HELSINKI

Helsinki in December: A Finnish phrase meaning, “Freeze your head off.”  Yes, we were in Helsinki from the 4th of December, through the 9th.  I was appearing at “Storyville,” a wonderful jazz club in the middle of town, with Matti Oiling’s band.  Our saga began when we were still en route.  Finnish Airlines supplied us with a good supply of one of the local specialties called “Arctic Bramble.”  It is a wonderful liqueur, rather on the sweet side, made from what looks like raspberries on the label.  Naomi likes it on the rocks.  I tried it, and then mixed it with equal parts of Finlandia Vodka.  I preferred my concoction.  They also taught us one of the most important words a traveler can have at his/her disposal, “kittos,” which means thank you in Finnish.  Upon landing, we were met at the airport by Matti, who took us to our hotel so that we could rest, and ready ourselves for the night ahead.

It was like a storybook, looking around the town.  The lights were on all over because the sun was only out for about four hours per day.  I had played there in November of 1973 with Ray Charles.  Now, thirty years later, it didn’t seem to have changed much.  As a side note, I picked out the hotel that I had stayed in as we drove by coming in from the airport.  The reason that I know this is because when I met the promoter who put my little tour together, he affirmed that it was indeed the hotel, and then pointed out the concert hall where we had performed.  When I asked him how he knew all of this, he told me that he had been the promoter for the R.C. appearance in Helsinki in 1973.  Boy oh boy, what a small world.

Matti’s band is a hard-driving blues ensemble, complete with a singer named “Blues Mama.”  The audiences were quite enthusiastic, and appreciative.  As the band swung through the night, so did they, fueled by lots of “anti-freeze.”  Naomi had done some research on Finland prior to our arrival, so there were sights to see, and things to eat and drink.  We began relatively early the next day with a trip to the National Museum.  Among the many goodies on display were some prehistoric skis.  How these people managed, I’ll never know.  I have enough problems staying upright on contemporary skis with bindings.  Those people hunted, etc. on primitive boards with animal skins to hold their feet.  I guess they were pretty hard-driving people also.

On the 6th, we found the “Church of the Rock.”  It really is a church carved out of a rocky hillside.  The word, “impressive” is an understatement.  On our way to the church, we passed a souvenir shop.  My ears were rather cold at the moment.  Thus it was that I gravitated toward the ear-muffs on display.  Remember now, we were in Finland, the land that heat forgot.  In the midst of the ear-muff display I found what I thought were mink ear-muffs.  Jokingly, I said to the saleslady, “What are these….mink?”  She responded in the affirmative.  Yes, they are mink inside and out.  Not only that, but they fit perfectly around my head and over my ears.  And so it came to pass that I wound up with a pair of mink ear-muffs to wear on my way to the “Church of the Rock.” (As well as for the remainder of our stay in Helsinki)…Kittos.

The sax player with the band is a Ron Starr clone, complete with a big sound, and heavily swinging ideas.  He plays what he means, and means what he plays.  His name is Panu.   From him, we learned that one says “hey,” in Finland rather than hello.  That worked out just fine for Naomi and me. He, along with the rest of the “swing meisters” kept things cooking quite well.  Speaking of cooking, the club served us a late dinner each evening.  They had the usual chicken, and steaks, along with a nice selection of New Orleans specialties, such as Jambalaya and seafood gumbo.  While on the subject of culinary delights, I must mention the Lapland restaurant at which we dined on reindeer meat, and other Finnish/Lapish goodies, accompanied by, of course Arctic Bramble, and Glug.  Glug is a hot, sweet wine served in wooden cups, quite similar to German Glüwein.

The 8th was our last day for sightseeing.  We took in the Christmas market, as well as the Market Square, where we bought a couple of the Finnish wooden cups.  It was at the Christmas market that we learned the Finnish story of Saint Nicholas.  In the year 270 CE, it seems three young girls, for lack of family funds, were about to be sold to the Turks to be used as prostitutes.  Hearing of this, St. Nicholas put coins through their window throughout the night.  When the girls awoke the next morning, their family had enough money to pay their debts, and thus their virtue remained intact for the moment.  As I see the advertising at holiday time throughout the world, it appears that there must be an awful lot of young girls in trouble with similarly prurient-minded Turks.

The next day, the 9th, we packed and then did a bit of a walk around town to revisit some of the sights, and then we were off to the airport, where we greeted the airline personnel with “hey” all around, as we bought some more Arctic Bramble along with some incredible chocolates filled with all sorts of good stuff.  We’re looking forward to seeing Helsinki when it defrosts, and the sun shines for more than four hours per day.  We shall return…Kittos.