Lovely Summer in Helsinki, Finland
I am indeed a happy traveler. After visiting so many countries and cities last year, I can say probably it is enough for me this year. Good to know, there will be more travels to come this year. It might not be the same as last year but I am thankful to be visiting some more places and countries.
I have a lot of travels to share but my busy schedules always hindered me from sharing it on time. lolz! Let me go back about my trip to Finland’s capital. It was summer last year when we visited Helsinki. It was a cruise holiday in the Baltic and Scandinavian region. We visited four cities and countries including Stockholm in Sweden, St. Petersburg in Russia, Tallinn in Estonia, and last but not the least Helsinki, Finland.
The statue of Alexander II and the Helsinki Lutheran Cathedral in the background. The Cathedral is considered as the most prominent building and symbol of the city. The church was originally built from 1830-1852 as a tribute to the Grand Duke of Finland, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. It was also known as St Nicholas’ Church until the independence of Finland in 1917.
It was the fifth day of our trip when we arrived in Helsinki. We boarded one of the ships of St. Peter’s Line named Princess Anastacia. That morning our breakfast buffet was in Deck 7, in Restaurant Seven Seas. We arrived in Helsinki at around 8:00 in the morning and went out at Deck 4. Since there thousands of tourist in that ship and we have to go with our group, it took us around 1 hour before we went out from the ship. It also took some time passing the checkpoint or the border control.
Havis Amanda is a nude female statue in Helsinki, Finland, sculpted by Ville Vallgren (1855-1940) in 1906 in Paris, but was not erected at its present location at the Market Square in Kaartinkaupunki until 1908. It is one of Vallgren’s Parisian Art Nouveau works. It is cast in bronze and the fountain it resides in is made of granite. She is a mermaid who stands on seaweed as she rises from the water, with four fish spouting water at her feet and surrounded by four sea lions. She is depicted leaning backwards as if to say goodbye to her element.
Finally, we were ready for sightseeing. Our bus was already waiting at the port. As the group were completed, our travel escort told us that we will be having a local tour guide from Hensinki who will be touring us around. This is one of the advantages if you go for a group travel. You don’t need to worry so much where to go or which sights to visit. The local tour guide will surely show most, if not all of the sights in the area.
The Senate Square and its surroundings make up the oldest part of central Helsinki. Landmarks and famous buildings surrounding the square are the Helsinki Cathedral, the Government Palace, main building of the University of Helsinki, and Sederholm house (Sederholmin talo), oldest building of central Helsinki dating from 1757.
The weather was also perfect that time. Since it was summer, the sun was shining, perfect to get a scoop of ice cream. Our tour guide showed us many sights and was telling most of the history and the interesting sights we passed-by and visited as well. I did not really listen to all because I was busy taking photos.
Some of the sights we visited are the Helsinki Cathedral ((Tuomiokirkko), The Church in the Rock (Temppeliaukion kirkko, literally “Temple Square Church”), Uspenski Cathedral (Uspenskin katedraali), The Sibelius Monument, passed-by at the University of Helsinki and other historic buildings in the city, walked on its oldest street known as Sofiankatu, the Helsinki Olympic Stadium, walked on the south harbor and other sights of Helsinki.
A day is not really enough to experience all the sights of these city but I am thankful, I had the chance to visit Finland’s lovely capital. Who knows one day, I will be visiting the so-called “Daughter of the Baltic”, Helsinki!
