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We stayed in the old part of the city in the Hotel Arthur. The room we had was impossibly small -- it was like a cramped university dorm room. But we were near the centre of the city with lots to see and explore. And, being so far north, there's long days to enjoy in June.
The nearby train station is a bit or Art-Deco brutalism. There's quite a bit in that style around the city center. But there's also some lovely Beaux-artes (or is that Art Nouveaux) bronze sculptures decorating buildings. And of course modern shopping malls like every other large city. Outside the core there are colorful clap board homes with well tended gardens.
Down at the harbor, dominated by the huge white domed Helsinki Cathedral, there was fresh caught salmon (or was it fish farm?) and a market to explore. We had our travel bikes with us and explored the nearby lakes and graveyards. The picture above is Eila Hiltunen's sculpture of Jean Sibelius.
The Ateneumin taidemuseo - Art Museum is well worth a visit. There are several galleries in the photos.
One day we took a fast boat across to Tallinn (that's in another blog and album), another time we took a small cruise boat, the historic J.L. Runeberg, through some of the nearby archipelago to the historic town of Porvoo just a little east from Helsinki. On another day I took a short ferry ride over to the island of Suomenlinnan which was a defensive position at one time (if it isn't the Russians it's the Swedes or the Poles or etc. invading). These days it's a lovely place to visit on a sunny day (and we had lots of sunny days).
Helsinki is an interesting port city with a busy harbor, lots of flowers blooming in well kept parks. It's well worth a visit.
Here's a photo album from our visit.
