2683 Trip Tale: Touring Helsinki, pt.1

Our first full day in Helsinki was packed with many local sights and sites. First we stopped at "Fire Island" (don't know its Finnish name) where Martti had designed a housing complex on the former site of the North Korean Embassy. It had a setting to die for--at least in the USA, in central Ohio, where lake sites are at a premium.

Then it was on to the Central city, Senate Square, where you'll see all the tour buses stop filled with Russians, Koreans, Japanese, Germans and Italians. I believe it was two weeks ago that the New York Times ran a wonderful article about Helsinki in its travel section. Here we visited the gorgeous Lutheran Cathedral and walked across the street to visit the Helsinki University Library, probably not a stop for most tourists, but I enjoyed it. It is high-tech and high-touch, with computer terminals, digitized collections, and also wonderful old books.

Tuomiokirkko (The Lutheran Cathedral), Helsinki, exterior
Cathedral, Helsinki, interior. There was no "night" while we were there, but this photographer caught a good night shot.
Inside the Helsinki University Library, or National Library of Finland. Read about digitizing the "national memory" here.

Then we walked along Esplanadi Boulevard through Kauppatori, Market Square (looking at the interesting merchants' offerings and climbed the hill to Uspenski Cathedral (Finnish Orthodox).

Finland
Helsinki
Finnish architecture