FLASHBACK #54: MidSummer In The City with JP

Bree and one of his friends came up with the idea of going to a Gay Camp for MidSummer. I was dead set against it for since when has MidSummer been a gay festival? I don't like it when traditions get twisted and its original meaning becomes lost. I mean, just look at how commercialised and soul-less Christmas has become.

We came to a compromise: Bree would spend the weekend with his friend and I would spend the weekend with my friend, JP (you can read more about when I met JP here). Very much like New Year's Eve, MidSummer does strange things to Finnish people; the point is that you must a) have a plan and b) you must celebrate it otherwise you are a loser.

JP came up with a brilliant plan to go on a tourist cruise boat which would sail from Helsinki's kauppatori (main market square) to Seurasaari, a forested island which is home to an open-air museum containing a collection of preserved historical wooden buildings from all over Finland. Tradition dictates that a newly wed couple (there are no permanent residents on Seurasaari) would light a bonfire to mark the MidSummer.

During the day of MidSummer Eve itself, I set off on my bicycle, taking pictures throughout the deserted city. It reminded me of that time I had spent MidSummer in Tampere when then, as now, the city was deserted providing a perfect opportunity for people-free photos (check out MidSummer 2003 here).

In the evening, JP came over to my apartment in Katajanokka where, overlooking the sea, we ate a meal I had prepared. Before long, we walked the short distance to kauppatori, boarded the boat and were on our way to Seurasaari. I was actually quite surprised just how many were on board. Most of them were tourists for sure, but it contributed to a wonderful evening. JP and I drank and chatted non-stop, slowly getting more tipsy. We soon reached the crowded Seurasaari Strait, hundreds of boats of all shapes and sizes bobbing up and down in the shallow waters.

By now, the sun was setting, casting a warm orange glow that made you think that Summer really had just arrived. From a negative perspective, the evening represented the return of the darkness for each day from hereon would get shorter and shorter, but we were distracted from the thought with the kick-off of the celebrations on the island.

People in traditional dress danced to folk music which reverberated across the Strait. After a while, a newly-wed couple emerged from a wooden barn, bearing a blazing torch which was used to light the bonfire. A light breeze fanned the flames and, within minutes, the fire was visible to all bobbing up and down on the sea.

After a while, the boat started its engine, bound back from whence it had come. We passed under the impressive bridge that goes to Lauttasaari before reaching the mighty metal loading structures at the docks near Ruoholahti; at times like this, you realise just how nature, in this case the warm glow of the sun, can make something ugly appear momentarily beautiful.

As we neared Helsinki, JP and I leaned against the railing. I looked at him, his face orange from the last rays of the sun, and thanked him for the fantastic suggestion of a MidSummer cruise. He waved away my gratitude with "Ei hätä". No worries, he had said!

Click on the pictures below, taken during my cycle ride around the city during the day and during the evening cruise. Enjoy!