Locating Helsinki

Vuosaari Harbour #2

by Edit Bajsz

The Vuosaari harbour was opened to traffic last November (see it under construction). I went to check it out on a cold winter day and found some awesome things. It was a Sunday, I guess partly because of that, partly because of the recession affecting the field of logistics, the area was rather quiet. But still it was amazing to see those cranes and piles of containers.
On the western edge of the port I found the empty dock of an old shipyard. I found out later, that sadly there is maybe not too much time left to adorn its awesome proportions. In spite of the original plans, which would have kept the pool filled with water, several bridges crossing over it from the port to the business park on the other side, most of it will be filled and the area will serve as a base for the container-lego-game, leaving only a small pool as a reminder of the dock.

I also went to the opposite edge of the harbour, where a highly claimed sound barrier wall stretches a kilometer long between the harbour and the adjacent nature reserve area. Next to the wall, a pedestrian route will be laid out. Maybe for those who want to feel the tension between nature and engineering?
Right at the center of the port area, near the entrances and the main office-building, I found a surprising, little, softly curved building with a wooden facade sitting among those giant sharp-edged logistic facilities. It is the Helsinki Seafarers’ Center.

As I was already freezing, I went into the „Vuoska” restaurant, which has everything a good roadside joint focusing on the appetite of truck-drivers has to offer. They had excellent variety of fresh pullas and cakes late Sunday afternoon! The restaurant serves as a resting place for the people on long hauls, it has saunas, showers, and a corner arranged to look like a cosy living room of a home. The best part is that the Vuoska is open with its kitchen working 24/7.