Can you imagine what the title "The Baana and Lapinlahti in Helsinki" means? Well, before this visit to Helsinki I had no idea what it could mean. But now I can report on it and there are plenty of surprises in stock. The Baana is a disused freight railway line that can now be used by cyclists and pedestrians. Lapinlahti is a western district of Helsinki.
Baana is a term that is now also used in Finland for other bicycle rapid transit lines [1]. The original, however, refers to a popular bicycle and pedestrian route from Helsinki Central Station, which can be reached through a tunnel, and the Lapinlahti district. The route runs in a trench of the Pohjoinen Rautatiekatu, which is the street that runs past the Helsinki Art Museum HAM, for example. The route is 1.3 to 1.5 km (approximately one mile) long and has no intersections. This is not only an advantage for cyclists, pedestrians in particular run into red lights much more often, so maybe we change run for stroll. The trees, bushes and flowers planted in the ditch make you feel detached from the hustle and bustle of the big city. In the wider parts of the ditch there are places to sit or pingpong tables, even tennis and boule are possible. You can also rent bikes there. Wikipedia gives the number of annual bike users as 700,000.
The Lapinlahti district (Swedish: Lappviken) [2] is interesting not only because of the cemeteries, which I would like to make an own topic later. I had walked through the cemeteries as dusk fell and came to the bay, where young people also like to spend the evening. You can sit on benches or on the cliffs that jut out into the bay. There the city has a very beautiful evening atmosphere. I also found a table decorated with craftwork and poems. It was in a small forest and you can see gardens right next to it. I walked further and then looked at the Lapinlahden sairaala, and that has nothing to do with a seraglio (Serail). It is the former or rather the first psychiatric hospital in Finland [3], but it is no longer in operation because it was closed in December 2008 despite opposition from the citizens of Helsinki. The third head doctor of the clinic, from 1904 to 1922, was Christian Sibelius - you guessed it - the brother of Jean Sibelius.
Baana is a beautiful route if you are in a hurry, but also if you want to take your time.
Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baana I also used German texts: https://www.dfg-ev.de/news/3048/helsinki-quotbaana-von-der-bahntrasse-zum-fahrradweg and https://rad-spannerei.de/2012/06/20/baana-in-helsinki-fahrradweg-unter-der-stadt/ as well as https://finland.fi/de/leben-amp-gesellschaft/gut-in-fahrt-helsinki-baut-das-radwegenetz-weiter-aus/
[2] Forget the English Wikipedia article as a source of information. However, you don't have to use the Finnish (Suomi) article as there is a good French one: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapinlahti_(Helsinki)
[3] There ist also a very good aricle in French on Wikipedia: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%B4pital_de_Lapinlahti
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