We decided to rest our feet a bit and didn’t have a early start, but we did wish for one more day here. Several things to see and capture the feel of the city, plus squeeze in some shopping. The Russian influence is here. We saw it in the food, the music, and the architecture. Ross’ breakfast this morning included his favorite lingonberries.

Then we head for the Design Museum.

There we saw early drawings of the Nokia phone,

and discovered that the game Angry Birds was created in Finland. This is also the land of Fiskars scissors, etc.

Most impressive was an exhibit called Pack Ice. This glass design was created by artist Timo Sarpaneva for Expo 67 in Montreal. The display here at 7 feet by 30 feet and with 210 glass pieces is about half the size of the complete work. The rest is in storage.

The pieces are of different shapes and sizes and took a year to complete.

Lots of interesting design shops in the area including furniture, clothing, jewelry, and kitchenware. After some searching, we found Cafe No. 9, a Rick Steves recommendation for a casual, cost-effective lunch.

We had interesting food in an atmosphere populated by youngish people on their lunch breaks.

Then we were off to Kampin Kappeli Chapel, the “silent church.”Very small but with tourists coming and going, it wasn’t so silent. Outside, it looked like a barrel.

Next stop was Ateneum, the National Art Gallery. There, we saw mostly Finnish artwork including paintings by Albert Edelfelt. This one is “Conveying the Child’s Coffin” and was painted in 1879.

Another piece we liked was this wooden sculpture. On the wall to the left is the painting, “The Wounded Angel,” by Hugo Simberg.

Next stop was Fazer’s cafe, again, for a pastry. This was so yummy. Made Helsinki even more memorable.

Dinner was at Bröd, a bistro in the Kaartinkaupunki neighborhood. Our hotel was in the same area and we had a fairly short walk to dinner.

Our food was excellent and the presentation, memorable. Comfortable place.

Next morning we head for the airport and pass by icebreakers in the harbor. Finland is the world’s largest manufacturer of these ships and their biggest customer is Russia.

I’m glad we got to see this part of the world although it was not my favorite bicycle trip. A bit too much wind and time spent shuttling although the latter allowed us to cover a wide swath of Scandinavia. Also a bit too much creamed herring.

After we were back home I read the novel Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson. It’s fiction but discusses the very real Tollund Man, a well-preserved mummified corpse who lived in the 4th century B.C.

He was discovered in 1950 on the Jutland Peninsula and is one of 500 “bog bodies” discovered in Denmark. The combination of peat and very cold temperatures is responsible for the preservation of these bodies and it’s believed he was a willing human sacrifice. His body is on display at the Silkeborg Museum, about three hours from Copenhagen.