HELSINKI 

We head into the Port of Helsinki. There are many little islands off the coast.
Dawn has broken over the capital of Finland.
It's a beautiful Scandinavian morning.
A statue of Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim. He was one of the leaders in the short Finnish War of Independence in 1917-1918, which was all tied up in World War I.
I don't really know why I like photos of foreign gas stations. The first one I ever took was on St. Martin.
A small cabin on a lake.
Ducks!
Jean Sibelius is pretty much the national composer of Finland. Well was. He's been dead for almost fifty years. Anyway, this is a memorial to the guy who is probably best known over here for his composition Finlandia. The thing on the left with the poles was built first. It is supposed to represent a Finnish forest, but I think most people see it as pipes of an organ. The locals weren't real keen on it because there was nothing particularly Sibelius about it, so the guy who made it later added the little sculpture on the right with old Jean's rather unhappy-looking face on it. It looks sort of like an angry Omar Sharif.
Another lake shot. It sure is a beautiful view. This is just next to the Sibelius park.
Just an average street in Helsinki.
The Olympic Stadium. Helsinki was the smallest city to ever host the Games. In all we were in five Olympic cities on this trip, if you include Atlanta (1996) and London (1908 & 1948). There was also Berlin (1936), Helsinki (1952) and Stockholm (1912). I was thinking recently of all the Olympic cities I've ever been in. To these five I can add Los Angeles (1932 & 1984), St. Louis (1904), Montreal (1976) and Paris (1900 & 1924). I've not been to any Winter Olympic cities.
Senate Square. The church is the Lutheran Cathedral completed in 1852.
A statue of Czar Alexander II with a bird on his head. Remember that Finland has not been independent for very long. It was part of Sweden until 1809 when it was ceded to Russia after the Napoleonic Wars. They were an autonomous region of Russia until they declared their independence after the Russian Revolution in 1917.
An old trolley.
It was told to me that this is the oldest building in Helsinki. Unfortunately I cannot tell you how old. There is a little seal on the facade, but it's too small and I cannot read it.
The University of Helsinki. If I remember correctly, this is a main administration building. In most of the socialist Scandinavian countries, higher education is free. (Well, free except that it's paid for in high taxes.) There are such things as student loans in Finland. I suppose they are used to pay for things like living expenses if a student does not work. If I ever lose my job and get thrown out of the country, I could move to Helsinki and collect those loans.
Uspenksy Cathedral. It is Orthodox.
Like in Tallinn, I was able to get off the tour bus and explore the city for the afternoon. I walked around quite a bit. The photos that follow are a result of my wandering about. This is a nice esplanade in downtown Helsinki. This park is lined on either side by lots of shops.
Another Finn with a bird on his head.
At the end of the Etelaesplanade is this giant department store called Stockmann. It is similar to other multiple floor large department stores in Manhattan, Chicago and other large city downtown areas.
On the left side of this photo is a good old American McDonalds. The red awnings are part of a Hesburger, a Finnish fast food restaurant. Given this choice for lunch, I chose Hesburger. I can get McDonald's any damn day of the year. There was a Hesburger in Tallinn as well but I could not eat there because I couldn't get Estonian Kroons. But I had Euro, so I could eat at this one. It is standard fast food fare. The burger I ate had some sort of white sauce. It tasted a little like tartar sauce but not as tartary. It's hard to explain, but it wasn't bad.
The main rail station.
This looks like a river, but it is a little inlet. Makes a nice photo.
I've mentioned this before from other trips abroad, but things are a little less strict in Europe when it comes to pornography. I remember back to a little shop on Scotland where there were skin magazines in open view for all to see. Well in Helsinki you can pick them up in the grocery. As you see on the right, they sell racy men's publications like Loaded and Maxim with hot women wearing very little. You can get those types of magazines in supermarkets here as well. But the two on the left are full on totally naked stroke mags. Try getting that at your local Kroger or Publix.

Another thing I found in the grocery store was something called American dressing. It comes in a large tube and is supposed to go on hamburgers. Maybe that is what I had on my Hesburger. I don't know how they think that's American.
I think this is some sort of government building. I don't think it's a church, although it does have a cross at the top of the tower.
I found this amusement park at the top of a hill. Lots of Finns were enjoying themselves on a warm summer day.
Not far from the amusement park is this Wintergarden.
There is a park surrounding the Töölönlahti Lake. In one section there are these two large chess sets.
Back to the shopping district. This string quintet was playing in a pedestrian street.

TO STOCKHOLM