Rick Steves: 800 Finnish singers march into battle
The crowd is excited to hear the choirs’ annual fair in Helsinki.
There is clear energy on the streets of Helsinki tonight. My friend Hanne explains, “We call Wednesday ‘Good Friday.'”
People fill the city’s main boulevard. There are so many people that I wonder if it’s some kind of demonstration. Then I see their robes and sheet music and realize that these are choir groups, each represented by a sign. About 800 singers from all corners of the country gather on the massive stairs of the Lutheran Cathedral, which overlook the neoclassical Senate Square. Crowds gather and are excited to hear this annual choir lineup.
The audience goes silent and the singers embark on an arousing series of anthems. Although I don’t understand a word, the songs are sung so fiercely that I think they tell the hard history of both Finns, their strong faith and gratitude to be what they are – the people of Finland. . At the end of the last anthem, the balloons are released and the singers break up, launching a celebratory initiative called “Art Goes to Pubs.” The watering places of the city are filled with song.
As we leave the square, we stop at the curb. There is no traffic, so I walk across the street. I get to the middle of the boulevard before I look back at Hanne, who is still waiting for a walk. In defeat, I return to the curb. He says: “We are waiting in Finland. It may be two o’clock at night and no car is in sight, but we’re waiting. “
I find that the Germans also respect authority.
Hanne says it’s different in Finland. “We trust authority. But we obey the laws… even small ones. That’s why we have such a low crime rate. “
Hanne mentions an elegant restaurant from the 1930s that has been perfectly preserved with its dining room. Its functionality, designed by Alvar Aalto, is the kind of straightforward design and practical elegance that Finns love. Inside is raging private office parties – especially crab parties. Crabs are in high season, but $ 10 each is hardly a budget meal. Still, around the city, Finns make a crab bar: Suck and Taste the red mini lobster, throw a glass of snaps, sing a song and do it again. The 99 Bottles Beer the replay just gets more fun each round.
Hanne shows me a table where Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, the sixth president of Finland, always sat. He was the heroic George Washington of modern Finland, who led fierce opposition to the Soviet Union. Many Finns hold him personally responsible for keeping his country free during and after World War II. No Finnish military leader will ever own the value of Mannerheim’s “field marshal” again. But anyone can suck crabs at their favorite table.
We keep walking and end up back where we started, in the big Senate Square. The city looks like a story about two cultures. The setting sun shines both in the Lutheran Cathedral and in the golden onion domes of the Russian Orthodox Church. They seem to meet, which symbolizes how the East and the West have long been at odds here in Finland. The second largest sea fortress in Europe – after Gibraltar – fills an island in the harbor, making the village of Helsinki a thriving capital.
Finns have a self-confidence that loves to have fun and they seem to live well. I ask Hanne how Nordic Europe can be so prosperous when only Norway has oil.
He answers: “Norway has oil – Finland has Nokia. It’s like Microsoft is for you in Seattle. “
“So, what’s the Swedish trick?” I ask.
Hanne sighs and shows Nordic envy for the regional power plant. “They never go to war. They’re always rich – they just raise money all the time. The Swedes are like our big brothers. They always win. Like in hockey. We only won once, in the 1990s. The Swedes – assuming they would win – had already written their victory song “But we won. We Finns still sing this song to make it difficult for Swedes. It’s the only song that Finns know in Swedish, and every Finn can sing it… even today.”
Our conversation is interrupted by another song – an arousing anthem. On the other side of the square is the church choir, which is marching again to another pub in Helsinki than to fight for music.
– This article is adapted from Rick’s new book For the Love of Europe.
Rick Steves writes European guides, hosts travel programs on public television and radio, and organizes trips to Europe. You can email Rick at [email protected] and follow his blog on Facebook.