Day 7: Hello Helsinki!

This morning amid tearful goodbyes, we sang Homeward Bound for our Jyväskylä hosts and boarded our bus to Helsinki. We were reunited with our Finnish courier Leena who was very moved by our parting with our hosts. She said we were the first group to make her cry before 10am, and told us of the Moomin trolls (apparently they’re not hippos?!) who teach us that you must leave a place or friends, so that you can back some day come.

Our bus drove us through the rain for a couple of hours. We even passed a moose bridge (a safe passage for moose above the cars). After settling in for our journey, Eric led a short bus rehearsal of the Estonian songs which have been neglected for a few days while we’ve focused on Echoes. This included the all-favorite Kust tunnen kodu with only 33 verses.

We stopped for lunch a little after noon at a truck stop in Mäntsälä. Many singers chose to try Finnish Burger King, some had cold sandwiches or salads, others went for the surprisingly good Kito Pizza. After lunch, Alex triumphantly announced that she found her retainer! (It was…wait for it…in her backpack.)

As we entered Helsinki, courier Leena shared some Finnish history during a bus tour of the city. The Baltic Sea is not as salty as most oceans, so this brackish water freezes along almost the entire Finnish coast in the winter time; we were able to see the enormous ice breaker boats as we passed the harbor. We stopped at Helsinki Cathedral and sang Over the Rainbow, Ringmängulaul, and Koit for passersby, and took group photos there. Then we continued our bus tour through the city center and learned that buildings in Helsinki aren’t very tall because a lot of them go down into the ground instead. We also heard about some of the more interesting national competitions Finland holds each year: boot-throwing, air guitar, and wife-carrying! Our last stop before the hotel was at the Sibulius monument to sing Sydämeni laulu by Sibelius among the birch-like metal tubes.

Finally we arrived at our hotel and checked into our rooms to rest for a couple of hours before dinner. The hotel dining room served a scrumptious Niçoise salad with smoked salmon and other add-ins, rich mashed potatoes, meatballs in a mustard gravy, and steamed peppers and zucchini which made a well-balanced meal.

After dinner, the singers had a choice of activities: resting in their rooms, playing games and chatting quietly in the lobby, or using the pool and sauna. We played a Finnish game of Alias and learned more vocab, Pelle - clown. Singers then showered and got themselves ready for sleep, with lights out at 9:00 so they’re well-rested for our first Helsinki concert tomorrow.