Helsinki; Saturday, 23 July, 2005

First stop of the morning was the Finnish Central Bank Museum. On what could be quite a dry subject, money and how the economy of a country works, this could be a really dull museum. However, they have managed to present the topic in a very clear, easy to understand and fun way, with lots of hands on exhibitions (though sadly no free gifts!) The exhibition also includes a display on all the different designs that were put forward for the Euro. It was very interesting to see what the currency could have looked like (and yes one or two of them were even more like Monopoly money than the existing design!)

From there, as the sky had changed from menacing to pleasant I went out to the Botanical gardens for a look around. The gardens, located just next to the central railway station, are very small compared to similar establishments in other places (e.g. Bremen, Stuttgart, London), but still very pleasant. At the centre is the greenhouse with the usual collection of (mostly unbearably humid) rooms.

With the weather looking like it was closing in again, I went to the Helsinki City Museum which tells the story of the history of the city, from the original small settlements, to the city's founding by King Gustav Vasa in 1550, through rule by the Swedes, then the Russians, then Civil War, World War and up to the present day.

Next stop, on the edge of town by the docks, was the Helsinki Car Museum. A disappointing museum (especially as the entrance fee is quite high) that has a collection of cars (from around Europe - not Finnish made) with very little information on them, and all parked in an underground workshop which has an overpowering smell of petrol!

As the weather had now gone through threatening, bright, cloudy, threatening and was back to bright again I took the opportunity to visit the Winter Gardens. Even smaller than the Botanical gardens, but nether the less very beautiful with the gardens laid out in what I assume is classic "English Style" - Serried ranks of the same plant! At the centre of the gardens is the Greenhouse, which, unlike the Botanical gardens, is actually comfortable to wander around in as the Humidity is set at a low level.

From there I caught the tram to the Docks area again, though this area appears to have been redeveloped into a classy residential and design business quarter. In the old cable factory are several museums, of which only two were open. The Finnish Photography museum has displays on contemporary and historic Finnish and international photography, including a couple of changing exhibitions as well as it permanent displays. The Hotel and Catering museum is interesting (despite what could be a dry topic) but is very small and does not go into much details. Though as with all Nordic countries, it does go on about the restrictions in alcohol sales and consumption from the turn of the century on to the modern day more relaxed attitude (Since neighbouring Estonia - 90 minutes away by ferry and a fraction of the price for booze - Joined the EU in 2004, and people were allowed to bring as much booze back on the ferry as they liked, the Finns have had to relax their policies and prices, otherwise everyone would be permanently crossing the Baltic with vans!)

I caught the tram back into town and, with a clear blue sky, went on one of the sightseeing cruises around the eastern islands of the archipelago. A very interesting tour, through some stunning scenery, however the second part of it was viewed from the body, rather than the deck of the boat, through a lashing rain storm that, once we had left the harbour and turned into the sea, was obviously about to hit. I know nothing much about weather - but even I could see it was a front that was moving in!

Slightly damp, but thankfully nothing worse than that, I walked back to the tram stop and caught the tram back to the hotel to change clothes, and as it was late, have a very pleasant dinner there.