Meri-Tuuli Lindström.
When I tell foreigners about Finns, I start off by describing how in the wintertime everyone just wants to sit on their couch at home. You don’t keep in contact with your friends that much, because you don’t want to go outside. “But when the spring comes and the snow has melted, before the grass is even dry, everyone is out on picnics in the city’s parks. The earliest enthusiasts catch colds, because we’re so happy about the spring and worked up over the prospect of warmth that we don’t remember to dress properly,” I say.
I’ve never recommended travelling to Helsinki in the wintertime. In the winter, your only contact withthe locals would be at bars, where we’re shouting around in packs, drunk as a skunk because we started the night at a friend’s place with a couple of bottles of wine or a 12-pack of beer and a bowl of potato chips. When we make it to the bar, we’re shooting booze by the platterful, and come last call we grab a kebab and wobble into the taxi line. How can you become part of the jolly tradition of Finnish intoxication, if you don’t know anyone and just happened to buy a return ticket to exotic Helsinki?
The summer starts in May, with the official blastoff being May Day. After that it’s game on: the first beers in the park are enjoyed after work, on the bench, because the lawn is too muddy and filled with serpentine and dog shit. But it won’t be long until people whip out the pro gear and walk the streets with picnic baskets and blankets.
You sit in the park at lunch, after work, in the wee hours when bars have already been closed and on days off. I’m pretty sure some people sit in the park also when they should be working.
The park calls for some wine or beer, and the basic rule is ‘bring your own bottle’. Food is involved as well, the most popular choices being the classic baguette and cheese, or a take away pizza. In the last couple of years portable or single-use grills have also enabled the more hi-fi picnickers to have a barbecue, as long as the authorities don’t intervene.
The most popular parks are Sinebrychoff’s park, Plague park and the northern lawns of Esplanade’s park. In Kaivopuisto you can combine picnics and team sports, Alppipuisto is a rendezvous point for hippies and punk fanatics, and you can also find DJs spinning there in the weekends. Tervasaari is a good choice for thos who appreciate privacy – and can deal with chilly ocean winds. My personal favorite is the Siltasaari boat dock opposite of Kaisaniemi. There the sun shines until late and it’s comfortable to sit on the piers.
All of this summer fun wouldn’t be possible, if the city didn’t give a blind eye to the regulation that prohibits drinking in public. And so be it. Of course, the police will intervene if necessary to remove the biggest drunk idiots, but I think the system works really well as is.
I predict that this summer will be awesome for picnics. The restaurant and take away offering in downtown Helsinki has improved, and Stockmann’s grocery store Herkku has expanded. When the sun goes down, you can gather at your favorite tavern or find new bars and make new friends in the summery Helsinki nightlife. †
Meri-Tuuli Lindström
The author is a television presenter living in Helsinki as well as the founder and owner of movie catering company Elokuvamuonitus Nakki and cafe Nakki Tehtaanmyymälä.
Light snow 
