The Finnish Line - Where To Toss The Bags

Where To Toss The Bags

Helsinki is a major metropolitan center of over a million people nestled on the north shore of the Gulf of Finland in the eastern Baltic Sea. Nicknamed the Princess of the Baltic, Helsinki is both a cultural center and a working port. To reach Helsinki from the United States, Finnair offers direct flights from JFK and Boston Logan. There are numerous connecting flights via Lufthansa, British Airways and United through Frankfurt and London. Once in Helsinki, the Helsinki Card, which is available at many local retail outlets, provides unlimited rides on local city buses, trains, trams and ferries. It’s a great deal for the money.

Helsinki has a variety of first-rate hotels in the central city. We selected the Radisson SAS Seaside Hotel after reading many Internet reviews and were very pleased with our choice. It is located in the near west side of Helsinki in the harbor area, situated mere steps from the Baltic Sea. I particularly liked this feature as the guides came to pick me up by water every morning just outside the hotel lobby.

Radisson SAS Seaside Hotel - Helsinki
011+358 (0)20 123 4707
www.radissonsas.com

There are numerous fishing guide services in the Helsinki area, but I selected the Fishing Lords after a thorough web search and discussions with previous clients. Tuomas Ollikainen and Mika Viitanen have been running the operation since 2000 and are the market leaders in the area. They employ nine people full-time and 30 contract guides who are extremely knowledgeable in the area and the habits of the gamefish that inhabit the Baltic Sea. It’s a first class operation that includes eight hours of fishing a day with a seasoned guide and a delicious shore lunch with local delicacies. The equipment is new and the outboard boats are in excellent working order. If you choose, you can also rent a lovely modern cabin from Fishing Lords along the banks of the Baltic.

Fishing Lords
011+358 (0)41 530 7727
www.fishinglords.fi

Bring Your Camera

Helsinki is a vibrant city with a funky mix of 250-year-old structures and eclectic and angular modernistic buildings built according to the Finnish Design School. We arrived on the Finnish national holiday of Vappu on May 1st when about half a million people descend on downtown Helsinki to party hardy. The streets are packed full of students, laborers, businessmen and others. The whole city shows up. It was a lot of fun to see the balloon vendors carrying their thousands of helium orbs bringing joy to the assembled children. There were magicians, jugglers, troubadours and rock-n-roll bands. One thing’s for sure, Helsinki knows how to throw a shindig.

I heartily recommend two local Helsinki eateries. The Salve Café is basically a friendly neighborhood tavern, which served up the best fried pike-perch/walleye I’ve ever eaten. The other spot, Meri Makasiini at the harbor edge, specializes in traditional Finnish dishes.

If you get a chance, take a ferryboat ride to Suomenlinna, the 18th Century Swedish sea fortress that protects the entrance to the harbor of Helsinki. It has been completely restored and is worth an afternoon stroll to see the fort that protected Helsinki for over 200 years. The ice cream cones offered there are not bad either. Another jaunt by ferry is a trip to the Helsinki Zoo, which is on an island on the eastern side of the city.

Other Notes of Interest

About Finland

• Capital: Helsinki
• Area: 130,558 sq mi
• Location: Scandinavia, a member of the European Union
• Population: 5.3 million (est. fishing population 1.5 million)
• Religion: Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (84%)
• Language: Finnish (similar to Hungarian); most residents speak English fluently as well as Swedish
• Government: Parliamentary Republic
• Currency: Euro (.64078 Euros = $1 US)