Nestled just below the Arctic, Finland and its capital Helsinki offer peace and tranquility
SURROUNDED by sea and set in an archipelago, the capital of Finland, Helsinki offers you an exciting city vacation in beautiful surroundings, a diverse cultural life, architectural gems and quality shopping opportunities. Helsinki is a city of contrasts in which the urban lifestyle is flavoured by the sea and surrounding nature.
I had the good opportunity to visit the Finnish capital last year on the sidelines of an international conference where I presented a paper. There is the fortress at Suomenlinna Island, 30 minutes by sea from Market Square, a favourite shopping area for tourists. During the trip we were aware of the clear unpolluted water of the harbour in which a variety of fish abound. But once on the island, we were awe struck by the huge structure.
Suomenlinna is one of the world’s largest maritime fortresses, which was built on one of the six islands of Helsinki in the 1700’s. It has been designated a UNESCO world heritage site since 1991. We returned from Suomenlinna at midnight, a time when actually the Sun was still shinning!
Summer in Helsinki is full of fascinating exhibitions, exciting special events, aerobics in the parks, the Serena Water Amusement Park, fun outings and the annual Helsinki festival, a cultural event featuring music, theatre, dance, visual arts, film and the most popular Night of the Arts.
At various tourist information offices you can see young students helping tourists, working round the clock for their city, Helsinki. The people of the city are very hospitable and honest. Cycling is their most common exercise and there is a track reserved for cyclists along all roadsides.
During the winter season, the city’s active cultural life offers something for everyone. Sunny winter days are perfect for walking on frozen sea, while the fascinating darkness is ideal for exploring the nightlife.
Many museums in Helsinki offer a clearly presented view of over 450 years of the city’s history, with dozens of art galleries. Two wooden houses from 1830’s and 1840’s are now a museum, outlining the history of schools in the Finnish capital. The exhibition exhibits classrooms, teaching material, photographs and a computerized databank.
During my stay there, I also visited the office of the Mayor of Helsinki, who informed us that in the next ten years there will be a ‘new Helsinki’ created out of large investments currently underway. Indeed, many new high-rises dot the city as part of the creation.
Away from the urban jungle, I also had the opportunity to visit the Nuuksio National Park, Espoo, some three hours drive from Helsinki. There, I enjoyed the great outdoors, fishing and hiking in the forest.
For shopping freaks, there’s the biggest shopping centre of Helsinki, Stockmann, with hundreds of spread over seven floors. There, I bumped into an Indian, Vishwas, with whom I had a really nice friendly chat about, what else but cricket. Cricket has still very much been maintained by the resident Pakistani and Indians there. On a particular Sunday, I saw some Pakistani boys playing a friendly cricket match against their archrivals, a team of Indian boys. Most of the lads there were students. For my Friday prayers, I visited the only mosque in Helsinki.
The Pakistanis there are really well organized. Of the 500 in Helsinki, there’s Sarwar Bhatti, President of the Finnish-Pakistani cultural association, who has been living in Helsinki for the last 30 years. Together we visited a Pakistani restaurant, the Maharaja, which is owned by a Lahori family. The outgoing phone call rates are very reasonable in Finland. Thus enabling me to maintain a daily link with my family back in Pakistan.
Finland, Helsinki in particular, isn’t high on the must visit places list of Pakistanis. I think, it should be.
Nestled just below the Arctic, Finland and its capital Helsinki offer peace and tranquility 
