Helsinki, Finland

On the boat to Helsinki before dark

This area is as we were leaving Sweden and is part of the Swedish Archipelago

Arrived next morning and were able to walk to our hotel from the ship.  Stashed our bags and went walking through the market.  Uh oh, furs and such

Many hats to try from Mink to Fox to Rabbit. 

The Cossack

 

Not sure what this one is, but it is so Terry and her new image

The red of course

This one I like.  Made from a red and grey rabbit

The food.  Fruit

Fish, reindeer (I tasted a reindeer meatball) Pretty good

and vegetables.  Potatoes are a staple along with other root vegetables.

 Alexander II who had the Cathedral behind him built.  

The Cathedral.  The green domes of this white-walled Evangelical Lutheran Church tower over Senate Square in the center of town.  It was originally built to honor the Russian Tsar Nicholas I, and was finished in the early 1850s.  The architect Carl Ludwig Engel designed the church with only the large dome.  He died before the church was completed and it was felt that the roof could not support the large dome, so it was redesigned with four smaller domes on each corner to help suppot the roof.  The statues around the roof are the twelve apostles which were placed there at the behest of Alexander II. By the way you really have to want to go to church to climb all these stairs every Sunday.  

It is the principal church of both the Helsinki Diocese and the Helsinki Cathedral Parish.  For many people, a symbol of Helsinki as a whole.

Beautiful interior

Esplanade Park.  Again designed by Carl Ludwig Engel, after a fire nearly destroyed Helskinki in 1808. The park was built to separate the new stone structures from the older wooden houses on the southern margin.  Initially it was a place for the gentry to stroll in their finest attire.  It soon became a place for the masses. Cafes and restaurants make for good people watching

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A strolling couple

Obligatory statue in the park.  Finlands National poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg (sculpted by his son Walter Runeberg.

Below is the Maiden of Finland draped in a bearskin is leaning against a table containing the words of his "Maamme"  (Our Land) anthem in Swedish.  It was unveiled 6 May 1885 amid much celebration.

The 'rock church'.  One of the more popular artectural attractions in Helsinki.  It's actually built into a rock.  Very modern looking

Sibelius Monument is dedicated to the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) who wrote Finlandia (the national anthem). The monument is located at the Sibelius Park in the district of Töölö in Helsinki.  The monument was designed by Eila Hiltunen and unveiled on September 7, 1967. Originally it sparked a lively debate about the merits and flaws of abstract art, for which reason an effigy of Sibelius was included in the work. It consists of series of more than 600 hollow steel pipes welded together in a wave-like pattern. The purpose of the artist was to capture the essence of the music of Sibelius. 

Effigy of Sibelius

To be continued on another blog.