INDEPENDENCE DAY
|
|
|
Thursday is Independence Day, and Finland this year marks up 90 years as an independent state.
There will be processions, a military parade (in Hämeenlinna this time), and the annual ritual of attending the Independence Day Reception at the Presidential Palace, either in person or via the medium of the television in the corner of the living-room.
What there will NOT be is a normal working and shopping day, as shops, banks, post offices, Alko liquor outlets, and all the normal paraphernalia of weekday life will be taking the day off.
As usual, please do your essential shopping beforehand (today), and remember that buses, trams, the Helsinki Metro, long-distance coaches, and trains will be following Sunday timetables. There may be some exceptions, so it is worth checking the various websites on the Net.
If you really must shop, the stores in the underpass beneath Helsinki’s main railway station will be open from 10:00 until 22:00 even on Thursday. A few pharmacies will be open on Thursday, too, if medications are needed, but be warned that the strike by pharmacists could affect this situation. Normal emergency health services will naturally be in operation if something goes badly wrong.
As always, please be careful with the candles traditionally put up in windows to mark those who gave their lives for an independent Finland: the fire and ambulance services would prefer not to be in action more than is necessary.
The International Edition will not be appearing tomorrow, but will return on Friday as normally, when we will almost certainly have a picture cavalcade of what the good and great were wearing at the Presidential Palace, just in case you missed it.
Helsingin Sanomat
INDEPENDENCE DAY