Our walk to Market Square
Once back at the bus stop we waited for our bus. The red Hop on Hop Off bus queue was mixed up with our queue as both stops were only metres apart. A full Hop on Hop Off bus arrived and lots of passengers left it. Our bus arrived a few minutes later with lots of room.
The next stop was for the Sibelius Monument and park. We decided to give this bit of culture a miss despite it being allegedly so photogenic. The bus took quite a while to reach the next stop as the roads were very busy and there were quite a few closed lanes due to roadworks. We did leave the bus at this stop and set off to walk to the open market. This was the City Centre stop and it was supposed to be an easy walk if our map was to be believed.
The walk proved more difficult than expected and we found ourselves walking at 90° to the route that we should have taken. It was my fault as I was heading towards the wrong cathedral. After passing a hotel that I found on Google Maps we finally had our bearings and cut down one of the streets to the market.
We passed this amazing memorial in a square. This memorial is to remember those who died when Finland was at war with Russia in 1939/1940. It is called ‘Valontuojia’ or Lightbringer in English. The memorial stands in Helsinki’s Kasarmitori.
Market Square
Once at the quayside we checked where the bus stop for the shuttle was before setting off to explore the markets.
The old covered market looked interesting and we went in at the nearest end. The market had two aisles running its whole length. We walked past small cafés, bars, vegetable and fruit stalls as well as other stalls selling fresh fish and meat. The public toilets at one end of the building were welcome sight after our long walk.
Out at the other side of the covered market we walked along the quay past tourist boats and lots of people enjoying the sunshine.
We turned the corner and came to the first covered stalls of the open air market. This covered a large area and was divided by two aisles. The first stalls that we passed were serving food from large hot trays and add lots of tables grouped around them.
The fresh vegetable and fish stalls were very busy as we passed by. We went past a large monument and then we came to stores that were selling clothes, handmade souvenirs and art.
The guys selling photographic prints had some excellent images of the city and its surrounds.
Once passed the market the cathedral on the hill could be more easily seen. (This was the one that I thought I was walking towards when we took the many wrong turns earlier.) We met more of our friends who had had a similar experience walking across the city as us -taking a wrong turn or two!
A broad street passed the market and on the other side was the harbour.
