Finland: Helsinki

Vikingterminalen at Slussen
Going to Helsinki on Viking Line with a huge group of friends



Shared the small cabin with an Austrian couple and an Italian
There is no window! It is just a picture of a lighthouse...



View from the ship. The view is not bad, though it pales in comparison to the fjord cruise in Norway



Plus it gets freezing cold on the top deck cos we are in the middle of the Baltic Sea



Sadly, there isn't much to do in the Viking Line besides some restaurants, shops and pubs. So we had to play cards to entertain ourselves. Well, it was a good way to bond with the new friends



Finally arrived in Helsinki after 1 night of ship ride.
Finland is also known as Suomi in finnish
Finland has quite an interesting history involving Russia and Sweden. Helsinki looks a bit like Stockholm except there are certain architectures that have a slavic(russia) feel to it.



Symbol of Helsinki-Lutheran Cathedral



Statue of Alexander II, Russian Tsar and grand duke of Finland; smaller statues are symbols of law, light, peace and work



The Government Palace



University of Helsinki



The 3 buildings (the Cathedral, the Government Palace, Uni on the Senate Square) are designed by the same architect in neoclassical style to resemble St. Petersburg



Boat ride to ...



Suomenlinna fortress (called Sveaborg in swedish)
It is the greatest sea fortress in Scandinavia(built on 6 islands), but was shamefully surrendered without a fight the one time it was about to see action, resulting the loss of Finland to Russia



Vesikko-WWII coastal submarine

The fortress may be a UNESCO world heritage site but there wasn't exactly much to do except nice sea views, museums and tunnels of the old fortress. (Reminds me of Bryggen in Bergen, also a UNESCO site, but nothing much to do). So we went off after 1-2 hours.



Temppeliaukio 'Rock' Church-a church carved into stone and a popular tourist attractions



Popular venue for concerts due to excellent acoustics



There were esp many Chinese tourists here. When I went Norway, most of the asian tourists were Japs but in Finland, most of the asian tourists are Chinese



Jean Sibelius monument
Finnish Composer and violinist whose works are synonymous with Finnish national identity
Finlandia



Swan of Tuonla about a mystical swan swimming around the island of the dead



There are just these 2 statues for Jean Sibelius. Perhaps a better tribute should be given to one of Finland's greatest classical composers (eg Norway's Grieg's Museum). At least have some description of the man himself.



Uspenki Cathedral-the largest ortodox church in Western Europe
The Byzantine-Russian architecture is a clear symbol of Russian impact on Finnish history



Couldn't resist the strong aroma of food from the food stalls next to the harbor



Are U hungry?
The fried whitefish is esp good. Imgaine the fish in our nasi lemak but with edible bones



Heading back Stockholm home

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Some interesting facts abt Finland:
-Finnish has a reputation for being difficult to understand and learn. It doesn't help if you know German, English, French or any other languages
-rank 1 in corruption perception index (s'pore no 5)
-rank 1 in global competitiveness index (s'pore no 7)
-rated as the second safest city in the world in 2005
-creative insanity