Kaljakallio

One summer's evening back in the 1950s, five young architects sat on the granite rocks of the Lauttasaari hill drinking some beers and trying to ignore the cold shadow of the water tower creeping across them. They looked down at a bumpy piece of land sloping steeply towards the coast and thought how one day they should buy it and build a house for each of them with a communal garden where they could sit and continue drinking their beer.

The water tower has gone now and so have the young architects but at the end of Pohjoisniementie you'll find a row of five beautiful houses, staggered down a hill with one communal garden. The houses are known as the Kaljakallio, the Beer Rock.

Lauttasaari Hill

In September of 2015 the glorious water tower that had looked over the island since 1958 was pulled to the ground, bite by bite. The locals came out and watched and shared memories and said goodbye to this one constant in our lives. The hooded crows nesting on top flew squaking in confused circles, and everyone wondered what would be built in its stead.

I spoke to my neighbour about the tower. He told me that the entire hill is hollow, a giant cave blasted out of the granite to store ammunition; A nod to Finland's precarious geographical position. Perhaps that explains the official-looking building with high fences and immaculate lawns to the north-east on Pohjoiskaari.

I used to live beneath the giant mushroom tower, now I live next to a giant ammunition store. Maybe I should teach the dog to step lightly.

How to go fishing in Helsinki - Long read

I wish I could say that this story doesn’t begin in a sauna. Starting any article about Finland in a sauna seems such a cliche. However, hopefully the truth won’t get in the way of a good mediocre story.