Advertisement
Published: January 14th 2007
First Saturday alone in Helsinki... I was supposed to go to an International Ladies' Luncheon with a friend of my next door neighbour Liz. She's from Toronto and has family in Thunder Bay but was born in Finland and moved back a few years ago to finish school. She wasn't feeling well yesterday when she woke up so had to cancel, but I spoke to her today we're going to get together later in the week to meet. She's promised to take me on cruises to Sweden and Estonia which she says can be found really cheap if you look in the right places. I think I'll be seeing a lot of her, she sounds very excited to help me experience Finland properly.
So anyway, on my own yesterday I chose an area of Helsinki, Toolo, and saw the sights in that area. It's a short walk from the train station which is basically the centre of the city to the North. There's a path past Finlandia Hall along Toolo Bay which is really pretty. My first stop was the popular Winter Garden which is free to visit and is a great place to go for a taste of warmth.
The Winter Garden
Designed by architect Karl Gustaf Nyström and opened in 1893.There are cacti and palm trees and 100 year old Camelia Japonica plants, which are more like trees. Not too many flowers at this time of year, but lots of green!
From there I walked to the Olympic Stadium and climbed the tower... well, took the elevator up... you're not allowed to walk, and seeing the exposed outdoor stairs, I don't think you'd want to either. The view was very nice, got a good overall impression of the neighbourhood. The architecture is very Parisienne with five/six storey perimeter block buildings in pastel colours. The olympic park is still well used and you can see the fields which are cleared in the winter somehow. There is also an outdoor swimming hall which is apparently very popular, but is now covered in snow.
On my way back to downtown I stopped to have a look at the Finnish National Opera House (Suomen Kansallisoopera). It was opened in 1993 and seems to be controversial as a work of architecture, though I rather liked it. It's very modern, but touches of wood, and nice lighting inside give it a warm feeling. Performances here are subsidized by the government so they are affordable
for all. Being a student I discovered that I could get a ticket for 10 euros. I had never been to the Opera before, so I got a ticket! Puccini's La Rondine. It was in Italian and there were English and Finnish surtitles. I don't have anything to compare it to so I don't know how good the performance was, but I enjoyed it. I'm hoping to go in two weeks and see Swan Lake if I can get a ticket for the same price.
Really starting school this week and I'm looking forward to meeting more of my classmates. The ones I've met so far are all international students and it's apparently hard to get to know the Finns as they keep to themselves more. I'm also hoping to get into an architectural photography class though it's in high demand and students are chosen by portfolio. Will update next weekend about how my first week at school goes!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.163s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 13; qc: 68; dbt: 0.1109s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Richard
non-member comment
brrrr, it looks chilly! Great view from the tower.