Leaving Helsinki for ‘Real’ Finland

Last summer, in a quiet Helsinki park, I met a Finnish beauty named Seija who at first seemed interested in my impressions of her country. But when I told her I had not yet explored life outside the capital, she could not hide her impatience.

“So you haven’t been outside HEL-sinki,” she said, accenting the first syllable as Finns do. “That’s too bad. You won’t meet any Finns in Helsinki.”

She had dismissed me as a typical tourist. What she didn’t know was that I had lived in Finland for a few years when I was in my twenties and already was familiar with her wonderful country of diverse scenery and fascinating people.

Helsinki is an interesting stopover for anyone visiting Leningrad or Moscow. But Seija was right. Away from the city, the rewards are even greater.

The real Finland is small towns and country villages--places where one can observe what Finns call sisu, the steely determination that has kept Finland independent despite 40 wars with neighboring Russia.

During my four remaining days in Helsinki I decided to take four day-trips from the central city; trips designed to bring me in closer contact with Finnish culture. The destinations were easy to reach on inexpensive public transportation, which provides excellent service for the English-speaking visitor.

In assessing my needs, I decided that what I most needed was relaxation. I had been told Haikko was the ideal place.

Haikko Manor is a luxurious mineral spa about 18 miles from Helsinki. A large estate on 25 acres, it has a fully-equipped fitness center where one can take part in aerobics, slosh around in a mud bath or simply relax in the sun.

The hotel interior is a pleasant surprise. The anteroom and guest suites have been restored to their original 19th-Century appearance, with antique armoires and four-poster beds in the manor’s 27 double rooms.

As I entered the foyer, an ersatz version of a czar’s summer home, I was offered a glass of domestic champagne made from white currants. It was a fitting prelude to the unusual day ahead.

Treatment began in the sauna, a Finnish invention, and as I entered, I wondered if I would be on the menu that evening, wilting under 220 degrees of birch-scented heat.

A Finn demonstrated the use of the viihta, the bundled twigs the Finns use to increase circulation. I beat myself silly with the things, hoping no one was looking. When I had turned a bright borscht-red, I retired to a private room to relax and slake my thirst with a cold beer.

With my energy restored, I plunged into the dining room for a first-class smorgasbord. Others with stamina signed up for water gymnastics and weightlifting, but I’ll take smoked salmon, pickled herring and fresh berries as a responsible alternative, any day.

Haikko Manor offers special packages determined by the length of your visit. A 20-minute massage costs about $17. Rates for the more complex treatments rise accordingly.

Haikko is 35 minutes by taxi (about $60, one way), one hour by bus and two hours by boat (summers only) from downtown Helsinki. For overnight guests, manor rates begin at about $160 per double and include swimming, sauna, breakfast and service charges.

The next day I journeyed to a small Finnish town I remembered from my travels nearly two decades before.

Porvoo is one of Finland’s four 15th-Century medieval towns constructed by Hanseatic traders. About 25 miles away, it is the closest of the four to Helsinki and according to many Finns, the most beautiful.

The name “Porvoo” means “castle on the river,” although the original castle there did not survive the Middle Ages.

I arrived on a bus at a gently bubbling river lined with red-roofed waterside storehouses. I stopped a Finn and asked about the buildings. “They were used for storing salt,” he said, in perfect English. “We Finns are a salty race.”

At Tuomiokirkko (Porvoo Cathedral) I explored the gray stone church, the oldest surviving structure in Porvoo from that period. The church was built in 1418, gutted partially by fire in 1708 during the Great Northern War, and rebuilt during that century. It is beautiful.

As I entered I was drawn to the artfully marbled pulpit and gallery, reconstructed in 1729 by Johan Friedrich Schultze. Look for the artist’s mark behind the organ, on the church’s back wall. It is an eerie, mysterious signature.

Many of the old town’s buildings date from the early 18th Century. Much of the original architecture was demolished by fire in 1760 and reconstructed by the townspeople themselves.

The town hall, built in 1746, was partially saved and renovated. Today it is a historical museum. Adjacent to it, Holm House, an art museum, displays period pieces painted by Albert Edelfelt and sculptures by Ville Vallgren, both celebrated artists in Finland. The buildings are open daily.

Cafe life is very much a part of old town Porvoo. Finns are, for reasons unknown, the No. 1 coffee drinkers in Europe. Porvoo residents more than hold their own. I whiled away the better part of a sunny afternoon in a charming little cafe called Helmi, at Valikatu 7, chatting with a young Finnish couple on their honeymoon.

We nibbled pulla, yeasty little buns flavored with cardamom and rock sugar, and spooned thick local cream into the muddy coffee. The afternoon passed quickly.

Buses for Porvoo leave every hour from Helsinki’s Central Bus Depot, at Simonkatu 3. The ride takes about 45 minutes. If you visit between May and September, a boat, the J. L. Runeberg, leaves Helsinki daily at 10 a.m. and arrives Porvoo at 3 p.m.

Remember that you cannot take the boat in both directions and still have time to see the town the same day. Further information is available at the city’s municipal office, at Rihkamatori A.

On Sunday I wanted to stay closer to my hotel. There was an ideal option. Suomenlinna (literally “Finland castle”) is a picturesque island only 20 minutes from the main harbor by public ferry. What’s more, it is accessible all year.

Getting there is fun. Board a small tug marked “Suomenlinna” at Helsinki’s waterside marketplace and pay 75 cents on board. We swept past private islands and rocky shoals in the Helsinki archipelago, and saw families rigging their sails for an afternoon cruise.

The day was so clear that I could see Estonia, the Soviet republic on the Baltic sea. It was visible across the Gulf of Finland about 40 miles away.

Suomenlinna is a fortress in name only. But in the early 18th Century the Swedish navy built it as a garrison to counter the threat of attack from the east. In 1918, the year Finland achieved independence from the Russian Bolsheviks, the island passed into the hands of the local authorities. It has been open to the public since 1973.

Today, 900 residents live a peaceful life there and visitors come to picnic, party, absorb culture and relax. I arrived early in the day. That’s when I met Jarmo, a mathematics professor from a local university, who was taking his family out for the day. Traditionally reticent, Jarmo, like other Finns, seemed all too happy to practice English on a foreign visitor away from the chaos of the city.

I joined Jarmo at Piper, a wonderful, weather-beaten wooden coffee shop with grand columns at the entrance. Fresh baked cinnamon rolls, country eggs and hot spice tea made for a grand breakfast, as we listened to the wash of the sea from a long table on the veranda. We watched dozens of Finns sunning themselves on terraced rocks overlooking the surf. Some had spread out blankets for a summer picnic.

Suomenlinna has seven museums. Follow the path hugging the shore and you can’t miss them. Armfelt Museum is a storehouse of antique furniture and maritime artifacts. Ehrensvard Museum is the fully restored home of an 18th-Century Swedish naval officer.

Suomenlinna has a wonderful fortress restaurant called Walhalla where you’ll find serious eaters from Helsinki. Walhalla, which is several hundred years old, is a large bomb-proof dining hall with excavated brick walls and regal appointments. It features dishes such as salted salmon and roasted game.

A three-course lunch is available for less than $20 a person. The baked potato alone is worth the journey from Helsinki. Boats returning to Helsinki leave every half hour.

The most ambitious day-trip of the four is also the most rewarding. Tampere is the regional capital of Hame province, about 130 miles from Helsinki. I lived there for two years and loved it.

To get there this time I rented a car in Helsinki and headed north on Finland’s E4. En route, I passed through some of Finland’s most spectacular scenery. In 2 1/2 hours I was home.

Tampere is a mill town that grew up along the banks of a river, the Tammerkoski. Flanking the central city isthmus are two large lakes, Nasijarvi and Pyhajarvi.

I was there to see the many works by Finland’s world-famous architect, Reima Pietila. Pietila’s work reflects a post-modern, environmentalist style and is well suited to the charms of the city. The main city library, at Pirjankatu 2, is his most recent completion.

Opened in 1986, its stone, glass and copper motif resembles a large sculpture, like many of the architect’s works.

Other Pietila buildings, such as Kaleva church and Hervanta town center, are scattered throughout Tampere. A guide to Pietila’s work is available at the City Tourist Office at Verkatentaankatu 2.

Tampere has had considerably less foreign influence than Helsinki, as strongly evidenced in its cuisine. Those who live there will tell you it is more Finnish than what is eaten in Helsinki. I stopped by the market square for local delicacies, looking for the hometown black pudding called verimakkara , a sausage made from liver and rice. There, something amazing happened.

The same woman who sold the pudding 20 years ago is still there and recognized me. We chatted while I ate two enormous pieces of sausage. “So,” she said, “I haven’t seen you in a while. And why hasn’t your Finnish gotten any better?”

That afternoon I went to Rustholli for a country-style Finnish lunch of reindeer steak, pike-perch and lanttu laatikko, a farm table casserole made from rutabaga, at Rusthollinkatu 16. Rustholli is a hotel restaurant on Lake Nasi, about six miles from the city center. A No. 28 bus will transport you there in about 15 minutes.

Driving back to Helsinki in late afternoon I squeezed in a visit to Iitala, 35 miles south of Tampere. Iitala is home to Finland’s largest glassworks, Nuutajarvi. Tours are offered daily and this is the place to buy Finnish crystal at cut-rate prices in the factory outlet store. Seconds with tiny blemishes are sold at a fraction of the cost of similar items sold in Helsinki and elsewhere.

I arrived in Helsinki at 10 p.m. It was dusk and I was tired. I walked through the park where I had met Seija four nights earlier, hoping to see her again. But the park was empty except for one harmless drunk.