It was a summer Wednesday evening on July 12, 2023, in Helsinki when, after a restaurant dinner, I walked downtown and happened upon a scene where the Radisson Blu hotel, located next to the Kamppi metro station, was being cordoned off by metal barriers, with several police officers patrolling in front of the hotel. People gathered behind the iron fences as if waiting for something, and there really was something exceptional in the air. US President Joe Biden was coming to Finland and he was going to stay at the Radisson Blu hotel in Helsinki’s Kamppi. Check out my video –
The hotel and the road passing by it were isolated from other people for several tens of meters, as you can see from the video. You can also see how Joe Biden’s bodyguards were using binoculars from the hotel’s rooftop terrace balcony to watch us curious passers-by. Biden’s arrival time had not been announced to the public, so I didn’t linger around the hotel, but continued on my way.
I got on the metro from Kamppi as usual, when suddenly, after leaving the Central Railway metro station, the driver announced that we wouldn’t be stopping at the Hakaniemi metro station. The metro driver didn’t give any explanation for this. I hastily decided to get off at the Helsinki University station in Kaisaniemi, which comes before Hakaniemi.
As I was leaving the Helsinki University metro tunnel, a security guard yelled after me, that I couldn’t go where I was heading. Apparently, the police would have stopped me. I wondered for a moment what to do and then rose to the surface from the university tunnel exit.
The road to the Helsinki city center through Kaisaniemenkatu street was fenced off with similar iron fences as in Kamppi, and there were several police officers and security guards standing by the roadside. I asked one of the police officers why the Hakaniemi metro station was closed and when it would open, but the police officer didn’t know to tell. Fortunately, the pedestrian walkway was free, so I continued my journey on foot towards Hakaniemi. And then suddenly all car traffic and trams were prevented from passing through Hakaniemi via Unioninkatu and Kaisaniemenkatu to the city center. Everywhere became eerily quiet – you can see and hear this silence from the attached video.
It was a way past 10 pm in the evening and the sun was setting. The views from the Unioninkatu roundabout towards Pitkäsilta, Hakaniemi and Kallio Church looked beautiful with an orange-colored sky in the background, so I stayed near the roundabout with my camera, waiting for what was to come. It was a bit reckless in retrospect.
First came a helicopter, buzzing loudly on top of us. By “us” I mean the other spectators gathered by the road, as well as security guards and police officers. Unioninkatu and Hakaniemi gaped empty for a long time before the arrival of the president’s motorcade. Finally, after a long wait, blue lights began to flash on the horizon and approach Pitkäsilta bridge and the Unioninkatu roundabout.
President Biden’s motorcade consisted of motorcycles, police cars, and various other vehicles such as vans, ambulances, and in the middle of all this, the two limousines adorned with Finnish and American flags. Joe Biden was sitting in one of the limousines. You can see and hear the entire Joe Biden motorcade in the attached video.
After the procession passed me, I walked back to the Helsinki University metro station. Traffic returned to normal, and the next metro stopped again at Hakaniemi metro station.
I’ve never been to America myself, but what I saw did remind me a lot of American movies. And it made me reflect on how easy traveling is for an ordinary citizen.
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