Helsinki Market Square

A low, rectangular expanse of granite cobblestones stretches out right against the harbor water, punctuated by rows of bright orange tents. This is the Helsinki Market Square, the city's primary outdoor trading post since the early nineteenth century. When the Baltic freezes over, icebreakers carve channels through the harbor so that small fishing boats can still tie up at the quay to sell their catch directly to locals. The fishermen's wooden hulls groan against the stone edge as the wind whips off the sea.