Helsinki

A good site to visit for a tour around Helsinki is izi.Travel

Holy Trinity Church

Once in awhile walls of rock like this pop up around Helsinki.

This is not far from the university or from Liisankatu.

Dawn

Frommers says, "This statue of a young girl is on a porphyry base near the corner. The gray-fronted modern building serving as the statue's backdrop contains the printing presses and engravers' shops for banknotes issued by the Bank of Finland."

Of course, I did not even notice the building in the background.

The Dawn or Daylight statue with the woman shielding her eyes from the sun originally 

was part of a pair according to Stark Raving Ray

The other statue was destroyed during WW II.  Nowhere can I find any information about the

two statues.  

The famous "Dawn" statute. It was originally part of a pair, but sadly the "Tony Orlando" portion was destroyed during the War.

Fazer Easter display with enormous eggs

Much smaller Fazer eggs

Helsinki city hall

Helsinki City Hall

was designed by Carl Ludvig Engel as a hotel in 1833, the building has been the City Hall since the 1930s. The Helsinki coat-of-arms can be seen on the tympanum. The City
purchased the building in 1901 and, after the hotel moved out in 1913, renovated it as a city hall. Architect Engel also designed the major buildings around the nearby Senate Square.
Helsinki City Hall is the venue for the Conference opening reception, hosted by the City of Helsinki.

A patch of ice lingering in the harbor

Open air market mostly food ready to eat and 

hand made crafts

Covered market on the harbor

It is the cathedral for the Diocese of Helsinki of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF). It was built from 1830 to 1852 as a tribute to Nicholas I, Tsar of Russia, and was known as St. Nicholas Church until Finland’s independence in 1917. The building is a Greek cross 

The twelve apostles are made of zinc, the biggest unique set of zinc sculptures in the world.  

Thanks to Cannundrums web site, I now know that there are apostles on the

roof of the Helsinki cathedral just as there are on Notre Dame.

It looks as if I need to make another trip to Helsinki to see all of the sites I either missed 

or didn't notice. 

I did not even notice the third statue while I was visiting the cathedral

Martin Luther

Philip Melanchton

Mikael Agricola

Three plaster statues in the church interior:

Helsinki Cathedral

Our favorite Italian pizza on the left

Hotel Seurahuone

Lobby with dining room inside the door at back

We stayed on the fifth floor which was interesting to us.  We had to go up half a flight to reach our room while there was a similar stairway going down short flight to more rooms. The carpet at our end of the hall (a dead end) was wearing on the edges of the steps.  I am not sure if this was unique to our floor or not.

Dining room where we ate breakfast.  It was a restaurant later in the day.

Breakfast was a buffet with everything that I could imagine (but an omelet) available.

Hotel in Helsinki

Lounge by the stairs and lift on our floor.  I did not recognize the painting from 

which this painting was copied. 

Room very similar to the one we stayed in. One bed but two down comforters.

Austrian Symbolist painter Gustav Klimt between 1907 and 1908, the highpoint of his "Golden Period", when he painted a number of works in a similar gilded style.  It is a symbol of Vienna Jugendstil—Viennese Art Nouveau—and is considered Klimt's most popular work

This painting is entitled "The Kiss." by Klimt

Gustav Klimt
"Le baiser" (detail)1905
Huile sur toile (c) Osterreichisches Museum fr  Angewandte Kunst Vienne 

House of Estates across the street from the Bank of Finland and Snellman statue

The House of the Estates is a historical building located opposite of the Bank of Finlandbuilding in Helsinki, Finland. Built in 1891, it housed the threecommoner estates of the fourestates of the realm of Finland. It continues to be sporadically used for governmental meetings.

Photograph: Joaquim Alves Gaspar

Archive – More featured pictures...

I couldn't resist copying this picture of Helsinki from long ago.  Close to the same

shot that I took this week.

Bank of Finland with statue of J V Snellman in front of the building

Johan Vilhelm Snellman was an academic who "advocated the duty of the educated classes to take up the language of the then circa 85% majority of Finns, and develop Finnish into a language of the civilized world^{[attribution needed]} useful for academic works, fine arts, state craft, and nation".

Because of his views he lost his position at the university and spent time in exile.

In this photograph of the bank the National Archives can be seen in the background.

Liisankatu, 6 Helsinki

Restaurant just opposite our apartment building.

German food

From the salad bar 

The red vegetables are a potato salad (that tasted exactly as I would expect.)

Schnitzel with white asparagus

The corner table where I ate lunch.

A wider view of the room

Markku Henriksson and Blogger

Lunch following the Professor's presentation at the University of Helsinki.

Restaurant on Senate Square where we had lunch.

Ritva and Markku Henriksson w Blogger

I am not sure how I managed to get these two sets of pictures together.

The most delicious dinner with our friends in Helsinki

just above the Rax pizza buffet.

Please return the containers to the point for sorting thank you

Holy Trinity Church 

Senate Square

Pedestrian crossing

Helsinki Cathedral

Hand crafted in Finland

Sibelius school for the performing arts on  Liisankatu

Indoor display continuing the inside the museum

In a typical Elaine fashion, I am exploring Helsinki and learning much more about it now that I am no longer there.  Thanks to a couple of blogs and sites, I have learned about places that I wish that I had visited and have been reminded of interesting spots that we did visit 4 years ago.

http://molahelsinki2016.wikidot.com/main:exploring-helsinki

University of Helsinki

Gateway to the Professor's office in 2011-2012

University and National Library main building

Recently renovated

We woke up on our last day in Helsinki to snow on the ground.

At the airport snow plows were busy clearing the runways.

Just in case you need some time alone or a nap.

15 Euros for the first hour

Postscript:





Kamppi is home not only to a shopping mall but to a Metro station and the intercity bus terminal.

Kamppi shopping center

Kamppi Chapel
In the middle of the busy Kamppi neighborhood you find the Kamppi Chapel, or Chapel Of Silence – with its quiet inside a stark contrast to its hectic surroundings. The chapel was built as part of Helsinki’s nomination as World Design Capital 2012 (see below) and is a stunning piece of architecture made entirely of wood. The contemporary design and egg shape of the chapel is, similar to Temppeliaukio Church, unlike any other chapel you’ve ever seen.

Special thanks to http://globetrottergirls.com/2015/03/helsinki-guide/

We were in Helsinki when this unusual structure was being built but we had no idea that it was a church.  Of course, seeing it on our recent trip, it did not occur to us to try entering it.  

Three Smiths