My hotel in Helsinki--Hotel Cumulus, hence the clouds on the ceiling
Tiny bathroom, as usual
The Gideons left a tri-lingual bible--just as an example of how it looks, here's John 3:16 in Finnish, Swedish and English!
Helsinki was very gray and wet, between the harbor and the rain
The sign was in Finnish, Swedish and Russian, so I'm afraid I don't know what the statue is for--but it was dated 1989, so it must relate somehow to the end of the Cold War
Helsingin Sanomat is the leading daily Finnish newspaper
This was a primary school I stumbled across while lost--so pretty!
Lutheran Church on Senate Square
Senate Square
Statue of Alexander II, from back when Finland was under the Russian empire. I love the seagull on his shoulder!
That seagull isn't going anywhere.
Statue of Martin Luther in the church
Such a simple interior, but the pulpit and the altar are gorgeous
And the organ! I didn't notice it until I was leaving, as it's above the front entrance.
Helsinki Cathedral, right on the harbor
Every damn bridge in Europe is getting covered with locks now. The trend has even come to Helsinki, which is not known for being a romantic destination. In Paris or Venice, it made sense, but Helsinki?
Inside the Cathedral--a sharp contrast to the Lutheran one! Lots of gold and color everywhere.
Cruise ship in Helsinki harbor
Instead of bollards, they have these hilarious concrete tortoises to keep cars in the lot. So funny!
Apteekki is pharmacy--makes sense, because it's like apothecary! Finnish is a crazy language, but occasionally there are similarities
This fountain cracked me up, too--the water comes out of the seals' mouths, so it's like they're spitting at her.
Esplanade Park--beautiful cafe/bar/restaurant at the harbour end of the park
This is the Bieber fan crowd. I heard them before I saw them--chanting "Bieber! Bieber! Bieber!" together. I took a photo and carried on after a couple of minutes of nothing happening.
I had to go to Marimekko, as it's part of my paper I'm presenting tomorrow. It's ridiculously expensive. There were ugly, shapeless dresses for 200 euros. But they're printed and made in Finland, and Jackie Kennedy and Carrie Bradshaw both wore Marimekko, so it's not all bad!
Shopping district around Aleksanderinskatu (katu is street, so everything ends in -katu)
The main department store. It was huge and brilliant. I did a lot of shopping and even had lunch here--a brilliant pizza with arugula, prosciutto and goat's cheese.
I love these Esprit t-shirts for kids. I didn't buy them, because they weren't iconic Finnish souvenirs, but I had to take a picture at the very least.
I had this for dessert--it looked like a cinnamon roll on the outside, but then it had a berry filling! When you buy things without understanding a word, life is full of lovely surprises! Of course, salted licorice is another Finnish delicacy, and I saw chocolate bars with licorice in them. That's a surprise I don't want to get. I'm not eating any candy without an English translation.
Postman Pat!
Fireman Sam and Dinosaur Train!
The Harry Potter illustrations are bizzare. This one is Chamber of Secrets
Prisoner of Azkaban
Goblet of Fire--check out how ugly they made Viktor Krum! Hermione wouldn't have gone for that...
Huvudstadsbladet is the leading Swedish-language newspaper in Finland (only 5% or something speak Swedish, but everything is bilingual--street signs, labels on food, etc. It's been helpful for me, because Swedish is a bit easier to understand. I bought lingonberry jam without any English on the label, but I know it's lingonberry jam because I remembered the Ikea label--lingonsylt!)
Train station
Hilarious! The label had Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and Danish, so apparently this dry sense of humor is Scandinavian.
My hotel from the outside
Feeling slightly like a drowned rat at this point--time to move on to Turku!
Inside the train station--that guy I accidentally got a picture of is a Finnish soldier!
The trains are very modern & clean & lovely.
