years since I last played Magic: The Gathering, and the supposed maximum score on a food rating. One needed correcting upwards. The other was abandoned somewhere between a cinnamon bun and mustard herring.
Around those discoveries were Helsinki’s market hall, streets and parks, Suomenlinna’s fortifications and the Finnish Aviation Museum in Vantaa.
Fantasiapelit
I came across a group of Finns playing Magic: The Gathering at Fantasiapelit and started talking about the cards I remembered: Mirage, Visions and Weatherlight. I said the last time I had played was twenty years ago. One player supplied the correction: “That’s Thirty Years ago!”
That was an efficient way to make me feel old. I had started in the Ice Age, Alliances and Homelands era. The newer artwork looked amazing, and I was glad to find a community still gathering around the game.
Old Market Hall, Helsinki
The Old Market Hall’s red brick and pale bands surround arched doors and windows, with decorative details along the roofline. Inside, my notes recorded reindeer horns, bear meat and all sorts of food for sale.
Salmon and shrimp breads fill trays behind the counter, with handwritten labels identifying the different toppings.
Helsinki city streets
Helsinki’s ornate facades make room for sculpture as well as windows and balconies. On one red and white building, four pale figures bend beneath a balcony, surrounded by columns and carved details.
Sibelius Park, Helsinki
In Sibelius Park, Eila Hiltunen’s monument to composer Jean Sibelius rises from a rocky setting in a dense cluster of steel pipes. A separate portrait sits nearby, with trees surrounding the silver metal and grey rock.
Suomenlinna
A cannon stands above grass-covered earthworks, paths and low fortifications at Suomenlinna. Construction began under Sweden in 1748 on islands off Helsinki. The fortress later served the Russian Empire and then Finland. Those successive periods give the place a history extending well beyond a single conflict.
Finnish Aviation Museum, Vantaa
The Finnish Aviation Museum prompted a burst of curiosity about engines, wheels, propellers and the use of wood in older aircraft. My caption gave the material that surprised me its own emphatic repetition: “WOOD!” The museum’s collection includes wooden propellers made from birch or ash veneer.
Outside, a silver aircraft carries Finnish Air Lines lettering and the registration OH-LCD, with boarding stairs beside it.
Meals around Finland
Salmon appeared repeatedly in my food notes: lohikeitto, the creamy soup, received 8/10, while salmon ramen managed 11/10. Korvapuusti, the cinnamon bun, went further at 12/10. The scale was becoming unreliable.
Mustard herring reached 15/10 and made my personal top three breakfast items ever. Caviar, apple buns and raisin buns received a comparatively restrained ten. Some foods clearly required extra numbers.
Three small canapés give a glimpse of the wider food collection, which also included liquorice ice cream, Skagen and Karelian pasty.
