Day 14 - A quick day in Helsinki, Finland
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Docked in Helsinki, Finland early this morning. After a leisurely breakfast, hopped onboard a bus for a three-hour tour of the downtown area with two photo/shopping stops at Sibelius Park and Senate Square. Our tour guide was unhappy with yet another “hot” day in the very low 80s. Leaving this afternoon for our (last) port-of-call - Stockholm, Sweden... |
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Finns are rightfully proud of their role in hosting the first post-WW II Olympics in 1952 as well as numerous major international summits. Here a statue of Finnish Olympian Paavo Nurmi who earned nine gold medals and three silver medals competing at three Olympics in the 1920s... |
First stop, the Sibelius Monument - 600 etched tubes welded together and meant to physically represent the flow of his music. There was apparently some serious debate in Helsinki about the appropriateness of this concept. A bust of Sibelius was added later in an attempt at compromise... |
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Monument plaque, erected in 1969, sculptor was Eila Hiltunen. |
Angela at the base of the Sibelius Monument... |
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On our way to stop two we passed Uspenski Cathedral, an Eastern Orthodox church originally built by the Russians. Our tour guide dryly explained that a big chunk of Finnish history involved the Russians and the Swedes coming to Finnland to fight each other! |
Second stop, Helsinki's Senate Square. Lots of eating and shopping opportunities in the open air market and in nearby cafes. Per our tour guide, Finns drink more coffee per capita then any other nation in the world. Based on the number of coffee houses we saw and the number of times our guide mentioned coffee this is probably true. |
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Around the corner from Senate Square was this statue of Russia’s Alexander II with Helsinki Cathedral in the background. |
A better view of Helsinki Cathedral. |
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Some Helsinkian humor, perhaps... :) |
Giraffes on a balcony, more Finnish humor perhaps... |
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On our way back to the harbor we drove by the coast and marina area, just lovely weather... |
Marina area in Helinski. Per our tour guide, while all the tourists are shopping downtown, most Finnish families are here enjoying the water. Seemed about right to us... |
