Finland
Report August 2005
We arrived in Helsinki
in the mid day and were met at the airport by club
president Chris Lummelampi. We enjoyed a short taxi
ride from the airport to the Hotel Rivoli located
in the city center close to all of the sights and
many fine restaurants. Chris would pick us up later
for dinner. We unpacked and immediately ventured
out to a bustling city filled with tourists. We
walked along the harbour front and explored the
many vendors booths set up in the Market Square
selling a wide variety of wares including food,
souvenirs, clothes and local handicrafts. Within
minutes walk of our hotel were major sightseeing
'musts' and we quickly walked past them and looked
forward to visiting each more thoroughly the next
few days. We returned to the hotel and freshened
up and then it was off to dinner with Chris. She
took us to one of her favorites and we understood
why very quickly. The food and service were excellent
and the atmosphere very relaxing. Wendy had a scrumptious
chicken plate and Richard enjoyed a feast of sea
scallops. We passed the hours quickly getting to
know more about our gracious host and her beautiful
country.
The streets were crowded
with people and artists performing all sorts of
music from classical to rock and many locals displaying
handmade crafts. We had arrived on a special day
of the year called 'Night of the Arts' where the
local artisans and musicians came out to celebrate.
The festive evening lasted into the wee hours of
the night and we enjoyed spending some time in the
revelry before retiring to our room for a well deserved
rest after a very pleasant evening.
The next day we stopped
at the tourist bureau and became aquainted with
some of the attractions we would visit in the coming
days. We decided to become orientated with the city
by taking a boat cruise called King's Gate amongst
the over 300 islands off the coast of Helsinki.
The excursion along the city shores and through
it's beautiful archipelago was breathtaking. The
weather was sunny but cool at 20 degrees celsius.
Helsinki is the capital of Finland and is an important
cultural center and seaport. Next we were off to
explore the Suomenlinna Maritime Fortress with it's
7 museums, cozy restaurants and miles of fortifications,
curtain walls, ramparts and tunnels. It was very
educational to understand the various reasons for
the large Russian and Swedish influence in Finland
outlined by it's historical relationships from the
past. Near the end of our tour and on the windswept
furthest part of the island to the ferry back to
the mainland the weather turned for the worst with
a strong blowing rain. We stopped at an in interesting
restaurant called Nikolai Pizzeria to wait out the
storm. It was located in the mysterious labyrinthine
casement vaults under the fortifications. We enjoyed
a delicious early dinner and many local Carlsberg
beer waiting for the storm to be over. We eventually
decided to leave and take the long walk across the
island to the ferry in the pouring rain. We arrived
back at the hotel soaked to the bone but much richer
from the unique experience. After a short nap and
change of clothes we were off again to explore more
sights and have a relaxing snack in a Chinese restaurant
near the hotel after an excellent day of sightseeing.
The following day began
with a visit to the Senate Square in the city center
an area that is crowned by three buildings in the
Neo-Classical design built between 1822-1855. They
are the magnificent and most photographed Helsinki
Cathedral, the Government Palace and the University.
We then took another boat tour called 'Under The
Bridges' to see more of the city, it's buildings
and parks. Another interesting site was a Lutheran
Church, more commonly known as the 'Rock Church'
hewn into the rock and completely surrounded by
rock. Shopping is available in every type of store
from street vendors to major department stores.
One of the local department stores even had a fashion
show to make shoppers aware of their wares. Richard
even sat through it and especially liked the swimsuit
session.
In the evening we
were collected from the hotel by club member Elizabeth
Schauman for dinner with the rest of the judges
at the Yacht Club a short boat ride into the harbour.
We enjoyed reacquainting ourselves with fellow judges
Ann Ingram from Ireland, who we had met several
years previously when she had judged in Canada and
Roy Metcalfe from England who we had met when we
did a seminar on for the North Counties Shih Tzu
Club in the late 90's in England. Also on the panel
was Ellis Hulme, Vivien Watkins, Diane Fry and her
daughter Tracy Jackson and Vera Gillott, all from
England, Karin Biala-Gauss and Gerda Kastl from
Germany, Siv Jernhake from Sweden and Kari Jarvinen
and Rainer Vuorinen from Finland. The dinner started
with a tasty pureed morel (mushroom) soup, followed
by Caesar salad then a delicious whole sea bass
with tartar sauce and salmon roe, roasted potatoes
and vegetables. It was then off to bed for a good
nights sleep before a long day of judging.
The show sponsored
by the Finnish Toy Dog Club was held in the exclusive
seaside Kaivapuisto Park which is Helsinki's oldest
and best known park surrounded by embassies and
villas. Unfortunately the day was sullened by a
continuous downpour that continued throughout the
day. The show was judged under Finnish Kennel Club
and FCI rules with critiques and gradings being
given for each dog. At the 900 plus entry Toys only
show Wendy had an entry of 21 Bichon Frises, 39
Boston Terriers, 15 Maltese and 9 Yorkshire Terriers.
Richard judged 35 Schipperkes and 23 Lowchen. We
enjoyed judging the excellent dogs with cheerful
exhibitors and also the excellent buffet lunch and
spirits to warm our tired bodies after judging in
rain for the day in the elegant restaurant in the
park. The eventual winner of the specialty was a
Bichon Frise, Jitterhop Million Bucks owned by Jaana
Kauppinen.
That evening we ventured
out with the remaining judges for another feast
of local food with host Chris Lummelampi. Richard
had a tender fillet of reindeer and Wendy had a
sandwich tower of roast pork. We retired early after
a long day in the elements with plans to take the
Sea Catamaran to the country of Estonia 80 kilometers
south of Helsinki across the Baltic sea.
The next day was sunny
and bright and we enjoyed the hour and a half boat
ride to the medieval city of Tallin in Estonia.
We had a pleasant day of sightseeing, history and
shopping. Our guide for the day brought us to all
the right places for the above in our whirlwind
day trip to this interesting country. Wendy bought
several local hand knitted sweaters to compliment
her fall wardrobe.
We returned back to
Helsinki in time to pack and get ready to leave
for the final leg of our exciting adventure to Scandinavia.
The next morning we would fly to Copenhagen, Denmark
where we would stay for a few days before going
on to our final judging assignment where Wendy would
be judging in the town of Vejen in the western part
of the country on the following Sunday. We looked
forward to returning to Finland to further explore
the diverse country as we had only experienced a
glimpse of the country from Helsinki only.
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